I want to start one to keep track of the food I eat. Any tips? What categories should I create? Good|Bad, or something more detailed?

I keep track of everything I eat at My Fitness Pal. I like tracking the nutritional information.

Thanks, I'll check it out now.

I keep a detailed food log. You can find it in the link in my signature.

I sometimes find it worth noting the time of day i eat
I note what i eat in detail
I write down any recipes i use or create
I note Quantities and use level tbsp or cups as my main method of measurement for objectivity.
I note exercise if i do it but since exercise isn't a big part of my journey its not such an issue.

If you read mine from the bottom upwards, you will find a spot where i reassess my protein intake and modify my diet with that in mind. That's how to use a food log as far as i'm concerned so you want to be able to access what you've written easily.

I use my blog to keep track and reconsider what i'm doing as i go along.

I weigh myself every day but only list my weight when it goes down because i feel somewhat irrationally uncomfortable about noting it when it goes up. My weight fluctuates a lot but i don't take it too seriously. I have a fair idea how to understand it.

I find it too tedious counting my calories every day but i do it occasionally. I have a pretty good idea of the calorie value of foods.

Basically carbs and proteins have the same number of carbs [correction, calories] per gram and fats have a lot more.

I note you are an aussie, like me. In that case, the csiro total wellbeing diet has good nutritional info and a good system of keeping tabs on your food intake without having to count calories per se. So its worth reading the book at the very least.

It seems to be similar diet to the South Beach Diet. I think these diets have a lot of useful information and ideas though i haven't yet done more than learnt the basics of the SBD.

ive kept a food log for several years now in little notebooks...i hate doing things online or with apps...i write down the date, whether i'm on my TOM or not, exercise and what type of exercise i do, length, difficulty etc, and my foods along with calories and carbs....sometimes i write in my weight but not always as i try not to become obsessed over the scale i also write down if i occasionally don't get enough sleep or there's tons of drama going on because i want to look back and see if that affected anything

i've tracked every day that way for more than 2 years now

I must or I will lose control. It is the only way I can keep myself in line. If Not, I tend to forget and then go over my daily calorie intake.

My thoughts exactly. If I can't measure it then I know I will underestimate how much I've eaten.

Especially if one feels they deserve every last bite.

I keep a food log and as a matter of I do even when I'm not on a diet to lose weight, if I don't then I'm sure I'd overeat and plus I don't like the fact that I don't know how much I'm consuming. I just write it down as I eat it, I don't have catagories or anything like that but I do add up the calories.

I don't keep one every single day, but I did when I was losing 6 years ago. I had over 1 year documented. Now I keep a running tally in my head, but every few months I'll write it down for a month or so at a time.

It helps me with meal planning more than anything. In the beginning, I'd write down my meals and snacks a week ahead of time. Now I just plan a day or two, mainly focusing on dinners.

It's just a word document with everyday listed like this

DATE
B:
S:
L:
S:
D:
S:
TOTAL:

Yesterday looked like this:

March 3, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 1 cup roasted red pepper soup (92) = 122
S: None = 0
L: 1 cup chicken enchilada soup (149) = 149
S: Baby carrots/cherry tomato (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130
D: 1 egg roll (300), 9 rice crackers (65), sardines in water (130), 1T olive oil (120), jalapeno (25) = 540
S: None = 0
TOTAL: 1041

I have fallen off the diet wagon right now, but when I am on program, I swear by a food log.

I have used fit day because I like all the charts, etc., but I think the easiest thing to do, which also works very well for me, is to make a list with the foods I eat and the calories beside each item. You will find that you soon know the calorie ammounts of most things you eat, and all you have to do is add it all up at the end of the day. Simple works best.

When you have time or are feeling OCD, go look at fit day or fitness pal and play around with it.

.i hate doing things online or with apps..

I do too, I hand write my food log

Tracking definitely works for me, I used to have this little diet journal I picked up at supermarkets (next to the Soap Digest magazine lol) it lasted 30 days before I needed a new one. I've also used notebooks to track, those are good too. Now I prefer myfitnesspal to track my food, the only problem is that because I have friends on my list, I sometimes omit binges out of embarrassment. It doesn't happen a lot, but it has happened, including recently.

I overestimate my calories if I don't log them. I've been using caloriecount.com to lose weight since September 2013. I like their interfaces better than MyFitnessPal.
I've logged every single day and lost 63lbs so far. When I finally switch to maintenance, I intend to not have to log calories quite as often, and maybe eventually stop completely if I trust myself.

I couldnt keep a hand written log! I love myfitnesspal to keep track of my calories.