Complete this form for at least 1 typical weekday and 1 weekend day
| Time Start-end | Meal or snack | Place | Food | Amount | Posture | Associated activity | Social situation | Mood | Hunger level |
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Learning about your eating habits
To learn more about your eating habits, you need to keep a diary for at least 2 days – (a weekday and a weekend day). To determine the consistency of your eating habits, it may be beneficial for you to evaluate your habits for a complete week. Here are the instructions you will need to complete these food diary forms.
Time of eating
For every meal or snack, record the time when you begin eating or drinking and when you finish.
Meal or snack
Indicate whether it is a meal or a snack. Be sure to remember that everything you drink between meals is considered a snack. If it is a meal, indicate whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Place of eating
Record where you are when you eat that meal or snack or have that drink. If you are at home, record the room of the house you are in, otherwise, record whether you are in a restaurant, car, office, bar, etc.
Type of food and amount
Indicate what you eat and the approximate amount. If you eat at home and you have a small scale, you will find it beneficial to measure the amount of the food you eat so that you become more aware of the portion sizes. If you do not know the exact amount, you will need to estimate it, keeping in mind that most people usually underestimate this amount.
Posture
Indicate your physical position while you are eating or drinking-lying down? Sitting? Standing? Walking? Etc.
Associated activity
Record what else you are doing while you are eating or drinking. For example, preparing dinner, watching television, reading, driving a car, talking on the phone, working or playing at the computer, etc.
Social situation
Indicate whether you are alone, with someone, or with a group of people each time you eat or drink.
Mood
Record how you feel before you start eating or drinking. Were you content? Happy? Sad? Depressed? Angry? Bored? Tired? Rushed? Lonely? Tense? Etc.
Hunger level
Record how hungry you are before you start eating or drinking. Rate your hunger level on a 10-point scale ranging from a score of 1, which would indicate that you were not hungry, to a score of 10, which would indicate that you were very hungry.
Evaluating your daily food diary
By carefully evaluating your 2-day food diary, you will become more aware of what you eat and drink and how much you eat and drink. You will also be able to see patterns as to when and why you eat and drink.
Analysis of the food forms
By answering the following questions, you may be able to identify some of these patterns:
- How many days did you skip at least one meal?
- How many times did you eat when you were not really hungry?
- How many times did you eat because you were bored?
- How many times did you eat because you were angry and/or depressed?
- How many times did you snack on foods that you know you should not have eaten?
- How many days did you drink more than one alcoholic beverage?
- How many days did you eat at least one dessert?
- How many times did other people trigger unwanted eating behavior?
- How many times did you eat a meal and when you were finished, you wished you had not eaten or drunk so much?
Adopted by Physical Fitness: The Pathway to Healthful Living, Robert Hockey
