What to Know About the Value of Food Logging, Backed by Science

Keeping a nutrient diary mightiness dependable similar conscionable different tedious task. But it’s really a powerful, flexible instrumentality to assistance you connected your wellness travel (4). Whether your extremity is losing weight, gaining weight, getting much colorful nutrient oregon fibre successful your diet, keeping way of what you devour tin assistance (4).

Food diaries—aka nutrient logging and nutrient tracking—shine a airy connected your eating patterns. It’s not astir judgement oregon perfection but assessing wherever you basal and noticing opportunities for betterment (4).

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine the subject down nutrient logging and wherefore it’s truthful effectual (4). Below, I’ll besides amusement you however it tin acceptable into your manner with immoderate simple, dietitian-approved tips to get started. If you’re caller to nutrient tracking—or possibly a small skeptical—don’t worry. I committedness it gets easier (and probe backs this up) (3).

Why Food Diaries Matter: Key Benefits Supported by Research 

Food diaries tin beryllium an incredibly adjuvant instrumentality successful your wellness journey, and you don’t request to log each past morsel for it to summation your occurrence (3, 4).

Here are immoderate of the benefits you tin expect from nutrient logging. 

Increases awareness

Developing a wont astir food logging could assistance marque you much mindful astir what you’ve eaten (4). Let’s accidental you conscionable stuck your manus successful a container of pretzels. You mightiness hide these small nibbles, but adding them to your nutrient diary serves arsenic a reminder. 

Additionally, tracking your nutrient helps you go alert of the calories you’re taking successful compared to those you’re burning done exercise. This tin beryllium adjuvant if you’re pursuing the CICO fare exemplary (4).

Customizable

A payment of nutrient logging is that it tin beryllium tailored to your goals (1). For instance, if you’re funny successful losing weight, tracking your fare is simply a fashionable strategy. In fact, studies suggest that self-monitoring really predicts value nonaccomplishment occurrence (5).

One survey besides recovered that mobile app interventions tin beforehand value nonaccomplishment among radical with diabetes (6).

Keeps you accountable

One of the astir almighty benefits of nutrient diaries is the accountability they make (4). I emotion the saying that a extremity without a program is conscionable a dream. Well, tracking is the program by which you tin execute your goals. By tracking meals, you’re keeping yourself connected way to travel done with your wellness goals. The enactment of logging reinforces committedness and consistency (4).

Even if it feels somewhat challenging astatine first, don’t springiness up!  In 1 study, the astir palmy value nonaccomplishment participants–those who mislaid 10% of their assemblage weight–initially spent an mean of 23 minutes per time tracking. But by the sixth month, they were spending conscionable 15 minutes a time (3). So, ultimately, tracking gets easier (3). Plus, logging provides a mode to measurement progress, keeping you motivated adjacent erstwhile results consciousness dilatory (4).

How Food Diaries Work connected a Psychological Level 

Food tracking is simply a large instrumentality for gathering steadfast habits due to the fact that it reinforces the wont loop, which involves a cue, routine, and reward (4, 7, 8). Eating is your cue to log your intake, truthful erstwhile you devour a repast oregon snack, you’re reminded to log your nutrient (8).

The enactment of logging becomes regular (8). Developing this regular helps you bespeak connected what and however overmuch you’re eating. It helps you align your nutrient choices to your goals, which brings connected the reward (8).

In this case, the reward comes successful the signifier of greater awareness, advancement toward your goals, oregon a consciousness of accomplishment (8). Over time, this wont loop strengthens, and these repeatable actions marque steadfast eating consciousness much automatic (8).

Additionally, nutrient logging promotes mindfulness by encouraging you to intermission earlier eating (1, 7). This helps you deliberation astir your nutrient choices truthful you tin beryllium much intentional astir them (1). 

Here’s what this mightiness look like. Let’s accidental you conscionable had a hard speech with your boss, and you’re seeking comfortableness (1). You’re considering grabbing a candy barroom for consolation. But you cheque your app and spot that you volition spell implicit your regular calories and added sweetener goals should you marque this prime (1).

When you announcement this, you mightiness determine to prevention the candy barroom for different clip erstwhile you’ll genuinely savor it and alternatively person thing much successful enactment with your goals (1).

---

About the Experts

Samantha Cassetty, MS, RD, is a nationally recognized nutrient and nutrition expert, media personality, nutrition consultant, and author. Cassetty is simply a erstwhile nutrition manager for Good Housekeeping and the co-author of the publication Sugar Shock.

Melissa Jaeger RD, LD is the Head of Nutrition for MyFitnessPal. Melissa received a Bachelor of Arts successful Nutrition (DPD) from the College of Saint Benedict and completed her dietetic internship done Iowa State University. In May 2024 she was recognized arsenic the Registered Young Dietitian of the Year awarded by the Minnesota Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

---

Common Misconceptions astir Food Diaries

Myth #1: “Food Logging is Only for Dieting oregon Weight Loss”

Food logging isn’t conscionable astir value loss—it’s a versatile instrumentality that tin enactment a wide scope of wellness goals (4). “Tracking with MyFitnessPal tin assistance you not lone place your full regular calories but besides cardinal nutrients to enactment your wide wellness and wellbeing,” says Melissa Jaeger, RD, LD, Head of Nutrition astatine MyFitnessPal (4). 

For instance, nutrient logging whitethorn beryllium a adjuvant assets for radical with diabetes oregon prediabetes, arsenic it helps show carbohydrate intake astatine each repast and snack (4).  It tin besides assistance if you’re looking to amended wide nutrition by providing penetration into whether you’re gathering your goals for cardinal nutrients similar fibre oregon macromolecule (4).

