Food Diary Template — Free Printable Food Log (1, 3 & 7 Days) | MyPlate.food

Free printable food diary templates

A printable food log for a class project or your own tracking. Pick a 1-day, 3-day, or 7-day sheet, print it on plain Letter paper, and write down what you eat — with a five-food-group checklist built into every page. Free, no signup, and no download required.

Each day is one page: a row for each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks) with space for the food and the amount, a checklist for the five MyPlate food groups — fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy — and a line for notes.

Doing a food diary project?

The 3-day template is the usual class assignment — two weekdays and a weekend day. Print the 7-day version if your teacher or dietitian wants a full week, and check off the food groups each day: that's usually what the assignment is really grading.

How to keep a food diary

1. Write it down right away. Record foods and drinks as you eat them, not from memory at night — the record is only as honest as it is timely.
2. Note the amount. A cup, two slices, a handful. A rough estimate is fine; being consistent matters more than being exact.
3. Include everything. Meals, snacks, drinks, and the extras that hide the calories — dressing, butter, spreads, and what goes in your coffee.
4. Check off the food groups. Mark which of the five MyPlate groups each day covered: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy.
5. Read it back for patterns. After a few days, look for the gaps — a group you keep missing, a meal that runs large. Spotting the pattern is the whole point.

Food diary questions

How many days should a food diary cover?

For a class assignment, three days is the common length — often two weekdays and one weekend day, since weekends look different. A full week gives a truer picture. Start with the 3-day template and print the 7-day version if your project or dietitian asks for more.

What should I record in a food diary?

Every food and drink, the rough amount, and which meal it was. The extras count too — butter, dressing, and the sugar in your coffee. Each template gives you a row for the food and a column for the amount, so nothing gets skipped.

Why are there food-group checkboxes?

The five MyPlate groups — fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy — are the fastest way to see whether a day was balanced. Checking them off turns a plain list into a quick self-assessment, which is what most assignments are really grading.

Do I have to print it, or can I fill it in on a screen?

These are print-first templates — hit Print and write by hand, the format most teachers expect. If you would rather skip the paper, you can log your meals digitally with the free MyPlate calorie tracker instead.