Food Journaling: Health Goal Nightmare or Savior?
I hate tracking my food. Really. Taking the time to stop and enter everything I eat is a tedious task I often feel I just don’t have time for.
I first started tracking my food way back in 2005 when I was preparing for my wedding. At the time, I just tracked my calories.
I had this little notebook I would carry around and write down everything that passed my lips. Then I would use the “Kalories are King,” reference guide to find the calories on everything and tallied it up. No, Myfitness Pal was not a thing back then.
Tracking this away allowed me to hit my weight loss goals and then some.
Now over a decade and two children later, the idea of tracking my food feels like just another thing on my to-do list.
When I work with my clients, I encourage them to be mindful of what they are putting in their bodies, pay attention to how they feel after they eat certain foods, and consume their food slowly to allow for time for proper digestion.
Every now and again I use my own body as a test subject to see how different combinations of food make me feel. This time I started by tracking what I was eating. One thing that I discovered was that I was consuming almost 50% fat.
While these fats were coming from nutrient dense foods such as avocados, nuts, and olive oils, 50% was a bit higher than expected.
Another thing I noticed was that many of my calories were coming in after 2 pm. I have always been mindful of not eating too late, but with the boys’ sports and other activities sometimes it’s inevitable.
Recently I have made a shift in diet by increasing protein, decreasing fat, and having one main meal after 2pm.
The results were that my sugar cravings have decreased, and I don’t feel the urge to eat very much late in the day.
Now I wasn’t the only one who found benefit to tracking food.
A study in the Journal of Diabetes Research followed patients over 12 months. They found that not only did the participants who tracked their food consistently (more than 66%) lost a significant more weight, but they also were able to maintain it during holidays.
Tracking food is a personal choice, but I do suggest everyone try it on for size to see how it fits. Give it a shot for two weeks with as much consistency as possible and you’ll be surprised about what great information you receive.
You’ll discover:
· What you really are eating
· When you are eating the most
With a few extra notes you can also learn:
· How you feel when you eat certain foods
· Identify triggers for behaviors that get you off track.
Tips for successful food journaling:
1. Plan out your meals the day before. This will give you an opportunity to pre-log some foods and save you time.
2. Log as you go. It can be difficult to go back and try to remember everything you ate, so it’s best to just try to stay on top of it.
3. Proceed without Judgement. This activity is for information and growth purposes only. There is no room for berating yourself.
A few great tools I have found are:
MyFitnessPal App (large data base of food)
Lose It App
Good old fashion notebook (Yes, just writing down what your eating without the other data is still very helpful information.)
One more thing before you go download that app.
You may be wondering what you do after you logged and learned.
Now, take that information to identify one, maybe two, goals you’d like to take on.
This can be a small as drink more water and as big as eat 150 grams of protein.
Whatever your goal, do your best.
If you forget, just pick up where you left off.
If you don’t quite stick to your goals, forgive yourself and keep taking action.
Remember, this is a journey!
I would love to hear what your experience is with food journaling.
Comment below and share your experience.
In love and health,
Meghan