Forget diamonds! A food diary is a girl’s best friend!

A food diary is a little book (you can buy dedicated food diaries or just use a small note book) where you write everything you eat and drink (many people don’t count drinks as food, but it is so important to do so!).

You can then choose to add up calories or fat or carbohydrates or whatever you would like or whatever you have been working with. You can also record your daily exercise, moods, how you feel that day and general comments as to how your plan is going.

Do you “lose it�? at social functions?

Personally, my food diary showed me that when I was out in social occasions I lost all control! I would eat the nibbles or canapés and drink a couple of glasses of wine and then have a full dinner.

You might not realize but a couple of spring rolls, a few chips with dip and some party sausage rolls teamed with three glasses of wine can equal over half your daily calorie needs, and this is all before you even have your main meal!

If you are going to a function, family gathering, party or holiday, make sure when you start eating that you remember just because it is snack and not your main meal, it doesn’t mean it OK that have lots.

Try to stick to foods that have come from the earth. No I am not a hippie, it is simply the best way to guide you way through a difficult eating situation, where you are the least likely to go off track and eat really unhealthy food.

The easiest healthy option

All foods that have come from the earth and look like they are in a similar state to when they were picked or harvested are GOOD. They will have lower calories, more energy and are better for you. The more processed the food the more likely it is to have high sugar and salt content, high fat percentage and it will generally also be higher in calories

Keeping you on track

A food diary is fantastic for pointing out places and times where you sometimes go wrong and you don’t recognize it.

For example if you go with you friends from work once a week and have a couple of drinks, say a beer, margarita or glass of wine and then have burger, burrito or steak and fries etc, you might not realize it but you are eating or drinking more than you need to for that meal.

By writing down the calories for each meal and setting yourself a goal for each day you can see where you are “spending�? more calories than you are allowed to.