Check what and how much you are eating

Jan 22 2008 By Diane Parkes

CONSTANTLY battling with your weight or worrying about what you are eating?

How many of us think we have eaten a healthy diet, but then wonder why our waistlines are gradually creeping up a size?

While treats are part of a daily diet, there can sometimes be a temptation to over-eat.

In a new book Teach Yourself Eating for Health, author Sara Kirkham suggests one way of checking what we are eating and how much of it - by keeping a food diary.

At first this may seem a bit prescriptive, not to mention time-consuming, but on the other hand it is certainly a way of monitoring what we eat.

Sara explains: "A good start to a healthy diet is to create a list of the foods you eat each day - this is known as a food diary - and assess it.

"Ask yourself the following questions and add up how much of each type of food you ate at the bottom of your food diary - the numbers of servings you ideally want to consume are shown in brackets after each food group:

* How many meals were based upon starchy carbohydrates? (recommended three)

* How many servings of fruit and vegetables were eaten? (minimum five)

* How many servings of dairy foods were eaten? (two to three)

* How many servings of protein foods were eaten? (two to three)

* How many fatty or sugary foods were eaten? (minimum)

And she suggests there are additional benefits to keeping a food diary:

* Monitor your water intake, aiming for eight glasses a day.

* Monitor intake of coffee and alcohol.

* Add how you are feeling after each meal which helps you pinpoint foods that might not suit you.

Keeping a food diary makes you more aware of what you are and are not eating, often prompting healthier eating habits.

* It can also help with weight loss.