Do you or your clients keep a food journal? Why/Why not?

For clients whose goals include appropriate weight loss, or for those with eating disorders, I think a food journal is essential for both you and your client to clearly evaluate dietary habits.

Keep in mind that food journals don't always accuately reflect true intake patterns. One important point is to recommend to your clients that they record intake, both food and fluids, immediately after ingestion. Don't wait until the end of the day. We tend to forget, not necessarily intentionally, a cookie here or a soda there.

Take care.

Hello Gretchen,
Absolutely...I review my clients Journal on a weekly basis. It takes out the guess work and any frustration when specific weight goals are set.

Sincerely,
Michael

I have my clients keep a journal as well. It does hold them accountable for what they eat. I always have trouble eating bad stuff if I know I would have to write it down and then show my trainer. Also people usually under estimate how much they eat and a food journal opens their eyes to the real number of calories they are taking in.

There are a few free apps that are available that work really well. I use MyFitness Pal. Beats having to right everything down.

I do, especially if their goal is weight loss. If I don't hold them accountable, they make poor decisions and they have reported that to me.

I let them eat what they want within certain guidelines and once a week I give them feedback.

MyFitnessPal is a great app, especially if you show them how to share their food log with you. I also do photo journaling; they text me pictures of what they eat.

yes, it not only helps with accountability, but some people don't actually realize what they are eating and how its affecting their goals.

Another thing you might consider is asking you client to record the time of day they ate or drank and what they were feeling at the time. This might help you identify long periods without food, emotional eating, eating when bored, etc. All of these are patterns we should look for.

Yes, and I also use MyFitnessPal because it allows me to see what they are consuming without having to ask them every time I see them (I have them open their diaries to friends). If I see something that needs to be addressed I have that option. Keepig a food and exercise log keeps the client accountable and allows them to see what they are really doing. My clients also like the graphs because they are goal- oriented people in life, and not hitting a goal to them is not acceptable, which helps them reach their goals in the long run.

I also have all of my clients on MyFitnessPal! It is a non-intrusive way for me to help keep up with their nutrition and cardio. They also have app's for iPhone and Android, so there is never any excuse on why they cant enter their food :)

For the first few weeks I just focus on letting them learn to enter everything and give them a chance to realize how many calories they are actually eating to help them understand how they got to where they are. After that we start making small adjustments to their daily routines, then slowly making lifelong changes.

I have had the best success with clients that really do buckle down and use the program pretty religiously. Most of my clients are only with me 3 hours a week, they understand its what they do for the other 165 hours in the week that makes a huge difference.

The "why" is because awareness and accountability produce results. Yes, I encourage my clients to use fitday.com and I use it myself to get back on track. While I may strongly beleive in the value of monitoring food intake, the client may not to ready. The "why not" is about the client's readiness.