I'm seriously considering starting a food journal, but I'm wondering why? LOL I know it sounds funny, but I'm not really sure what the point of it is... so, could you tell me? Or rather, tell me what you include, how you put it? What is your journal on? A notebook, online? Thanks ahead of time for any replies. I really admire you all! -Apryl

Sometimes I do both. I have a small notebook (about half the size of a normal spiral) where I log everything that goes into my mouth, water, vitamins, Blood Pressure pills, gum, etc. There is another forum (20somethings) where I try & post my daily food, exercise & water.

The point is that sometimes you don't realize just how much junk eating or nibbling you're doing during the day. I journal online, but it might help you to journal in a notebook that you can tote around with you for a while. Write down EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth, what time it was, and how you were feeling (bored, true hunger, needed to chew, etc.) Do that for a week, then go back and see if you notice any patterns.

And I want to send you a big because just the fact that you are asking the questions means that you really want to be successful at this!

I do Weight Watchers online and use the food journaling program they have there. I find that if I guess at it, I often eat way too much. When I'm journaling I'm always a little surprised how fast my points go away if I don't watch it.
It keeps me on track.

RE: food journaling... I use fitday.com. The reason I do it is because I tend to eat too little. I often would have panic attacks every time I'd try to eat something, thinking I'd be eating WAY too much. Ultimately, I'd be lucky to intake 900 calories. Since that wasn't helping me lose weight OR be healthy, I used fitday to force myself to realize that I CAN eat and lose weight. I started out forcing myself to 1200 calories, then went to 1200-1400, and now I'm trying for a minimum of 1500 because I work out nearly every day. It hasn't been easy. As my daughter says, it's hard to eat that much!! But we're learning!

There are many reasons we eat.

Food/Water Journaling-Figure out patterns for eating. Are you eating more in the evening? Are you coming within points, calories, carbs? Why not?

Personal Journal- I have 2 a hard copy black journal that holds just that, my blackest thoughts. Most of it is just purging and quite frankly I would not want anyone to read it. My other journal here at 3FC keeps me on track and focused, and sometimes it steps me back from my priorities. Plus its nice to get input on your daily challenges.

Progress Journaling- You have to keep track somewhere to realize how far you have come.

Journaling is a powerful tool that can transform your dreams into goals.

Miss Chris

i use calorieking.com, which is similar to fitday.com. it's great because it does charts and averages and i can figure out easily what type of dinner to make based on my intake so far that day. and i can figure out the damage after memorial day!! haha. (it wasn't that bad - 1700!)

I'm nuts for journaling. If I didn't write down every morsel that passed my lips, I don't think I would have any success. It was quite a shock when I first started writing things down--I was eating 3,000-plus calories a day! It didn't seem like that much at all. Give writing a try, it definitely keeps you more honest than guesstimating.

Hmmm... ok. *sighs* I figure, I can always just try it for a month or so, if I think it's silly, I can quit. No contracts to sign or anything, right? LOL. Keep posting though everyone, your posts are so informative and interesting. Thanks sooo much for all of your support so far. Love, Apryl