My Food JournalI've been tracking my daily calorie intake for almost ten months now. Of course I've missed a few days here and there (especially weekends) but for the most part, I've been very dedicated to my little food journal. From a personal standpoint, tracking my daily calories is the second most important thing I do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Exercise is the first.

Therefore, I don't recommend thinking about starting a food journal, recording your food intake mentally, or recording a few weeks and then stopping. I DO recommend starting a basic, realistic food journal and being dedicated to tracking your calorie intake as often as possible, preferably daily. Find a small, tablet-type notebook and some calorie resources (I carry Calorie King's Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter pocket book and I often visit Calorie-Count.com, TheCalorieCounter.com, and CalorieKing.com.) Keep your little notebook in a place where it can be accessed quickly. Jot down the date and each food you eat during that day. Write down the calories that each food contains, keeping in mind the labeled serving size or portion you ate. Add up your total at the end of the day. I keep my notebook on my desk at work. I write down my breakfast, snack, and lunch foods. Before I leave for home, I add up the calories in those foods. This gives me a good idea of how many calories I have left for dinner. After awhile I began memorizing the calories in foods I eat often, making it even easier to jot them down quickly. There will always be calories that are impossible to write down accurately every time (dining at restaurants or at a friend's house, for example), but tracking the other foods you eat will help you fit in those special moments without ruining your calorie plan. I actually enjoy keeping a food journal because it is fun and interesting to look back and see my food history. And I don't beat myself up about days I go over my calorie limit or forget to write things down; I just know to get back to my normal plan the next day.

Some resources recommend writing down the time of day, where you ate, and with whom. Personally, I would skip those parts. Your food journal is not intended to slow you down, but just to be a quick resource. Without a food journal and tracking my daily numbers, I could easily consume more than twice the amount of calories I intended to eat just by forgetting or underestimating. If the only thing holding you back from tracking your calories is the lack of a cute, tablet-type notebook, just email me and I'll send you one!

There are also wonderful online sources for tracking calories, as well as protein, carbs, and nutrients. A few that I like are FitDay and TheDailyPlate (both require setting up a free account). And my friend Tina recommends the free CRON-O-Meter software application (requires Java) for tracking her daily foods.