One of the biggest challenges that I face in nutritional counseling is getting patients to keep their food journals on a regular basis. Whether the patient is seeking weight loss or treating a digestive disorder, food journals are an important part of nutritional counseling. This simple act of self-monitoring is a way to discover patterns in patient eating and uncover opportunities for change.

The benefits of food journals have been well established; most recently researchers at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research completed a large weight loss study that was published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine. For six months, the 1,685 overweight adult participants kept food diaries and were encouraged to eat healthy and be physically active. They also attended weekly group meetings to review their food diaries and learn healthy eating skills. At the end of the study, participants had shed an average of 13 pounds. Those who wrote down everything that they ate and drank for six days a week lost about twice as much weight as those who kept food records one day or less per week.

I often tell my patients that even if no one else views them, the accountability that comes with the process of recording food intake is extremely beneficial. Some patients rely on computer programs or cell phone pictures, but a simple pen and paper is all that is needed. I typically recommend including what time the meal was eaten, the portion size of the food, and a before and after hunger level on a scale of 1-10.