Have you ever chosen to eat a particular food based on your mood at the time? Or have you noticed a pattern in your food choices based off of your stress level, mood, or time of day? Many of us maintain some sort of eating pattern from day to day, but have you ever paused to think about how those foods make you feel after you eat them, mentally and physically?
Keeping a food and mood journal can help us recognize patterns in food choices, moods, and more. A food and mood journal is anything you can use keep track of what you ate and how you felt when you ate it. Identifying patterns in our food choices in relation to mental state or mood, stress level, emotions, and physical feelings can help us make more informed choices about food in the future. The whole idea is to do what is best for our bodies and minds in each new moment.
Examples of things you might start to notice:
- What hunger feels like to you (headaches, stomachaches, lightheadedness, irritability)
- How you feel after eating certain foods
- The time of day you are the hungriest
- How you feel after exercise
- The impact stress has on your mood and food choices
It is your choice what to include in your food and mood journal! I’ve created a free template for you to download for inspiration at the end of this post. But, your journal can just be on notebook paper, if you’d prefer! Use whatever format that will help you stay consistent and that will help you highlight the things you want to monitor. You can complete a food and mood journal entry as often as you’d like. The more often you do it, the more likely you are to notice patterns.
The purpose of a food and mood journal is self-discovery. Learning to become more aware of your physical and mental feelings in relation to food can bring insights about yourself to light. Try it and see what you learn about yourself!
Photo by Ana Tavares on Unsplash
