In the beginning of my intuitive eating journey, I kept what is called a food mood journal, mood being the key, and it was a pretty pivotal time in my healing. A food mood journal is pretty simple and it goes far beyond what was eaten. It can really help you uncover some of the reasons why you are overweight or struggle with food. Now, I know what you are thinking, food journaling doesn’t really sound very intuitive and frankly, in my opinion it isn’t, but the purpose of the food mood journal isn’t about the food at all. It is about getting in touch with the reasons we engage in emotional eating and by helping us identify with the kinds of food we reach for in certain situations. Keeping one of these journals is pretty easy and if you are anything like me, it won’t take very long to really see what the real issues are.
How to Keep a Food Mood Journal
To get started, get a small notebook that is large enough to write plenty in but small enough that you can carry it around with you. The key to the food mood journal is hyper awareness so it is important that you use it each and every time you eat, including bites, licks and tastes. Record the following:
- Time and date
- General Mood – happy, sad, grumpy, bored, angry, excited (If you aren’t sure, use this list of emotions to guide you)
- Where you are on the hunger scale when you start eating.
- What you ate, quantities are not important
- If you found the food to be tasty
- What you were doing at the time – watching tv, reading blogs *blush*
- Were you mindful
- When your brain said “I’m full” , did you stop?
- Where you are on the hunger scale when you stop eating?
- How does you stomach and body feel
- What are you thinking and feeling now?
I know that seems like a lot to think about when eating and I promise you, it won’t be this intense forever. It is just an exercise to do for a few days to start to notice the patterns you have with food. When I kept my food and mood journal, I found it helpful to write the hunger scale down in the back of the book to help me get in touch with my hunger and fullness signals. I also found that keeping the journal felt scary. I was so afraid of what I was going to uncover. Honestly, I uncovered some really deep stuff but it the end, I’m still here and I’m thriving. Our fears are often much bigger than the real feelings behind them and keeping a food mood journal is an excellent was to get in touch with them.
What do you think of the food mood journal concept? Have you ever kept a food mood journal before?
I kept a food/mood journal for awhile when I first started working on my food issues. While it was a bit tedious, it definitely opened my eyes and gave me some important insights into why I was struggling so much. At first I felt like it was causing me to focus too much on the food itself, but once you get rolling you realize the journal isn’t really about the food at all; it’s about all of the other “stuff” going on inside of us that sometimes gets buried or denied, only to creep back up in the guise of food problems. Definitely an eye-opening, worthwhile endeavor! Great post! :)
exactly! For me, it was a really pivotal time in helping me identify what my triggers and deeper issues were.
I think food journals are a great idea as long as they don’t become obsessive. Great post and very insightful. Thanks!
Well, that is the thing about the food mood journal, it isn’t really about the food at all, it is really about the behaviors around the food. As I mentioned in the post, most people only need to keep one a few days. I would never, ever in a 110 years recommend anyone keep a straight up food journal, though. I do think those types become obsessive.
I have been thinking about doing something like this for a while now. :) I always have a mini-check in with myself before a meal, during the meal and then after. But this is a convo in my own head that I can’t necessarily refer back to or reflect on if I’ve had a particularly difficult day. This might be just the right time to start a food mood journal…especially as I am refocusing my efforts on the intuitive process.
Love it Christie!
I think the food mood journal is a great idea! Especially for people who know they have problems and want to work on combatting them. I do Weight Watchers so in a sense it’s a food mood journal – tracking food, good health guidelines (# of fruits/veggies, milk, whole grains, oil, protein, water, etc.) and rating your hunger before and after each meal or snack.
I’ve learned that I eat for pleasure, whether I’m hungry or not. That is reason I am doing Weight Watchers in the first place :)
As you know from my blog, I am not a fan of dieting so I hope this comment doesn’t bother you but….
What are you doing to address the reasons why you eat when you aren’t hungry? A food plan will only go so far if you aren’t addressing the underlying reasons why you eat.
“Our fears are often much bigger than the real feelings behind them and keeping a food mood journal is an excellent was to get in touch with them.” <– YES!! I’m so glad you closed the post with that sentence because it really is (what I believe to be) the most important part of overcoming emotional eating. With that being said, I *don’t* keep a food mood journal and definitely think it would be helpful for me. The thing is, what bothers me more than the action of emotional eating is the fact that those emotions rarely (if ever) get dealt with. And after a few days of keeping a food mood journal, I’m pretty sure I’d find that more of my eating habits/decisions have a lot more to do with emotions than I think…
Well, Gracie, I’m a firm believer that emotions don’t have to be “dealt with”. I really think they just need to be honored. Like, if you feel sad, just feel sad. If you feel angry, just feel angry instead of trying to do something with them. I think we get caught up in feeling like we need to be strong and not feel things when actually, just feeling is where the strength really is.
It is so much easier to reach for food, sex, the internet, whatever than to actually look at our emotions and just let them flow through. When they don’t flow, we become blocked and the emotions start to pile up. And when they pile up, we lose the ability to identify them. And a viscous cycle begins.
Very true. Actually, that’s probably why we so often turn to those other things because we think that we have to DEAL with emotions, which requires a lot more thought and energy than simply honoring them. Apparently I need that constant reminder because I’m still convinced that every emotion needs to be “solved” in one way or another.
