Keeping Track Of What Exactly You Take In: How To Do It Correctly

By David Adams


When you begin a diet one of the most often heard pieces of advice is to keep a food log in which you write down every thing you eat during the day. Keeping your meal journal not only helps you see clearly what you are consuming, it helps you see what you are not eating. One example is that, after following your nutrition for a few days you could realize that you are consuming far too many sugars and unhealthy fats but not nearly enough organic nutrients. Having it all written down will help uou recognize the parts of your diet that need to change as well as how much exercise you need to get to make sure that you burn enough calories to keep your waistline in check.

But what if you've been writing everything down and still aren't losing weight? There is a proper way and a wrong way to monitor your food. A food journal is a lot more than just a basic list of the foods you eat during a day. Other kinds of important information are going to need to be written down also. Here are a few of the suggestions that can make it easier to become much more successful at food tracking.

Be as precise as possible get when you write down the things you eat. It isn't enough to list "salad" in your food record. Write down all the ingredients in the salad and also the type of dressing you used. You must also include the quantities of the foods you consume. "Cereal" won't be sufficient although "one cup Fiber One cereal" is okay. Remember the more you consume of something the more calories you eat so it is very important that you list quantities so that you know exactly how much of everything you're eating and how many calories you need to burn.

Write down the time that you are consuming items. This will allow you to find out just what times of day you feel the most hungry, when you usually reach for snacks and then you can figure out how to deal with those times. After a few days you'll see that even if you might be eating lunch at the same time every day, you are still hungry an hour later. This will even help you identify the occasions when you start to eat simply to give yourself something to do. This is incredibly helpful because knowing when you're vulnerable to snacking will help you fill those times with other activities that will keep you away from the candy aisle.



Write down how you feel while you eat. This helps you pinpoint when you use food to help soothe emotional issues. It also assists you to see clearly which foods you have a tendency to choose if you are in certain moods. Lots of us will reach instinctively for unhealthy foods when we feel disappointed or angry and we are more likely to pick out healthy options when we feel happy or content. Not only will this let you notice when you reach for specific 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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