If you're trying to lose weight by reducing your caloric intake and increasing your physical activity but you haven't had much success, a food journal could help you fine-tune your program. Recording your food intake for a week, month, or longer can help you identify weak spots in your eating plan (such as not eating enough fiber), help you strategize for weight loss (by sticking to a certain calorie or fat gram limit) and help you change behaviors that impede you from reaching your goals (such as eating because of boredom). Follow these steps for setting up your own food journal with ease:

• Choose your weapon. Food diaries abound in paper, online and personal digital assistant versions. Consider your lifestyle - for example, if you only log on to the computer to check email occasionally, a paper version may be a better bet.
• Don't forget the details. Include information such as the type of food, how much you ate or number of servings, time, where you consumed the food, how you felt when you ate it and a column for amount of calories, sodium or fat, if you're counting.
• Be honest. Instead of trying to remember what your food intake at the end of the day, record each item immediately after eating it. And don't forget to include that handful of nuts you ate out of the can or two pieces of candy because those calories add up.
• Use your diary to make improvements. Ultimately, you should be able to use your diary as a tool to help you meet your goals. If you overindulge while going out to dinner, your food journal will reflect a higher calorie intake for that day. You can compensate by adding an extra workout that week to burn extra calories.

Food diaries can also be extremely helpful tools for physicians and registered dietitians who are treating you for health conditions such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Don't forget to enlist the help of your health professional when creating and maintaining your food journal.

Related information: Lifeclinic My Health Chart | Food Diary | Exercise Diary

Sources:  American Academy of Family Physicians, http://www.aafp.org; FitDay, http://www.fitday.com; Figure Facts, http://www.figurefacts.com