Journal Your Way to Healthy Eating!

So you've decided that this is the year you'll finally loose the extra weight supporting those love handles, chubby neck, or even the dreaded man chest! But you're wondering to yourself, where do I start? Simple. Your Diet! How you look and feel begins with what you place on you fork, but it doesn't end there. Sleep and exercise are also key in loosing weight, but if you want to begin your journey to healthy living, the first step is to change your diet.

Using a journal can be useful in promoting these changes. But let's face it, most of us live very busy lives and might not have time to keep a record of our eating habits. However, keeping a journal can become as simple and effortless as getting dressed in the morning. All that's required is a little effort and a small notepad (don't forget a pen).

On your typical morning, you might not have time to jot down every bite. But many New Yorkers commute to work, leaving time on the train or bus to reflect, read, and you guessed it-write in your food journal! Place a notepad and pen in your purse, book bag or briefcase along with your other essentials and jot down a quick list of the food you had for breakfast during your morning commute. For those who typically eat at their desks, this should be pretty easy to do at work. Writing down your dinner meal should also be simple whether you have it at work or home (for busy Moms and Dads, a good time might be after you put the kids to bed or after balancing your check book). Be sure to include any snacks in between!

Now, maintaining a food journal will take a couple of weeks to become a full-fledged habit, but the benefits will be tremendous. Just ask Malcolm Henry, owner of MH Fitness.

"By writing down a list of the foods you eat daily, you'll be able to see where you're going wrong with your diet and make adjustments."

For those that find using an old-school notepad boring or impractical, Malcolm suggests his clients use the My Plate program on Livestrong.com. With My Plate, you enter the food and portion size and it calculates the calories, fat, sugar, sodium, etc., automatically, making it easy to monitor your daily caloric intake. And most food brands and restaurants are listed in the Livestrong database, so there's no more guesswork for that whopper or milkshake!

Happy Eating!

MH Fit Believer