Free printable food diary template with a difference

printable food diary, free printable food diary, food diary template

Usually a printable food diary keeps track what you ate.  This free food diary is completely different though because if you want to free yourself from food and eating obsessions, then keeping track of every morsel you eat can grow food obsessions - not reduce them.  And the whole reason for the body wise perfect size website is to help you REDUCE food and eating issues.  For this reason, this food diary template is different from the run of the mill because it gives you the tools to approach your eating like a detective.  It gives you  tools to find out what environmental triggers are causing what kind of eating, and it's a great way to stop binge eating. And if you want some expert help analyzing the psychology behind your eating I can help.

So how does this free printable food diary template work?

Here's the first thing thought that I want to tell you about keeping a food diary.  Be aware of how it makes you feel:  If it makes you feel trapped and you hate it, please don't do it.  Making you more stressed about your eating is counter-productive as Dr. Traci Mann explains how stress releases Cortisol which helps you gain weight.  But if it's a way of helping you 'work with curiosity' towards understanding your eating then it's an awesome tool.  

The next thing to decide about using this food diary template is - am I going to record EVERYTHING I eat - or just those eating episodes that bothered me?  Like the times I binged?  It's up to you - you need to find what works for YOU whenever it comes to using any tool.  There really is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach.  You are an incredibly unique individual, so do what's right for you.  

Remember that if you look eat eating for one day, you'll pick up some information, if you use it for a week, you'll start seeing patterns and if you look at it for a month you'll see patterns you may not have been able to see during a shorter period.

How to use this printable food diary template

Once you've downloaded this printable food diary template, here's how you'll use each column:

  • Day and Time: Here's what you're looking for....what are the most common times you eat?  Is there a pattern?  For example - are you a nighttime eater?  Or do you always find yourself eating on a Sunday evening? Or is there a particular time that you always find you're eating when you're not hungry.  PS.... read this article on breakfast eating - very often, when we start off eating when we're not hungry in the morning, it can be the start of a pattern for the rest of the day.  And likewise if we're skipping eating when we're hungry - it triggers all kinds of over-eating later in the day.
  • Location:  Do you often notice that you're eating in front of the TV, or at your desk, or standing at the fridge? This is important because sometimes we just have to see the refrigerator to want to eat or there are some places where we eat very mindlessly.  And it's great to know that.  To eat more mindfully try this fabulous exercise. 
  • What happened just before you ate? We often don't realize that our eating can be habitual.  Like... do you walk into your house after a hard day at the office and walk straight to the kitchen?  Or did you have an argument with someone and find your feet beating a well worn path to fetch food.  We have all sorts of emotional eating triggers we aren't aware of. 
  • What did you think/feel before you ate? Very often we are feeling a hungry heart, or our hungry, or boredom, or our inner rebel who's says things like stuff you, and then heads off to the kitchen to stuff me.
  • Who else was involved?  How much of your eating is alone eating?  How much of it is with friends?  Or is there someone who triggers your eating - whenever you're around them you find yourself eating?
  • What did I eat?  What kind of food did you eat and what does it say about your life?  For example - if you're constantly drawn to sweet stuff...what in your life needs sweetening? Does it tell you what kinds of food are illegal - are those the ones you find yourself craving?

Want me to analyze your food diary and coach you on how to change your eating?  To get on my waiting list, let me know here


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