A Food Journal
for Personal Balance

What to record in your food journal:

Get a small notebook that is easy to carry with you, and for 3 to 7 days, record the following for each meal, drink and snack:

--What you eat,

--Where you eat (home, restaurant, in your car, in your office, etc),

--The time of day

--How you eat (in peace or in a rush)

--Why you eat (are you eating for real hunger or for a craving?)

--level of enjoyment (10 is a great meal, 1 is the worst)

With your recordings, its best to be objective. Be a scientist and record just the facts. Do not blame yourself for "bad" patterns of eating. Our society is set up for fast food living!

But you are now choosing a new way of health. Bravo!

How You Feel

Record in your food journal how you feel right after the meal and about 1 hour after the meal. Is your mind and energy clear? Or are you yawning and fatigued? Do you feel calm or wired? Are you bloated? congested? This is our body talking to you.

Hunger or Craving?

When you eat for hunger, you slowly realize you that you are hungry, and have time to find food that sounds good to you. You have choices.

A craving is different. It comes on suddenly, you feel famished and must have a specific food item. Only ice cream will do, or chips, or your favorite brand of cookies!

Cravings may come from emotional triggers. For example, You feel stressed about a project at work, and start some negative self talk about how you can't get it all done on time. Or you are worried about a problem with your child or spouse, and don't know where to turn. Or you feel energetically overwhelmed.

When this happens, your body/inner child says to you, unconsciously, "I just want to feel good!" And you go find the certain flavor of ice cream! You are self soothing with food. Food is so readily available, easy, and enjoyable.

Your food journal will reveal if emotional eating is a area of concern for you. Do you emotionally eat every day? Is it out of control? Awareness is the first step, to see what you are doing.

For now, just notice what you are doing. This in itself is healing.

Analyze Your Food Journal:

After a few days of recording your meals, look at your food journal objectively. Here are some questions to help you see patterns:

--Do you skip meals, like breakfast? This habit is hard on your metabolism and leads to overeating later in the day.

--Do you eat in a hurry, in the car, or in front of the TV or computer? Your body wants to eat in peace, and too much mental energy stresses digestion.

--Do you use stimulants, such as tea, coffee, sugar, or nicotine? Stimulants burn out the adrenals in the long run and create fatigue.

--Do you love bread, pastries, cookies and pasta? do you crave them daily? Can you stop eating after one or two cookies?

--Do you have to have a certain food everyday? This can be an indication of a food sensitivity. We often crave what we are sensitive to.

--Do you get moody or depressed after some meals? It could be your wheat consumption!

--Do you get congestion, and have sinus problems? This could be caused by dairy.

--Do you enjoy your meals? Healthy meals need to taste good. When food tastes good, you actually digest better! If your food is too bland, add some herbs and spices, and try healthy ethnic meals.

--How many packaged or processed foods do you eat? How many whole, real foods do you eat?

--How many vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds, beans are listed in your journal? These are nutrient dense foods that give fiber, vitamins, minerals and more.

--Do you avoid or overdo a certain type of food, like fats, carbs, or proteins?

--A sign of too much carbohydrate is feeling sleepy after you eat. A sign of too much protein is that you may feel wired and unable to relax and craving alcohol or sugary sweets to relax.

As you can see, there is lots to consider in your diet!

The Balanced Meal to Strengthen Metabolism

A lot of women are burned out, with fatigue, weight gain and mood swings. We have overdieted, overexercised, skipped meals, and take in sugar and caffeine to keep going. We may do too much and not rest enough.

If this is you, I recommend the book by Dr. Schwartzbein, called "The Schwarzbein Principle II, The Transition". Dr. Schwartzbein recommends the balanced diet: protein, whole grains, fats and vegies at each meal, plus snacks. Think of your plate as divided into thirds. Fill 1/3 with protein (this can be quality eggs, meat, cheese, fish or soy foods), 1/3 with a whole grain, and 1/3 with vegetables, and have a fat like olive oil with the meal.

If your body can handle beans, you may be able to be more vegetarian and use beans as your protein. Experiment and see how you feel.

Your Personal Balance: Cleansing or Building?

Some people who have overeaten meats or processed foods may do well with a lighter or vegetarian diet to cleanse the body. A light diet works well during the summer when its too hot to cook anyway. The raw foods diet is a good cleansing diet.

Other people need healthy fats, carbs and proteins in their meals. If you need more energy and want to feel focused and grounded, try the balanced meals. I prefer the balanced meals but I still enjoy plenty of raw salads in the hot summer months.

My Experience

When I kept a food journal, I discovered that I tend to overeat carbohydrates and skimp on protein. I am naturally drawn to a vegetarian diet, yet if I forgo all animal food, I get fatigued, so there is a place for meat in my diet.

Also, I discovered that sometimes I forget to eat, then get famished and overeat. My body felt deprived, even though my food was healthy! I have learned that my body wants consistent good food at predictable times.

Make the Connection

You will find your food-body-mood connections, too, as you review your food journal. Your food journal can go for as little as three days to as long as you like. It is your personal guide to awareness and body wisdom.

I encourage you to love your body, love your soul, and eat well with beauty and peace!