Food Diaries that Really Work

An invaluable way to keep track of your food intake, whether it be to monitor that you are eating enough, not eating too much, eating a good variety etc, is by using a food diary. It is really very interesting to look at what you believe your diet contains and what your diet actually consists of. When I ask people to keep a food diary I encounter my fair share of resistance. And I get it, really I do. But there comes a time in our grown up lives where we need to make a choice. Do we want and believe that 'magic happens' when it comes to diet, exercise and performance, or do we accept that we make the magic ourselves. Whichever people choose is ok with me, but we need to get real about why the magic isn't happening. I digress.

A food diary can be written, but for those of you who love your gadgets, a food diary can be done in photo form. An iphone is a perfect camera for taking photos of everything you eat and helping you to gain some perspective. Below I'm going to share my photo food diary from yesterday and the information I got from it.

Half a wholemeal English muffin with tahini pre-exercise and an organic fruit puree during my long ride.




The other half of the English muffin and My Super Dooper Blueberry recovery smoothie minus the spinach after my ride.



...grapes



Tuna and avocado brown rice sushi and salmon avocado brown rice sushi with wasabi and strawberries.



Mini spicy chicken and vegetable meatloaf (will post the recipe soon) with roasted beetroot and steamed green bean salad.



Organic lamb honey and rosemary sausage from here with raw capsicum chunks and tomato, broad bean, spinach and asparagus salad with an Udo oil dressing.

What I also ate, but forgot to take a photo of was an avocado and goats cheese kamut bread sandwich and some more grapes. I know, I know, its an awful lot of food, but I rode 60km in the morning, plus I am hungry from the moment my eyes open to the moment they close, so really, to me, this was not really a lot of food. I am going to work out the calorie value estimate to see if I got enough total energy but in general this food diary helped me to realise;

1. Some more good fats would have helped to fill me up. Adding some almonds with the grapes would have helped to decrease hunger I think.

2. Only 1 fruit pack on a 60km ride is not enough - The last 20km I was getting 'the stares' and zoning out which isn't great for performance, but in mid morning traffic its just dangerous.

3. Adding more fats and protein to the first half of the day might help me to switch the balance so that most of my food is eaten by 1pm.

So, you see, these diaries can be invaluable. They keep you accountable and offer you the chance to make targeted changes that aren't based on broad nutritional guidelines but on what works for your body, your workouts, your schedule.

Try one today and see how you go.