Five features of a good food diary (and it's got nothing to do with the food choices)

If you’ve started being more focused on your nutrition one of the first actions that you can take is producing a food diary. Not only is this great for you as it encourages a more mindful approach to eating but its great for coaches too as they can give feedback and base recommendations on how you normally eat and how you like to eat.

I’ve seen more food diaries than I could count over the years and here’s my list of what I believe turns a basic food log into a useful, adaptable and measurable food diary.

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5 features of a great food diary

1. Accurate qualities of what has been consumed.  

Basic: Chicken salad with rice

Better: 150g chicken breast with 50g brown rice (uncooked) + 1/2 box rainbow salad

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2. Being specific about cooking methods and any additional oils etc

Basic: Chicken with veg & rice

Better: 150g pan fried chicken breast with roasted courgette & aubergine (cooked with 1 tbsp olive oil) + 50g rice (uncooked weight)

3. Including brand names or specific ingredient names

Basic. Yoghurt with granola

Better: Total 0% Greek yoghurt with 45g Dorset cereal nutty granola

4. Being specific about drinks

Basic: Coffee + milk & sugar

Better: Coffee with 100ml semi-skimmed milk + 1tsp caster sugar

5. Specifying whether a food has been consumed at a restaurant, take away or cooked from scratch at home

Basic: Thai curry

Better: Take away Thai green curry with 1 portion jasmine rice + 3 vegetable spring rolls (ordered from…[this will allow myself or your coach to google the restaurant if necessary])

If you want to take control of your nutrition or make some changes to improve health or body composition then a food diary is a great place to start. But just make sure you do it well and make it count. This not only helps your coach but helps you too if you ever want to look back or make changes.

Need help with your nutrition, why not try some 1:1 coaching? Book a free 15 minute discovery call here: https://calendly.com/fitismnutrition/fitism-nutrition-discovery-call

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