Creating A Food Journal

I have made alot of progress on my journal tonight. It's slowly coming together but at least it's coming. I wanted to share some photos as I put it together. I still need an index page and extra sections for more stuff I want to include. Creating this journal has already made the past few days of my life easier. I can quickly get information on my daily intake values, daily macronutrient values, track my eating each day, pull new clean eating recipes when foods get boring, quick reference for on-the-go eats and snacks, meal plans, ready-made shopping lists to eliminate impulse buys or long supermarket trips, a wish list for cookbooks/books on eating clean, and new product lists to try. My journal is only halfway complete but I'm glad I'm taking the time to do it. Doing it now will make living this lifestyle easier and will help you be prepared when unwanted cravings strike. Pick up your journal, hold yourself accountable, ask, "Should I be eating this?" and "What is a healthier alternative?" Look at your food log and crunch numbers to find out what the food ratio is. If it spills over, pick a different food to eat or replace your hunger by drinking a bottle of water. Just think before you act!

First Things First

Starting a Journal or Diary is really important. Keeping track of progress, foods we eat, macro nutrient values, meal planning and preparing all help in our success to good eating habits. I highly recommend taking the time to put one together, fancy or not, but half-way organized will make it easier to search for that specific recipe, snack food, or shopping list. Convenience is key, as well as simplicity. I don't really like to cook, not that I'm lazy but I can mess up even the easiest recipe. I already have this week, Ha! Anyway I started putting mine together today. I have been compiling literature and recipes all this week. I have copied recipes and meal plans from magazines, the Internet and books. I purchased a three ring binder and plastic dividers and made an index of how I wanted to organize each section. I am still working on it now. I will let you know how I organized mine when I'm finished. Remember, this will make changing our lifestyle much easier and convenient. Be sure and make the time to start your diary, work on it a little bit at a time. Baby steps!

Please Enter...a new chapter!

I have made it through my first figure competition and have decided to open another chapter in the book of life! Nutrition and eating healthy is really important to me and staying motivated is sometimes hard to do. If we can find a purpose in our mission to being strong and healthy we are more likely to be successful at maintaining a clean eating lifestyle. I find that staying on a track to healthy living should be a high priority on our "things to do in this lifetime list." My mission is to devote my life to learning more about healthy, natural, organic foods and bring my kitchen closer to what nature intended. Here, I will share new foods and recipes I learn about, cookbook reviews, product reviews (my opinion), tips on how to make eating well a lifelong habit, (notice I didn't say dieting), and tons of fun stuff! My philosophy is when one door closes, find another one to open and enter in without fear, for fear may paralyze you. This is my next opportunity to continue on a path to healthy living and share with you my journey. Enter in and devote your life to eating clean.