Ok, so I have always been told that keeping a food journal is so important. The problem is, I really hate doing it! How vital do you think a food journal is?

I said most days of the week because lately I start writing everything down in the morning and then by evening, I forget all about it! I really think I do so much better, meaning eating better choices than junk food, if I write it down. I also lose weight better when I keep track of everything.

For me, having a food journal has become very important recently.

I was scheduled for banding on May 5th, but when I got into the OR, my liver was too big that they couldn't put the band in. I thought I had done a good job at my weeklong, high-Protein, low-carb, liver-shrinking diet before hand, but apparently not.

Now I'm back on the diet and I'm actually keeping a food journal and now I can see why I didn't do well before! There are SO MANY CARBS in a lot of foods you would never expect - veggies, fruits, dairy, etc, and eating a lot of unknown carbs is what hurt me the first time around.

Now I'm doing it the right way, everything I eat (including condiments!) I write down, and I list the serving size, calories, fat, and carbs. I keep my carbs to 30g a day maximum and my fat under 30% of my calories.

I'll tell you, it's hard to do, but having been in for surgery and coming out with all the same scars, and the same pain, but without the band was such a major dissapoinment that it completely keeps me from cheating.

Everytime I want something bad, I just ask myself, "would I rather have this cookie, or have the band" and I'm right back on track.

I have been told by my dietitian that it is very important to keep one. It helps keep track of what you eat and how many calories go into your body. I have a very difficult time keeping one and I know my dietitian gets upset with me. I just cant remember to do it.

See, I am a major computer and gadget geek. So, using the daily plate is just another excuse for me to play on the computer. I also like that I can access their mobile site via my blackberry as well. So, no matter where I am, I really have no excuse for not checking what I am eating and recording it.

I use sparkpeople.com

Very easy to use.

I keep a food journal of all I eat each meal calories each meal how i felt when I ate what I was doing and add all the calories up at the end of the day. It helps me control what I intake and helps me know how many calories I need to burn when I exercise. It's very helpful and it's helped me lose weight. :cool2:

It may have been mentioned earlier, but I use fitday.com

I really like how I can create a "library" of my own custom foods.