Photo Food Diary

by Andrew · Published November 22, 2011 · Updated January 2, 2012

Statistics have shown that using a food diary can be one of the best tools for losing those unwanted centimetres around your waist and hips because it can help you become more aware of your eating habits and also encourage you to make conscious choices about what you eat.

Writing down everything you eat and drink is not easy. If you think that keeping a food diary is time consuming, then give this free iPhone app a go. Every time you eat something, simply take a picture of it via The Eatery app, then give it a rating somewhere on the scale of very healthy to very unhealthy and select the portion size.

According to The Eatery’s press release:

“So how does the app work? Got three seconds? Just snap a picture of your food and use the one-swipe portion tool to indicate serving size. The Eatery will send your picture to other people using the app, who will help rate your meal. After only a few days of snapping photos of your meals, you’ll start getting insight into:

What time of day you eat healthiest
Where you eat the best and worst
Whether or not your habits are improving over time
What your fittest and fattest eating habits look like (you’ll get a photo montage of your best & worst days)

The Eatery makes it easy to get feedback and support from your Facebook friends, so they can keep you honest even when they’re not eating with you. Also, your photos are organized in a food feed so you can stay aware of what you’re eating and start recognizing important patterns (e.g. Do your meals tend to look beige? Do most of your photos feature plastic packaging?)”

I tested the app out for about a week and it is very easy and quick to use. You can either use this on your own, or enlist the help of your Facebook friends to give you their ratings, comments and encouragement. However, I would suggest that you turn off Location Services as it automatically attaches the name of the nearest restaurant or other food outlet to your photo, even if you’re eating at home. Below are some screenshots of how the app works [click on the thumbnails to enlarge].

Take a photo of what you're going to eat or drink	Enter a description of the food or drink	Rate the food - somewhere between "Fat" and "Fit"
Select the portion size	Other (anonymous) people can also rate your photos	You get a report at the end of each week