Creating a Food & Mood Journal with Practice Better

November 22, 2023

How a Food & Mood Journal Can Help Clients Create and Maintain Healthy Habits

Making nutritional changes that last is a challenge that many clients may struggle with. Without accountability and support, this can feel impossible. The Practice Better Food & Mood Journal offers your clients a variety of ways to access the support and accountability needed to make these changes.

Food Journal: A Robust Nutritional Database

The Food & Mood Journal is equipped with a food database that includes 600,000+ food and beverages, including 140,000+ restaurant items. The journal is a great tool to use with clients to increase their awareness, engagement, keep them motivated, and help you gain insight into their nutrient intake and mood in relation to the foods they are eating.

Personalized Food & Mood Journal Targets for Clients

You can choose to set personalized targets for your clients to help them with their goals.  For example, you can set a daily water intake or nutrient consumption goal. Targets are a great way to keep track of a client’s progress as well as give them direction on what to aim for each day. Journal targets can also give clients self-accountability because they can observe their own progress towards achieving these set goals and targets.

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A view of set nutrient targets and current daily progress in the client dashboard.

Without ever leaving Practice Better, your clients can record their food, mood, and water intake.

Reaching Client Goals: The Power of Journal Targets

Journal targets are more than just numbers; they’re a strategic approach to health management. By setting specific goals for nutrient intake, hydration, weight management, activity levels, and sleep, practitioners can provide a structured path for clients to achieve their wellness objectives. This feature not only tracks progress but also fosters a sense of accomplishment and motivation.

Why Journal Targets Matter

  • Client Empowerment: Targets give clients a clear and attainable set of goals, promoting self-awareness and accountability.
  • Progress Tracking: As a practitioner, you gain insightful data to tailor your guidance and support effectively.
  • Enhanced Engagement: Visible targets encourage clients to engage more actively with their health journey.

A Glimpse into Setting Journal Targets

In our video tutorial, we demonstrate the simplicity and effectiveness of this feature. From setting hydration goals to monitoring sleep patterns, we cover the comprehensive aspects of journal targets.

Key Highlights

  • Customizable Targets: Set specific goals for each client, based on their unique needs and health objectives.
  • Nutrient Management: Tailor nutrient intake goals, like protein and fiber, to address specific dietary requirements.
  • Client Portal View: Clients can easily view their progress, understanding where they excel and what areas need more focus.

To fully grasp the potential of journal targets and how to implement them in your practice, we invite you to watch our detailed tutorial link below. This step-by-step guide offers valuable insights and practical tips to make the most out of this feature.

Food Tracking

Options for food tracking that you can provide to your clients include:

  1. Searching the food database for their specific food item
  2. Using a barcode scanner to scan packaged food or beverages
  3. Writing what they ate in their own words free form entries
  4. Uploading a photo of their meal
  5. Creating custom meals that can be saved and reused

By default, clients using the food database will be shown the nutritional information unless otherwise specified by you in your settings. This allows them to easily keep track of their nutrient targets as nutrient totals are added automatically. Clients entering Free Form entries can write what they ate in their own words. This generates an optional estimated nutritional breakdown based on the client’s description of the food they consumed.

For your clients’ convenience, foods they eat regularly or on rotation can easily be copied directly from previous days.

food-journal-practice-better
Example of copying food entries from one day to another.

Hiding Nutrient Details

If you prefer not to show clients nutrient details, you can disable this on a client-by-client or account level. This would allow your clients to continue to enter their food information without them seeing any caloric or nutritional information while still keeping it visible to you in your Practitioner Portal.

Hunger Tracking & Mood Journaling

After clients input their food information, they can optionally record the location of their meal, the hunger levels before and after eating, and the client’s mood before and after eating. These added details are great for tracking symptoms, progress, and providing clients with more accurate feedback based on their mood entries.

Food and mood journal in Practice Better
An example of tracking eating location, hunger level, and mood in the client dashboard.

Providing Feedback in the Food & Mood Journal

To keep your clients motivated and engaged, you can post comments or use emojis on their journal entries. This is a great way to reinforce a good food choice or give them feedback on something they should change up. No more need to wait until your next session!

To learn more about using the Food & Mood Journal click here. Or get started for free with a 14-day trial.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on October 26, 2023, and has been revamped for accuracy and comprehensiveness.


Practice Better is the complete practice management platform for nutritionists, dietitians, and wellness professionals.

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