Wellness Games Week 2: Keep a Food Journal

Utah Valley Dispatch Wellness Games

Week Two: Keep a Food Journal

January 8 – 14, 2012

Keeping a food journal can be a great tool to help you evaluate your current dietary behaviors, identify where your diet needs improvement, and show if you are consuming too many or too few calories. Food journals can also help you keep track of getting enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins each day.

Goal: Keep a food journal for seven days during week two of the Wellness Games.

-          Record everything you eat and drink daily, as you eat it (don’t rely on memory.)

-          Note what you’re doing while you’re eating – driving, watching TV, etc.

-          Be honest. It’s a journal; no one has to see it but you.

Example:

FOOD	AMOUNT	TIME / PLACE
Frosted Flakes	2 fists	6:45 AM; kitchen counter
M & M’s	Fistful	10:15 AM; desk

*You don’t have to measure. You can use relative sizes such as “2 palm sized slices” or a scoop “the size of a fist”.

Healthy Daily Eating Habits:

·         9 servings of whole grain cereal, rice or pasta (1/2 cup) or bread (1 slice).

·         5 servings of fruits and vegetables (1/2 cup).

·         3 servings of low fat milk, yogurt or cottage cheese (1 cup).

·         8 ounces of lean meat, poultry or fish or a non mean equivalent (1 ounce of meat = 1 egg, ½ cup beans, or 2 to 3 ounces of tofu).

GOLD: Keep a food journal for 7 full days – email Dani at the end of the week.

SILVER: Keep a food journal for 5 full days – email Dani at the end of the week.

BRONZE: Keep a food journal for 3 full days – email Dani at the end of the week.

·         Anything less than 3 days does not qualify.