How Create a Food Diary That Transforms Your Health

Food be thy medicine

For years, every bite my son Elliot ate was a battle to keep him alive.

Feeding him took eight or nine hours a day. He was so sensitive to food that even swallowing was exhausting.

The hospital refused to put in a feeding tube, so we kept him alive one spoonful at a time.

That battle taught me the true power of nutrition.

Every mouthful had to count.

Every gram had to build, not drain. And somewhere in the middle of that fight, I found a simple free tool that changed everything: Cronometer.

Cronometer isn't fancy or complicated. It's a nutrition-tracking app that shows you exactly what's in the food you eat — not just calories, but also vitamins, minerals, and the tiny building blocks your body depends on. When I discovered it, I stopped guessing and started knowing.

It revolutionised Elliot's health, and it reshaped my understanding of nutrition forever.

Today I use it as a teaching tool — not to obsess over numbers, but to learn the language of your body.

So if you’ve never assessed your diet before, here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Download Cronometer and set it up (app or website).

Once you've logged in, you'll land on the diary page —

Your daily dashboard. Here you can see:

• Calories consumed, burned, and remaining, all personalised to you.

  
  

• A breakdown of your macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat) — the big energy sources your body runs on.

  
  

• A view of your micronutrients — the essential vitamins and minerals that keep your cells functioning.

  
  

Cronometer's targets are based on solid nutritional research, but they're flexible enough to fit real life.

You’re not trying to hit perfect numbers — you're learning what balance looks like for you.

Step 2: Add your meals

Tap the orange + button, then select Add Food or scan a barcode.

Whole foods (fruit, vegetables, meat, grains) give you the most accurate data, because they've been analysed thoroughly.

Packaged foods will show what's on the label — still useful, but less detailed.

Weighing ingredients is best if possible. I know — it sounds tedious, but it's eye-opening.

The first time I weighed a piece of chicken, I realised I'd been underestimating my portions for years.

Over a few days, patterns start to appear. You'll see where your meals shine and where they fall short.

Maybe you're getting loads of vitamin C but not enough zinc. Maybe your fat intake is low, or you're missing fibre.

Knowledge replaces guesswork.

Step 3: Review your daily report

At the end of the day, click the three dots at the top right and choose View Daily Report.

This is where the magic happens.

Here you’ll see exactly which vitamins and minerals you're meeting — and which ones are lacking. Remember, Cronometer's recommendations are based on government minimums to avoid disease.

Thriving often requires more.

Don't panic if you're low on something. You can tweak your meals and instantly see the effect.

Try swapping white rice for brown, adding a handful of nuts, or trading a biscuit for an orange. Small swaps make significant changes.

Step 4: Watch your diet evolve

Over five to seven days you’ll start to see a trend.

Maybe weekends are a little off balance. Maybe you're consistently low in magnesium.

This awareness is where healing begins.

For me, it was discovering the power of real foods — oats with coconut oil, vibrant salads with olive oil, soups made from homemade stock, and yes, even chicken liver.

The foods that helped Elliot rebuild are the same ones that nourish all of us.

Simple, natural, dense with life.

Step 5: Keep it kind and curious

Tracking is not about restriction or guilt. It's about information and empowerment.

You're not trying to diet; you're learning to see your nutrition clearly for the first time.

Our bodies are extraordinary construction sites, endlessly repairing, rebuilding, and regenerating. But they need the right materials — proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants.

As Hippocrates said more than two thousand years ago:

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

Cronometer just helps you check that your medicine cabinet — your diet — is stocked.

Ready to take the next step?

If you found this helpful, you’ll love my free 5-day mini-course, where I show you how to rebuild your energy with simple nutrition and body-awareness tools that work in real life.

[Join the free course → on my HOME page.