Patent Application
20100270787
Not Applicable
Self-monitoring of one's food intake is known to be important for weight loss. Keeping a food diary, also known as a food journal, has commonly been used as a tool to assist in the self-monitoring of food intake. A food diary is also a useful tool for some people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes.
Food diaries are usually kept on pieces of paper or small notebooks. Journaling in this fashion has some drawbacks. A lot of times the paper ends up crumbled on the bottom of a woman's pocketbook or man's pocket. Food journaling requires the journal to be taken in and out of a pocketbook or pocket many times during the day. Thus the journal can be easily torn, crumbled, misplaced, lost, or just forgotten at home. A notebook journal is not as portable, can be awkward, and also can be easily misplaced or forgotten at home.
The combination of a food journal and a keychain solves the above problems. Downsizing of the food journal to a smaller size and placing it on a keychain to be carried with a set of keys makes the food journal more portable and easier to find. An advantage to having your food journal with your keys is that you are less likely to forget your keys when you leave home than you would your food journal. Now instead of remembering both your keys and your food journal when you leave home, you only need to remember your keys. If you remember your keys, you have automatically remembered your food journal.
In general people are more conscientious about the location or placement of their keys than the location or placement of a food journal. Thus the likelihood of losing your food journal is lessened when it is attached to your keys. Having a food journal attached to your keys also makes it easier to find the food journal in a pocketbook. Instead of rummaging through a pocketbook for pieces of paper that are being used as a food journal, you need only find your keys and your journal is attached.
Also, inspirational charms may be added to the keychain food journal combination as a helpful reminder to stick to a weight loss plan.
The invention is a food journal small enough to fit on a keyring. The journal consists of paper small enough to be comfortably carried on a keychain and bound together to a cover. The paper has a small hole in the upper left corner for insertion of a keyring. The cover surrounds all of the paper except for the upper left corner which is left exposed for the keyring. The cover may contain any kind of logo, artwork, or design. The keyring may or may not contain inspirational charms to assist injournaling. The journal paper may be printed with spaces for the date and columns for entries of meals, snacks, calories, etc. The paper may also be printed to help a person conform to a specific diet if necessary.
