Warning, this post might make you hungry!

I love food. I mean I really love food. The bad thing about having a love affair with food is that it is hard to say no to calories. For me, it is really hard to put down the doughnut or walk away from the Pepsi. Eating an occasional candy bar or ice cream isn't a bad thing. I enjoy what I eat and eat what I enjoy.

Sometimes my love of food gets a little out of control (like a daily chocolate bar or I get into the habit of a dessert after every meal) and I have to slow down and take a break from the junk. I find myself with a mini-addiction to things that are really fattening or I notice that my clothes aren't fitting quite right and I need to evaluate my portions.

Last weekend in KC, I was eating a giant burger at Mary's and scarfing down onion rings....and I realized that I needed to take a break from fried food and fattening snacks. (Especially after seeing a picture of my face that looked gross and fat--I am sure you can all relate to those types of pictures!) Disgusted, I made a plan. Monday I started getting up early to workout and I also started a food journal.

A food journal is my way of making myself accountable for what I put into my body. I force myself to write down everything I eat or drink for at least a month so that eating healthy things becomes more of a habit and eating a treat now and then becomes truly a treat. By keeping a record of everything that I am putting in my body, I am more accountable to myself. By putting it in writing I am able to glance over a week's worth of data and see how much water I drank vs. how many Pepsi-cola's. I can see how many times I ate veggies vs. how many times I had dessert.

I also went shopping and bought some oatmeal (I am slowly making myself a fan of this once-despised food!), fruit, veggies, low fat cheeses and soy milk. I've been eating oatmeal or Greek yogurt every day for breakfast....using lowfat vanilla soy milk as a high-protein snack after school, eating low-calorie lunch meat or salad for lunch...and trying to incorporate healthier veggies into my dinners instead of loaded potatoes. I am feeling good (a little hungry) but my cravings for greasy foods have diminished after a week of abstinence. I allowed myself to eat grilled burgers and hot dogs this weekend and have a giant Pepsi on Saturday, but as long as I am not over-indulging every day, I guess I am getting better!

I've used little notebooks for food journals before but I decided to make this one. I folded some paper over and used a nice sheet of kraft for the cover. I put two staples in the spine and covered it with washi and masking tape.

 I painted a hot pink rectangle on the cover and drew in some lettering. I also drew some little campers....a fun little summer cover!!

 I have a page for every day and I list everything from mustard to water....and sometimes I make grocery lists at the bottom!

What do you do to make yourself accountable for what you put in your body? Do you keep a journal or use an online site for keeping track of what you eat? I am sure there is an app for that...but I like this low tech option, it works for me!