Tools for Keeping a Food Journal

image of a food journal

I have read that one of the best ways to help you lose weight and eat healthier is to journal what you eat each day. Even with all of the tools of technology close at hand, I have always found it a challenge to effectively track my meals.

I think that part of the problem lies with the use of words rather than pictures to record the content of my meals. For instance: to record a supper of grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, green beans, rice and quina, cantelope, and grapes takes 13 words. That is not a huge task to write, however, it is much simpler to take a photo with a camera phone and with one photo, you capture all of that and perhaps even some items you may have forgotten if you are recording it later on. Using a photo rather than words allows you to quickly capture the data and not have to rely on your memory.

The next issue is where to record the information. Evernote is one tool that works well. Since it is ubiquitous on every device, you will usually have it with you. The tool I have chosen to use with my latest effort to journal my meals is OneNote. OneNote is also available on almost every platform. I find it easiest to simply take a photo of every meal then at night or the next morning, import those photos into my food journal and make any extra notes if necessary. It works very well, is quick to update, and best of all does not rely on my memory.

 

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