If you went to a professional dietitian, they would start by talking to you about your life, what you eat, when you eat it, and what adjustments you could make.

That’s because so many of us have no idea what we’re actually eating every day, or why.

We eat because we’re bored, we’re upset, we just feel like a little something. We eat because we’re out with friends, or because someone’s cooked us something special, or just because it’s lunchtime and we feel we should. Sometimes we don’t even know why we eat.

Writing it all down is a great first step towards understanding your eating patterns and how you can change them in a way that will work for you.

Keep a food diary

Keeping a food diary for a week or 2 is a great idea before you make any change to your diet.

It will:

• Create awareness: so you understand exactly what you eat and how much you eat
• Tweak your diet: so you eat more liver-friendly foods throughout the day
• Identify what triggers you to eat: so you can recognise when you’re eating for reasons other than hunger

Fill in this food diary for at least 1 week (preferably 2). Try to be as honest and accurate as you can. No one needs to see it but you.

Download Food Diary Template

Work out what changes you can make

Once you have a clear picture of what you eat and why, you can start to make some changes.

Are you eating enough whole foods? Here are our recommendations:

• 5 serves a day of fruit and veggies
• 2–3 serves a day of dairy
• 5 serves a day of wholegrain bread and cereal
• Fish 2–3 times a week
• Meat twice a week
• Eggs, poultry or rabbit 2–3 times a week
• Tomato-based sauces twice a week
• Use olive oil as your main fat
• Drink water as your main drink

If the answer is ‘no’, then write down where you could maybe add some whole foods into your diet or swap out some of the processed foods and takeaways for something else.

That might be as simple as having a bowl of yoghurt and berries as a snack, adding some beans or lentils to your spaghetti bolognese, or cooking with olive oil rather than butter.

Are your portions too large or unbalanced?

Is every meal you have made of ½ non-starchy veggies, ¼ carbs and ¼ protein? If not, try to adjust what’s on your plate when you can.

Also look at how much you’re eating. Portion size matters, even with healthy foods. Our recipes will give you precise quantities to get you started.

Are you eating too much meat or fat?

Many of us eat more meat and saturated fat than we realise, especially if we follow a typical Australian diet. The Fatty Liver Diet encourages smaller amounts of red and processed meat — around 200g per week in total.

You can also try replacing some meat meals with beans or lentils or opting for leaner cuts of meat and trimming all fat before cooking.

It’s also helpful to think about the types of fats you eat. Olive oil is one of the best choices for liver health, so try using it instead of butter, cream, full-fat dairy or coconut cream more often when you can.

Are you eating a lot of foods that strain your liver?

Saturated fats, sugary foods and drinks, high-salt foods and alcohol all make your liver work harder, so it can’t get on with repairing itself.

We’re not saying you have to cut these out completely, but they should only make a rare appearance in your food diary.

It’s easy to swap these foods for more liver-friendly choices. Check out some ideas here.

Identify your triggers

If you sometimes eat more than you intended to, then the Food Diary can help you understand what triggers you to eat.

Have a look at patterns. Does skipping a meal lead you to eat bigger portions later? Do you eat differently at the weekends? Do you snack on chocolate late at night? Do you nibble at work without thinking about it? Or do you eat because you’re bored?

Think about how you might adjust some of these habits so you can help support your liver health.

Remember, you don’t need to change everything at once. Even one small change will make a difference over time.

back to plan for success Next in the Series: Planning for Real Life