Food tracking is besides an fantabulous mode to show your intake of nutrients you’re trying to devour little of,  similar sodium oregon saturated abdominous (4). Logging is astir knowing your eating habits and tailoring them to align with your wellness priorities, immoderate they whitethorn beryllium (4).

Myth #2: “Food Logging is Time-Consuming”

MyFitnessPal offers premium tools to assistance marque nutrient logging quicker and much user-friendly than ever by allowing you to scan barcodes, usage pre-saved meals, oregon adjacent instrumentality photos of your food. Plus, grounds suggests that tracking gets easier implicit clip and lone takes astir 15 minutes per time erstwhile you get the bent of it (3). So, nutrient logging tin seamlessly acceptable into adjacent the busiest lifestyles (3).

Myth #3: “Food Logging Leads to Food Obsession”

While immoderate radical interest that nutrient logging mightiness pb to fixation connected calories, determination are galore approaches to nutrient logging that tin enactment a wide array of wellness and fittingness goals. One survey that analyzed much than 72,000 idiosyncratic reviews recovered that, connected average, users complaint nutrient logging apps positively and find them adjuvant (9).

Healthy nutrient tracking is designed to beforehand thoughtful eating behaviors. By encouraging nutritious and balanced eating habits, tracking tin beryllium considered a signifier of self-care, encouraging a healthier narration with your assemblage and nutrient (4).

Types of Food Logging: Choosing What Works for You 

Food tracking comes successful assorted forms, truthful you tin take the method you similar best.

• Manual tracking is an old-school method utilizing a pen and notepad (10). This volition beryllium much time-consuming than an app, but you whitethorn similar it if you similar jotting notes.
• Digital apps, similar MyFitnessPal are a large prime if you’re looking for a convenient mode to way your meals (10). The app has galore escaped features similar saved repast options, and automatic calorie and nutrient calculations that marque nutrient tracking a accelerated and casual process. Premium users tin besides usage barcode scan, arsenic good arsenic the repast scanning feature, which is akin to photograph journaling. 
• Photo journaling is simply a method that involves snapping pictures of your meals to visually measure portions and choices implicit clip (10). This tin beryllium a adjuvant prime if you don’t similar entering your nutrient into a integer app oregon notepad.

Whichever method you choose, enactment arsenic accordant arsenic possible. On average, MyFitnessPal members who log their nutrient astatine slightest 4 days successful their archetypal week are 7 times much apt to amusement advancement towards their value nonaccomplishment goals than those who don’t log arsenic often. This is simply a large reminder that tracking 4 retired of 7 days is inactive effective, truthful purpose for advancement and consistency alternatively than perfection. 

Practical Tips for Starting a Food Tracking Routine 

If you’re caller to nutrient logging, you tin effort opening by logging conscionable 1 repast per day, specified arsenic meal oregon lunch. This could assistance you get comfy with the process without feeling overwhelmed. As you physique confidence, you tin adhd much meals oregon snacks to your log, gradually creating a fuller representation of your eating habits.

Also, effort to necktie your logging efforts to circumstantial goals to marque the process much meaningful (4). For instance, Stephanie Nelson, RD, MyFitnessPal Sr. Lead Nutrition Scientist, suggests action-oriented goals, specified arsenic ‘hit my fibre extremity 4 days per week,’ ‘eat 5 grams of fibre astatine breakfast,’ oregon ‘drink 28oz of h2o earlier lunch.’ Other goals could see assessing whether you person nutrient astatine each of your meals, whether you’re staying wrong recommended sodium and saturated abdominous limits, staying wrong a calorie range, oregon balancing your macros. You tin besides marque it a extremity to enactment retired for a acceptable magnitude of clip and days per week. 

It’s besides important to enactment flexible and non-judgmental. Logging isn’t astir being perfect; it’s a learning tool. If you hide to log oregon person a repast that doesn’t align with your goals, it’s okay! It’s perfectly good to devour little healthfully sometimes! You tin see if the accusation tin assistance you marque adjustments moving forward, oregon you tin conscionable support tracking without judgment. The thought is for tracking to consciousness adjuvant and supportive.

Real-Life Success Stories 

Food tracking tin beryllium a game-changer erstwhile it comes to reaching your wellness goals due to the fact that it empowers you to marque informed choices without feeling restricted (11). 

“MyFitnessPal and nutrition labels became my champion friends erstwhile making nutrient choices. I was shocked astatine the ingredients and serving sizes of immoderate of the foods I utilized to eat… I recovered MyFitnessPal’s customizable dashboard, barcode scanning for speedy nutrient logging, flexible measurement options, and measurement tracking to enactment progressive and motivated precise helpful,” explains Shameika, who utilized MyFitnessPal to assistance her suffer value and make a amended narration with nutrient (11).

For RC, nutrient logging paved the mode to a much progressive and steadfast lifestyle. “If I privation a cookie, I’ll inactive person it! But tracking it helps maine marque much informed and mindful choices the remainder of the day,” helium says (12).

The Bottom Line

Food logging offers a scope of benefits, from helping you amended recognize your eating habits to supporting circumstantial wellness goals similar value absorption oregon simply eating much fruits and veggies. (4) It’s a almighty instrumentality for creating consciousness and gathering habits that instrumentality (4). Best of all, you tin accommodate however you usage MyFitnessPal to your unsocial circumstances. 

If you’ve been hesitant astir nutrient logging, I promote you to give it a try! Start small, similar tracking 1 repast a day, and spot however it feels. 

Remember, logging is astir learning, not perfection, and the insights you summation tin beryllium incredibly adjuvant (4).  

Please stock your experiences! Have you tried nutrient logging before? Do you person questions astir getting started? Share your thoughts and link with others connected their travel to amended health. 

The station What to Know About the Value of Food Logging, Backed by Science appeared archetypal connected MyFitnessPal Blog.