Journaling & Keeping Records

I consistently record my food intake and weight data in various computer programs.  I have now been doing this consistently every day for almost eight years. ..…. as of the time of this writing, for the past 7 years and 11 months.

The Computer and software program in which I record my food is a useful TOOL. There are many such food journaling programs,  but my own personal choice (at this time) is a program called DietPower. (Update 2018: My Recommended Food Journal for beginners is now  "My Fitness Pal". My behavior of RECORDING my food intake every day forces me to stay aware of my actions, and it keeps me out of Denial. I know what I'm doing, and what I've done, and I continually face my own actions head-on.

 Sitting at the computer and entering the daily data has become a Habit which …most of the time….is an enjoyable one.  It is sometimes emotionally difficult to actually write down Everything I've eaten, but in a way it's similar to a Catholic going to Confession. My frequent input of my total food information often brings a sense of relief and sometimes even personal Absolution, a feeling of pardon or forgiveness.

I am Accountable for my eating BEHAVIOR every day, no matter what it is.
My weights are the RESULTS of my eating Behaviors, and those RESULTS are actually outside my personal control. I am responsible for the food that I put into my mouth (my behavior). I am not responsible for what the scale says (my results) because I cannot control what my body chooses to do with that food.

Therefore,

I am responsible for my Behavior, but not for my Results.

The scale is merely a TOOL that reflects the total weight of one's total body, including fat, water, bones, fecal material etc. It shows the RESULTS of my eating BEHAVIOR.

The scale is without personality. It is not a Judge and Jury of my actions, but is merely a reflection of them.
Ones individual weight on one single day might not be very accurate, but graphing many days of those individual weights gives an extremely accurate picture of the RESULTS of one's eating BEHAVIORS.

Weighing and recording ones weight every day can be emotionally difficult when the scale goes up. This is especially true when the entire weight graph shows an uphill pattern. Watching a downhill, weight-loss pattern feels very rewarding,

but watching an uphill, weight-gain pattern can feel demoralizing.
These are the times when most people choose to stop recording weights.
And, there are days when I feel very reluctant to write down what the scale says.  
There are weeks when I am very unhappy with my weight results,    and I sometimes feel that I'm having an uphill pattern that is unjustified,  but IT IS WHAT IT IS.  I cannot change what I will not face.

People who ACTUALLY keep records of their food intake ALL THE TIME, can gain a great deal of insight into the connection between their body size/weight, and their food intake.

Although I remain open to the knowledge and opinions of nutritional "experts", conventional wisdom or the knowledge and education of any such expert, cannot erase the truth that is shown in long-term detailed personal records.

Due to my consistent daily DietPower journal entries, I now have records of every day of my all of my food eaten since September 20, 2004.  This is just about 1 month short of EIGHT years of personal data.

That data is statistically correct, because all 8 years were handled by me personally, in the same manner.  I've consistently weighed and measured my food, read labels, and followed calorie counting charts.

If I've weighed and measured food incorrectly, or made calorie counting errors (which is impossible to avoid), those inadvertent errors are a consistent part of the long-term process.  Such errors would merely raise or lower the overall caloric levels but does not alter the weight/food-intake relationship.

On my ABOUT ME page here in DietHobby, under the heading RESOURCES, there are a great many links to weight charts and weight graphs showing many details of my first 5 years of personal record keeping.  If you have not done so recently, you might want to review these.  To do so, click the link above.

I also plan to soon write an article  showing detailed charts of my personal food intake, together with a SUMMARY of the relationships between my food intake and weights for the past 8 years.  Watch for it.