Use our Phase 1 Diet Diary Template to Support Your Fast Weight Loss!

During your fast weight loss phase it is vital that you use a diet diary that let’s you track your actions with great detail. At the same time it should of course be quick and easy to use!

Our answer is the Phase 1 diet diary template. Download it completely free as a PDF by clicking the link below! (Opens new window)
Make as many copies for personal use as you need along the way to weight loss success!

What you should track during your fast weight loss phase:

During your fast weight loss phase you should dedicate a whole page to each day. The weight loss journal is split into the four sections, which represent the first four weight loss success keys:

Weight Loss Success Key 1: eat right!

Track the meals of you fast weight loss phase by measuring:

• The time of each meal. This is important, as we want to eat breakfast early to jump-start the metabolism and we don’t want to eat too late at night. Also, we should eat every 2-3 hours, even if it is just a small snack, in order to keep our body and metabolism running and fat-burning all the time.
• The place of each meal. You should note where you eat, especially if it is on the run or in front of the TV. Try to eat where you can fully concentrate on the food and are not distracted by other things
• What types of food you include in the meal and how much of it.
• The calories you eat per meal.
• If you are on a diet plan that calls for a special ratio between carbs, proteins and fat, you should also measure your "CPF Balance".
  Simply get a rough idea how much of the calories you consume from carbs, proteins and fat. Use this box in line with your diet plan. If you are following an Atkins Diet Plan for example, you can just measure the carbs in the CPF Balance box to make sure you stay beneath the daily allowance.
• Follow this up at the end of each day with a self-evaluation by asking yourself how much hunger you felt during the day and how fast you ate.
  
• Remember that eating slowly and concentrating on the food and the taste can help you to feel less hungry and is of course much better for your digestion.
• By tracking your feeling of hunger you can focus on the effect of eating at different times, different foods and ultimately coming up with your own best way for fast weight loss.
• Number of meals. We included 5 lines for meals as a default in the weight loss diary template because you should try to eat 3 meals and 2 snacks in between to keep you metabolism running. Really try to eat every 2 to 3 hours.

Keeping your meals small and frequent is a great way to go! This is especially hard if you are used to "really fill up" once a day by eating a huge supper late at night for example. (That’s a good way to gain weight...) However in that case, switching to small and frequent can really help you to achieve your weight loss goal!

Click here to find out how to save time and make counting calories easy!

Weight Loss Success Key 2: exercise right!

We have included two blocks as a default for your weight loss exercise program. If you only have time to do exercise once a day, just use one line. However, if you have the time, it might help your fast weight loss phase to go for two exercise sessions a day. That is true even if they are together a little shorter that one big one. Each exercise session will kick-start you metabolism and put your body in fat burning mode if done right!

Track the following things about your weight loss exercise program:

• The time and place of exercise.
• What kind of exercise you do for how long.
• Your heart rate in the middle and at the end of your exercise session.
• The calories you approximately burned during the session. See the calorie burning chart page for the calories you will approximately burn.
• Evaluate how you felt doing the exercise. Again, this can help you later to find negative or positive patterns in your approach, help you improve and think about your long-term habits.

Weight Loss Success Key 3: use the right supplements!

Keep track of the weight loss supplements you use during the day. Simply track the time, the supplement type and how much you take of it. It is a good idea to spread your supplements a little bit over the day. A good supplement routine is vital for your fast weight loss phase!

Be sure that you include a check if you have consumed at least half a gallon / 2 liters of water each day!

Weight Loss Success Key 4: win the mental game!

We recommend that you include the weight loss motivation mini-mind games into your daily routine. Try to find a quiet time twice a day and immerse yourself into your weight loss goal!

Follow this up with:

• Evaluate your weight loss motivation of the day. Was it easy to follow the diet plan of the day? Did you make many adjustments to what you had originally planned for that day?
• Write down what the best thing was that happened to you during the day. This will help you to keep a strong positive and thankful attitude!
• Track your general, overall well-being during the day. This will allow you to go back later and separate the good days from the bad days. Maybe you can find things that you did on the good days that should become part of your everyday habits, like a certain type of exercise!

Should you visit the weight scale daily?

There is a discussion going back and forth about the question if you should visit the weight scale daily or just once a week.

The default in the fast weight loss journal is that you track your weight daily. This will not only help you to understand your body a little better but also remind you what you want to do every day!

But...really important...

...don’t panic if you gained a little during one day and don’t be too happy if you lost a kilo.

If that happens, remember that the weekly average over one month is much more important than the day-to-day swings. What you really should focus on is your weight loss during one month (should be between 4 to 8 pounds / 2 to 4 kilos) in order to evaluate the success of your weight loss program.

Ultimately you need to see how you feel about visiting the weight scale every day. If you feel better with weekly visits, then go for weekly. A daily visit to the weight scale should help you and your weight loss motivation, not hurt it during the fast weight loss phase!

Your BMI...

Also with regards to your Body Mass Index (BMI), calculate it once a week during your fast weight loss phase and carry over the value you calculated to each day. (Link opens new browser window) This will remind you every day where you are with regards to your BMI, without calculating it every day. Your BMI will of course not change every day.

Do you have useful tips and advice to share, about fast (and safe) ways to lose weight? Share them here!