In the past, when working with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, you may have been required to track your food intake for a couple days via a “pencil to paper” record. While clients can benefit from this outdated process, this detailed record can be tedious, too calorie-focused, time consuming, and at most times inaccurate. Food quality is overlooked and too much emphasis is spent on quantity… which can lead to psychological dangers with eating and an unhealthy relationship with food. In most cases, the clients get frustrated and discouraged and stop logging altogether.
So what’s a better solution?
Step aside manual logging and welcome… Photo Food Journaling. Photo food journaling is the way to go. With my nutrition clients, I utilize Healthie, a client-friendly portal and app for photo-driven journaling and communication. Clients can quickly snap a picture, post it to the app, write a brief description, rate hunger levels, and perceived healthiness of a meal. This approach removes barriers to journaling, encourages more clean eating, increases compliance, and focuses on mindfulness in food choices.
Are there more benefits of photo food journaling?
To name a few… discover why you eat when you aren’t hungry (boredom, stress, anger…), how you eat differently with different groups (family, versus spouse, versus alone…), how much you’re truly eating (grazing mindlessly versus conscious choices), how fast you eat, and how you feel after eating certain foods (energy, mood, digestion issues…)!
In summary, a lot of self-reflection and self-findings can be discovered through a simple photo! Using a portal like Healthie makes it easy, and working with an RDN helps you achieve your health and wellness goals even quicker.
Interested in learning more about Healthie? Check it out HERE.
Have questions for me about one-on-one nutrition counseling and meal planning? Schedule your complimentary Discovery Call today by clicking HERE. Reach out to info@nicoleolenrdn.com with any questions!
