Tracking Your Foods: The Right Way To Do It

By Melanie Fox


When you decide to go on a diet one of the very first things that you will learn is that it is important to record what you eat during the day. Keeping your meal log not only helps you see clearly what you are having, it helps you see what you are not eating. One example is that, after following your food for a few days you might realize that you are consuming far too many sugars and unhealthy fats but not nearly enough organic nutrients. When you write everything down you'll be able to see which parts of your diet must change as well as have a simpler time figuring out what kind and how long of a workout you need to do to shrink your waist line and burn the most calories.

But what if you write every single thing down but still can't figure out how to shed weight? You can monitor your food the correct way or the wrong way. A food record is a lot more than just a simple list of the foods you eat during a day. Other sorts of important information will certainly need to be written down also. Here are a few of the things you need to do to be more successful at food tracking.

Be as specific as possible when you write down what you consume. You have to do more than just write down "salad" into your food record. Write down every one of the ingredients in the salad as well as the type of dressing you used. You should also record just how much of the foods you are eating. "Cereal" is just not as good an entry as "one cup Honey Nut Cheerios." It is important to remember that the larger your portions, the more calories you will be eating so you need to know just how much of every thing you actually eat so that you can figure out how many calories you will need to work off.

Write down what time it is while you eat. This can help you figure out precisely what times of day you feel the most hungry, when you usually reach for snacks and then you can learn how to deal with those times. You'll see, for example, that even though you eat lunch at the very same time every day, you also--without fail--start to snack as little as an hour later, every day. You should also be able to see whether or not you might be eating because you're bored. This is important because all those are situations that you can choose other things to fill your time with than food.



What kind of spirits are you in when you eat? Write it down! This will show you if you use meals to solve emotional issues. This will likely show you whether or not you gravitate for particular foods based on your mood. Lots of us will reach instinctively for junk food when we feel upset or angry and we are more likely to pick out healthy options when we feel happy or content. Not only will this enable you to notice when you reach for particular foods based on your mood, it will help you find ways to keep healthier (but similar) alternatives on hand for those same moods and help you figure out whether or not someone professional can help you deal with the issues that are sending you towards certain foods in the first place.




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