A FOOD ROUTINE DIARY WITHOUT CALORIE COUNTING
Original optional one-week record for ordinary adult routines.
A week is a convenient layout, not a treatment duration.
No calorie column, body-weight goal, food judgement or required hunger score.

MY ONE ROUTINE QUESTION:
SCOPE: meals or times I choose to record; keep that scope visible.
Unknown = not recorded or not remembered; do not infer no food.

MONDAY
Repeat this entry for the meals you choose to record:
Time or part of day / approximate or remembered:
Food or drink in ordinary words:
Relevant preparation, access, schedule or help:
Optional note / unknown information:

TUESDAY
Repeat this entry for the meals you choose to record:
Time or part of day / approximate or remembered:
Food or drink in ordinary words:
Relevant preparation, access, schedule or help:
Optional note / unknown information:

WEDNESDAY
Repeat this entry for the meals you choose to record:
Time or part of day / approximate or remembered:
Food or drink in ordinary words:
Relevant preparation, access, schedule or help:
Optional note / unknown information:

THURSDAY
Repeat this entry for the meals you choose to record:
Time or part of day / approximate or remembered:
Food or drink in ordinary words:
Relevant preparation, access, schedule or help:
Optional note / unknown information:

FRIDAY
Repeat this entry for the meals you choose to record:
Time or part of day / approximate or remembered:
Food or drink in ordinary words:
Relevant preparation, access, schedule or help:
Optional note / unknown information:

SATURDAY
Repeat this entry for the meals you choose to record:
Time or part of day / approximate or remembered:
Food or drink in ordinary words:
Relevant preparation, access, schedule or help:
Optional note / unknown information:

SUNDAY
Repeat this entry for the meals you choose to record:
Time or part of day / approximate or remembered:
Food or drink in ordinary words:
Relevant preparation, access, schedule or help:
Optional note / unknown information:

THREE FICTIONAL EXAMPLE ENTRIES
Monday, morning | Toast and a drink | A familiar meal was available; enough time to prepare it. | This simple option might fit another workday.
Tuesday, lunchtime | Not recorded; do not infer no food | Back-to-back appointments; details not remembered. | Keep the gap visible; check whether a meal break was possible.
Wednesday, evening | Rice, cooked beans and vegetables | A household member cooked; ingredients already available. | Shared preparation helped. Discuss which day could use similar support.

WEEK REVIEW
I recorded:
Repeated circumstances, with the supporting entries:
What is uncertain or not recorded:
One practical question for next week:
Chosen preparation or access step, if any:
What actually happened after that step:
Keep / change / stop recording:

LIMITS
A short diary does not identify a symptom cause, food allergy, IBS or nutrient adequacy.
Use a clinician-requested record as instructed; discuss monitoring that becomes distressing.
Pause this optional diary if it adds guilt or strict control; seek appropriate support when needed.

SIX FICTIONAL CASES
Case 1: Tuesday’s lunch row is blank. May the weekly review count that as proof that you ate no lunch?
Your answer and reason: ______________________

Case 2: On Friday you remember having a sandwich earlier in the week but cannot remember the time or all its fillings. How should the entry read?
Your answer and reason: ______________________

Case 3: Two entries describe meals that were difficult to arrange on days with no reliable break. Is stricter calorie tracking the diary’s demonstrated solution?
Your answer and reason: ______________________

Case 4: Discomfort followed one meal containing yogurt, bread and fruit. Does that prove yogurt caused it or that you have an allergy?
Your answer and reason: ______________________

Case 5: The week includes several different food groups. Can you certify that it met your nutrient needs without quantities or an appropriate assessment?
Your answer and reason: ______________________

Case 6: You repeatedly reopen the diary to make it perfect and feel guilty about eating something that is not entered. Should you add more fields?
Your answer and reason: ______________________

ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS
Case 1: No. Mark it not recorded, unless you actually know that no meal was eaten.
Missing information and a known missed meal are different facts. Do not convert a diary gap into an eating pattern or a personal score. If you remember only the setting, keep that setting and leave the food unknown.

Case 2: Use remembered, approximate and unknown where they belong.
Write what you genuinely recall, such as sandwich, day uncertain, recalled Friday. Do not turn a reconstructed memory into a precise contemporaneous record. A shorter honest entry remains useful for a preparation question.

Case 3: No. The notes point to a practical access or scheduling question.
Consider whether a break, suitable available food, shared preparation or a change in the work arrangement could help. The record has not measured calorie needs or established a lack of discipline. Choose a realistic next question rather than increasing the scoring burden.

Case 4: No. A time sequence in a short diary does not establish a cause or diagnosis.
Keep the actual observation if it is useful for an appropriate healthcare conversation. Do not start an elimination diet or deliberate reaction test from this row. NIDDK describes diagnosis as a clinician’s assessment of symptoms, history and examination, with tests where appropriate to investigate other conditions.

Case 5: No. Variety notes are not a nutritional adequacy calculation.
The NHS Eatwell Guide provides general food-group context across a day or week; it does not validate this diary or assess an individual’s needs. This record can support practical meal choices without claiming a measured nutrient intake.

Case 6: No. Pause this optional exercise and seek appropriate support if the concern continues.
A routine aid is not useful when it adds distress or strict control around food. NHS guidance identifies very strict food habits and worries about eating as reasons to consider help. This is not a diagnosis; if you think you may have an eating disorder, the NHS advises seeing a GP as soon as possible.

SOURCE REFERENCES
NHS: The Eatwell Guide
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-guidelines-and-food-labels/the-eatwell-guide/
NHS: Overview — Eating Disorders
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/eating-disorders/overview/
NIDDK: Diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/irritable-bowel-syndrome/diagnosis