My Photo Food Journal
Posted on September 10, 2008
A couple of days ago I read some blog posts about how a Photo Food Journal could be more effective than a regular food journal. Basically, a photo food journal is just a food journal with pictures. I was intrigued by what I read and decided to give it a shot.
Check out HealthHabits and DietBlog to read the posts about the photo food journals. They talk about the research done and have some good thoughts and ideas about this.
Before I get to the pictures of my photo food journal from yesterday, I wanted to give my take on the whole thing:
I’ve used a food journal before and found that it helps me to eat healthier more consistently. It creates accountability and helps me think twice about whether I want to eat what I am about to eat. The regular food journal also helped me see trends and weaknesses in my eating habits.
The photo food journal yesterday helped me make better decisions about what I was going to eat because I knew I was going to take a picture of it and post it here. That helped me make sure I was eating pretty well. I don’t always eat super healthy, but I try to, and yesterday, because I was taking pictures, I made sure I did.
So, does the photo food journal work? I would say yes in that it helps us make better food decisions, but I think it would be difficult for most people to do on a regular basis. It was a little annoying to take pictures every time I ate, but now I do think it’s cool to see the pictures and see what I ate yesterday.
Instead of doing a photo food journal everyday, maybe try it on certain “problem” days (weekends, perhaps?). You don’t even have to show them to anyone but yourself, but even that can help you make better food decisions.
Will I continue to do this everyday? Probably not, but I can see myself doing it on occasion. Try it, it might work for you. For me, it did work because I definitely ate better yesterday than I probably would have had I not been taking the pictures.
So here it is…My Photo Food Journal from 9/9/08:
This was my breakfast: a banana and a whole wheat mini bagel. I ate this a little before I lifted weights. Also, I had water with every meal and throughout the day. Sorry the pictures aren’t great –they’re from my cell phone camera.
Here’s what I ate after my quick weights workout. Cereal and skim milk. Yummy.
I didn’t get hungry before lunch so I didn’t need to eat a snack. Here is my lunch. It’s a chicken salad wrap, fruit, and a roll. I know, I know, it’s not whole wheat, but it was good. I didn’t eat the pickle. This is from Magleby’s Fresh in Provo, UT.
I got hungry later in the afternoon and had one of these. I love these things. Great for when I am out golfing too. I had this before I went to the pool for a quick swim workout.
Here is my post-swim meal. Sweet potato fries, some of those mini whole wheat bagels from above with grilled chicken, spinach and tomatoes from my mom’s garden. I’m not gonna lie, this was one of the best meals I have made in awhile. 
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Very cool….if I only had the time!
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Thanks for the link Blake.
I am adding your feed to my feed reader.
Good stuff
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That sure looks healthy, plenty of fruit there.
Problem is, did you actually enjoy eating that stuff, otherwise its difficult to keep it going longterm. I have found reducing portion sizes by a third surprisingly possible and equally effective. I also moved to asia, and find the humid weather the best dietary technique of all!!
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Pretty healthy menu you have there. Those fries look terribly delicious, I’ll have to try!