Lose Weight Keeping a Nutrition Diary

When it comes to losing weight there are thousands of tricks, diets and tips that could facilitate. However, I must admit that I believe that one of the most effective things we can do is keep a record of meals. And I will explain why: many times we are not aware of everything we eat, how much quantity and how much quality.

Keep a daily record of meals and exercise allows us to identify many things about our habits: what hours we eat, what we eat exactly, the amounts, how much water we drink, the exercise we do and how long … We can easily identify what It gives us good and where we can improve.

Keeping a food and exercise diary allows us to identify many things regarding our habits.

There are many types of meal records, but I’m going to talk about the two main ones I know: a written food diary and apps. I have used the two types and the truth is that I like both of them, but the written diaries I like much more. I tell you the advantages and disadvantages of the two.

Written Nutrition Diaries

First let’s talk about the written journals. I like them much more because writing things in our own hand connects directly with our brain and is much more personal. The link we make with ourselves writing it, personally motivates me to work more and achieve my goals. Did you know that writing your goals in your own handwriting helps you achieve them in 80% of cases? I think that only with that is worth trying.

Did you know that writing your goals in your own handwriting helps you achieve them in 80% of cases? I think that only with that is worth trying.

A written journal can be carried in your purse and kept on hand all day, and it is written very quickly. We can write it for a while and then, once we identify where to improve, we can stop filling it in for a while. And we can always re-fill it when we see fit. It is definitely not something that you will want to do every day of your life, but I must say it is very useful to do it for a while to identify the areas where we need to work on and improve.

Here I leave the link to the nutritional diaries that I use, made by My Berry Own, a personalized stationery to which you can ask that you do it to your liking and add what you need. They also have a Mindful Eating section that I like a lot, because sometimes we overlook these things and they are very important. I recommend them!

Fitness and Nutrition Apps

Let’s talk now about the apps. They are also very practical, since we can download them in our smartphone or devices and fill them at any time. They usually have a fairly complete database of foods from which we can select the food and in that way take control.

They give us a lot of information, since they tell us the calories, they tell us what percentage of our intake are proteins, carbohydrates, fats, etc. They can also give us many statistics based on our history.

However I have to tell you that although they are very cool and I have used several of them, I always end up going back to the written journal. It is true that it is more basic and simple, but in the end it is much easier for me to do it in my diary. I also see that it helps me to improve and motivates me much more. But the same for you is different! You will tell me what you think.

Here are some of the apps that I have used and which I like:

My Fitness Pal:

The best I have used. It allows you to track your food intake, your macros, exercise, weight… It helps to keep you motivated as you are part of a community and can share your goals and achievements with them.

Calorie Counter and Food Diary by MyNetDiary:

It allows you to track food intake, exercise, weight… It has a very simple interface, easy to use and serves very well to keep track of your nutrition.

Download for IOS / Download for Android

Runtastic:

If you are a runner, like to go for walks and want to track your workouts, this is a great app. It tracks time, distance, calories and location for many different types of exercise. It also integrates perfectly with your social media so that you can share with your friends. I love it!