Lose Weight with a Food Diary

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Step 2: Recognize Your Eating Habits

Sara Broek

Do you eat when feeling down? Is chocolate always the food of choice when stressed at work? Are you eating when you're not hungry? Keeping a food journal can help you discover a slew of eating habits you may have never noticed before, such as eating mindlessly, supersizing portions, or eating when a certain mood or emotion strikes.

"Emotional eating is a concern for many people," says Judith Beck, Ph.D., director of Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and a clinical associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "People with weight problems confuse the desire to eat with hunger, and often label feelings like anger or stress as hunger. They eat instead of using better coping strategies, such as solving the problems that upset them, talking to a friend, or going for a walk."

But remember that this journal is for you, not your doctor or dietitian. "Honesty is essential," says Julie Zumpano, R.D. "That's the most important thing, but it's also the most difficult. You're not going to benefit from tweaking [the entries] because then you're only justifying your poor actions by not addressing them."