Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

In his journal entry for June 7, 1962, Indiana records that he was up shortly after nine, a trend that he hoped to continue, noting "lovely working day by non-artificial light!" He writes that he spent the whole day bringing The Dietary into first stage completion, adding the title at the bottom of the painting, and "making it [the] yellow painting instead of a red one," as planned. He notes that now it is his only yellow painting, as Richard Brown Baker has the Nonagon (Polygon: Nonagon).

Indiana also records other happenings that day, including receiving a letter from gallerist Rolf Nelson, who was not coming to New York (from Los Angeles), and sunning on the roof. He notes having dinner in, but going for a walk after, running into artist Fred Mitchell on Wall Street, and then watching John Ciardi's interview of Thomas Hart Benton on Channel 2.

At the end of the entry Indiana again comments on his work: "Now [that] I have a yellow painting it is hard [to] know why I haven’t used this color more. 'The Dietary' comes off very handsomely, transcending the warning aspect of its colors. Had I more canvasses [sic] of this size stretched I would be moved [to] make variations on both 'Dietary' and 'Eateria'—before they pass out of my hands."