Food Logging - The Pros & Cons
According to this AP article, the CDC states more and more of us are on some sort of specialized diet as obesity rates continue to rise. We could probably spend hours on end discussing the vast number of diets out there (perhaps another blog post in itself), but for this post I thought we’d spend some time talking about a tool that can be useful regardless of which diet you might be trying. I’ll also spend a minute sharing some thoughts on the potential dark side of food logging.
Awareness and mindfulness come with a wide range of benefits. Whether you are on a specific diet or simply looking to gain a better understanding of how you are nourishing your body, food logging can be a very helpful tool to cultivate awareness around what we’re consuming. Food logging, also referred to as food journaling, food tracking or keeping a food diary, is simply keeping a record of everything that goes into your mouth. Yes, this includes the handful of candy you grab as you stroll by your co-worker’s candy dish. For anyone that has ever dabbled in food logging, it can be a very eye opening experience. Many of us might have a general recollection of what we’ve eaten in a day; however, accounting for everything we consume in a day (remember those drinks too), might leave many of us a bit surprised. It’s important to note that information captured when logging can range from very detailed to a simple picture.
So what is the point of food logging…what do we gain? The short answer—knowledge and accountability. Logging what we consume can give us some great insight around what we are putting into our body. If you are following a specific diet plan, you might be tracking calories, macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates), sodium or a combination of nutritional data. Depending on what else you are tracking, it can also help to identify trends and patterns. For instance, if you identify or suspect you might be an “emotional eater”, noting your mood before or while eating might help you gain more insight about what influences your eating habits. Or, perhaps you think certain foods might be impacting you negatively. Food logging can put concrete data to those ideas.
There are numerous ways to food log. Like so many other things, there are apps for that. Lifewire offers a list of the 9 Best Food Tracker Apps for for 2022 and shares the pros and cons of each. Healthline shares their pick for the 10 Best Nutrition Apps also noting pros and cons, along with primary focus (some include meal planning) as well as cost. If all the apps feel a bit overwhelming, rest assured, you can keep track with good old fashioned pen and paper. If you are more of a visual person, you might consider photo journaling. Simply take a photo of what you’re having and most phones date and time stamp your picture for you.
Let’s be honest though, for most of us the idea of keeping track of everything we eat and drink isn’t all that appealing. It takes time and effort. Having said that, when it comes to food logging the more accurately and frequently we log, the better the data and the more we learn. If you are struggling with logging, be it frequency or consistency or a combination of the two, you might try these strategies.
Narrow your focus for logging. If you feel one particular meal is your “challenge” or snacking or eating after a certain point in the day, this might be the most beneficial area to focus your efforts.
Set a start and end date. This can vary from a few days, to weeks to a month or months.
Use reminders on your phone throughout the day to nudge yourself to capture the data.
Log without judgment. This can be a difficult one as we may not want to log when we eat or drink something we deem as “bad” (let’s keep it real, whether you log it or not, you consumed it). Try to think of it more as a science experiment vs a “good” or “bad” log. You are capturing data to understand where you are and identify changes you might like to make.
Allow yourself grace and extend yourself some patience. Whether removing something or adding something to your routine, change can be hard. Focus on the effort with the goal of progress, not perfection.
I mentioned the dark side of food logging and while I won’t dwell here, I think it’s important to spend a little time addressing it. I noted the big cons—it’s time consuming and can feel a bit tedious. It can also conjure up some feelings of self judgment. Yet, if we can discipline ourselves to do it, even for a short time, it can provide us with some really useful data and be an effective tool to increase awareness and hold ourselves accountable. On the flip side it can turn into an unhealthy obsession. Much like our relationship with the scale and exercise, there is a balance. Be honest with yourself and give some thought to how you are using it. Is it a positive accountability/mindfulness tool or something that has turned into a means of beating yourself up?
To wrap things up, food logging can be a wonderfully effective tool and provide some useful data around eating habits, our relationship with food and the effects of foods, AND it isn’t necessarily for everyone. Spend some time thinking about your goals, what method might be most useful to you, and give yourself permission to experiment. If/when you log your food and drink, rather than approaching it with the mindset of what did I do good or bad, ask yourself, what did I learn?