Keeping a food diary

Keeping a food and activity diary is a great way to help you lose weight and to highlight any problems. It’s a really important part of the Weight Watchers plan and I do it every day, once you get into the habit it’s pretty easy. They can give you a basis from which to plan changes and set goals.

A food and activity diary will also encourage you to make conscious choices about what you eat and do - writing things down can make you think twice before eating. This is one of the most useful things you can do to help you gain control your weight. Eating a couple of biscuits might seem like a good plan at the time but you might regret it when you don’t have enough points, syns or calories left to go for a glass of wine after work. I find that my tracker helps me to plan my week, I pencil in any nights out I might have that week and plan my eating and activities around that.

To keep a successful diary you will need to:

Write down everything you eat and drink over the day.

I found this fab form that you can print off or put similar headings into a small notebook to carry with you. It's hard to remember what you've eaten at the end of the day, so try to record things as you go.

I also note if a meal was satisfying and how I felt after eating sometimes. This can help you keep binge eating under control and understand your bad eating habits.

It’s also important that you keep note of any exercise you do because if you are exercising a lot you will need to take in more calories.

The more honest you are, the more it will help you. It can take a little while to get used to and seem like a hassle but it's worth the effort.

If you want to successfully lose weight and keep it off monitoring what you eat is so important! You need to find out what works best for you, an app, diary or online tracker are all great ways to help you reach your goal.

Do you keep a diary or track what you eat? What do you use?