Keep track of your healthy eating progress

Keeping track of what you eat each day and when can help you make healthier choices.

Using a food diary at the start of your journey can help you spot habits that you'd like to change. This helps you to set your goals. The diary can also help you stay on target to reach your healthy eating goals.

You may think you're eating healthily. But you don't get an honest picture if you eat without paying attention. Filling in your diary as near to the time you eat or drink is best to get a realistic picture of what - and how much - you've had.

And remember that the diary also captures your helpful habits too. Use it to spot things you'd like to do more of, such as a dinner with lots of veggies.

Use a diary to monitor your eating

We've provided a 'healthy eating' diary that you can save to your device. It can be useful to start with monitoring what you eat and drink for one week at a time.

Save a copy of the healthy eating diary (PDF) [171KB]

You can look back through each day and see not only what you're eating but also when you're eating certain foods. Are there any triggers or situations that make you more or less likely to eat healthily? Are there differences between weekdays and the weekend?

You may also want to look at your diary and consider:

• When are you managing to make 'healthy' choices?
• Are you eating at consistent times throughout the day?
• Are you able to eat from all the recommended food groups?
• Are you eating enough fruit and vegetables?
• Are your choices of snacks healthy ones?

You can use the Healthy Eating diary as often as you like if it helps you to keep track of what types of foods you are eating.

Other ways to check your healthy eating

There are many apps and websites with monitoring tools that you might like to try. If you've decided to use a diary or monitoring tool, it's important to note everything you eat down. This will help you see patterns in your eating and the foods and drinks that you chose to consume and when.

Being accurate will help you achieve your healthy eating goals. There's no right or wrong when completing these diaries or tools. They just need to be true to you and make sense for the healthy eating goals you've set yourself.

Suggested apps

NHS 12-week weight loss plan

This app is free to use. Public Health England created it in partnership with the NHS. It can help you manage your weight through physical activity and healthy food choices.

It also has trackers so you can monitor your diet.  You can access the app via NHS Live Well and it's endorsed by the NHS.

Lose It

It's free to sign up for this app, but it offers in-app purchases. It can help you to set personalised goals and track your food. It also offers meal ideas and teaches you about different types of foods.

You can access the app at www.loseit.com. It's not endorsed by a registered UK public body or organisation.

Lifesum Health App

You need to pay to use this app. It can help you make meal plans and offers hundreds of healthy recipes. You can scan barcodes of foods to log them and keep track of its nutritional information.

You can also set your own food goals and customise your health journey. Access the app at lifesum.com. It's not endorsed by a registered UK public body or organisation.

My Fitness Pal

You can sign up for free to this app. It can help you to track calories, set personalised plans and goals as well as scan food barcodes and plan meals. It also offers a wide variety of healthy recipes.

Find out more at the My Fitness Pal website. It's not endorsed by a registered UK public body or organisation.

What's next

If you'd like to know more about what sort of foods you should be aiming to eat, see how the Eatwell guide can help you improve your diet.

You may now also want to find out why it's important to check in on your goals and progress.