Note: please consult with a doctor or physician before starting a new eating plan

A great way to change your eating habits and lose weight is to keep a food diary. You'll be surprised at how much you’ll learn about yourself by writing down what you eat. If you already keep a personal journal, starting a food diary should be easy as you’re used to writing things down on a regular basis. If you’re not a regular journal keeper, start off gradually with your food diary

"Try starting with a three-day food diary," recommends Charles Stuart Platkin, aka The Diet Detective (www.dietdetective.com). "It's a challenge to take a good, hard look at what you eat for three straight days, but it will help you learn a lot about your eating habits and discover clues that can help you develop a healthy diet plan."

So how to begin? Platkin recommends getting a small notebook that’s easy to carry in your purse or pocket. Scraps of paper will work, too. As you enter information in your food diary, keep the following in mind:

• Keep it real. Record everything that goes into your mouth, including beverages, even samples at the grocery store.
• Recognize portion distortion. Be honest about size. As a general rule, assume you’re eating 30-40% more than you think.
• Don’t make excuses. Be committed for at least three days to entering information in your diary. Keep your journal in the car, your office, your purse, wherever you can easily access it.

Along with writing down what and how much you eat, note down other factors such as:

• Time of day and where you were when you ate
• Your mood when you ate (e.g., happy, sad, stressed, relaxed, etc.)
• Triggers. What prompted you to eat? It could be a mood, an event, craving a certain food.
• Who were you with? Were you alone?
• Were you hungry? How hungry?
• Did you eat quickly? Slowly?

At the end of three days, take a look through your diary. You should start to see a picture of your eating habits and patterns and why you might be having trouble losing weight. Platkin suggests evaluating a number of things:

• Triggers. Look for patterns of certain emotions and moods, or times of the day, that caused you to eat more.
• Meal patterns. Did you skip any meals? Did you wait too long between meals and overeat because you were too hungry?
• Unconscious eating. Were you snacking on high-calorie, high-fat foods in front of the TV or the computer?
• Planning. Were you eating fast foods or vending machine snacks? This may be a sign of poor planning for meals.
• Unbalanced meals. Were some of your meals heavy in carbohydrates or protein? Not choosing balanced meals can lead to your feeling extra hungry and overeating.
• Fruits and veggies. Your ultimate goal is to get in at least five servings a day.

For a more complete picture of your diet, Platkin recommends setting up your diary online where programs can help calculate calories and nutrients to give you a more complete picture of your diet. Once you see the big picture, you’ll likely find it easier to make healthier food choices to help you on your way to losing weight and eating better.

Rebecca Heaton is a sports and fitness writer and editor who contributes to a number of regional sports and fitness publications around the country.