With that being said, I find that talking to someone (especially my mom) is the best way to “deal” with negative emotions. But, really, it’s just my way of verbally honoring my emotions. So in that case maybe dealing with emotions and honoring them are kind of the same thing…?
I agree! Talking them out with your mom is a wonderful way of honoring them by expressing them or “dealing” with them. Just feeling them and letting them out is all you have to do for them to pass.
I am a firm believer in food journals in general! I think there are so many things that go on in our lives that do revolve around food. I don’t do a food mood journal, but I do know what effects me now. I used to have more problems with it, but I have come to understand what my triggers are and I know what to avoid or at the very least, keep to a minimum. Journals can hold you accountable too. Great post!
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Well, the food mood journal isn’t really about food triggers, it is about getting to the bottom of emotional eating issues. I believe that food triggers, in most cases, are ultimately emotional anyway, I think that when have a particular food that triggers us, we have to figure out why that food has that power over us. Emotional eating isn’t about food, it is about what the food represents. I also think accountability has to come from within.
i love this idea…i’ve tried keeping a journal before, but it was really hard to remember to write it all down. it started to turn into something that i would feel really guilty about if i forgot to do it or didn’t have time to do in the moment. i love the fact that moods are incorporated though!
I’ve never kept a food mood journal, but I think if I did I would find some mindless eating and probably get to the bottom of it. I am so set on sticking with routines that sometimes I eat when I’m not hungry, just because I’m used to eating at that time.
thank you for writing this! i think 99.% of food bloggers keep track of their daily intake (uh, most often on their blogs, duh!) but it is rare that we actually pause and eat mindfully by noting our emotional states that accompany that hunger/meal. when i worked with a dietitian she had me keep a similar journal and it was really important for my recovery!
I think this is exactly what I need.. instead of just tracking calories I really need more information about why i’m eating and when to pick out patterns and make changes
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I started keeping a food mood journal at the request of my therapist. Mostly, I’m supposed to look at the times I’m eating when I’m not hungry. It’s been really helpful and I now have better understanding of why I eat when I’m not hungry.
I love the food journal concept. It really can help find the route of eating problems. I’ve never used one, but I’ve thought about it to figure out my eating triggers.
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I just wanted to thank you so much for commenting on my blog so I could find YOUR blog. I am kind-of beginning to eat intuitively and I’ve read back through a lot of your blogs. They are so helpful. I am adding you to my Google Reader because I can’t wait to read more. :)
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I really need to start doing this. I have been keeping a food journal for some time, but need to pay more attention to how I feel. Sometimes I eat when I am not that hungry because I feel like I should; other times I try to wait until I am really hungry to put off eating and then end up overeating. It is definitely something I need to be more conscious of on a daily basis to try to improve my eating habits. It is so hard though! Eating for emotional reasons when you are also physically hungry is something that I am really struggling with.
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Christie- so so true and enlightening. I completely agree on the importance of understanding the feelings/moods we’re in when we eat. As you know, and we have discussed, emotional eating has been a part of my life for many many years and learning to decipher the feelings I’m having when I’m turning to food out of reasons other than hunger has been the most awakening experience. When I first started losing weight, I kept a journal of what I was eating. THis (though it’s not the same as the journal you speak of) was really helpful for me to see all the things I never realized I was eating. WHen I was morbidly obese, I barely took note of the packs of Ring Dings I was eating at midnight. But when I was mid way through losing all of the weight, I realized that more important than the content of a day’s eating was the feelings I held towards those foods and eating in general.
Over the years, I’ve stopped actually writing anything down, but the checking in with myself and the awareness I’ve tried to cultivate has helped me to open up. THanks for posting about this- because I believe in it very strongly. You are shedding light upon the keys to unlocking a lasting and healthy, mindful, peaceful, relationship with our bodies and our spirits.
-Andrea
I agree that it does seem like alot…but it is very pivotal and important to do. However, I still don’t feel “ready”…I know it’s such a cop-out, but I’m scard to death to acknowledge all the mistakes I make and when I overdo it for no reason, I know it’ll only make me feel worse to analyze it…
Christie – is it ever too late?? I feel like changes are tiny, tiny, but every step forward is about 10 back as well…but I just hope one day things will balance as well…I just fear that it’s always too late…I guess alot of people make dramatic changes though (look at the Biggest Loser)…okay bad example …;)
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I don’t think it is ever too late, better late than never, I’d say. But, I’d also encourage you to look at the reasons why you are so afraid and ask yourself if you want to live the rest of your life this way because of fear. It’s scary, I’ve been there but you can do it. Feel free to email me privately if you wish.
Sorry this has taken me so long to respond to! I have kept a food mood journal over the years to help me cope a lot with eating out of anxiety, guilt and stress. it has certainly helped a lot, but the sheer concept of food journaling has never been healthy for me…so there’s an odd balance i’ve had to find while I do the mood part!
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I need to revisit Intuitive Eating again. It was my go-to for some time, but then I made the mistake of wanting to lose weight and then became discouraged. Of course that is not it’s purpose.
You bring up so many good points and I am going to try the food journal format you suggest. I have gotten lost in my head, but it’s high time I bust some of my mysteries! Especially the ones that hinder my mental health. You are going to be a fabUlous wellness coach. I just love this site. It has helped so much.