Tracking Your Food – All Your Whys and Hows Covered! #SummerHealthChallenge

The cornerstone of all successful health and weight loss systems is tracking what you ate. When I joined Weight Watchers, I did it and hated it! It’s a pain in the ass and it seems useless… Buuuut it’s probably the most important thing you can do when learning to eat healthier! Here’s why tracking what you eat us so beneficial.

1- It keeps you accountable

When you have to write down everything that you eat, you’re less likely to make bad decisions. It’s quite different to eat a slice of cheesecake then it is to see it written as part of your record when you’re trying to lose weight. Now with several free food tracking apps, it’s easy to see how much calories and fat is in the food you just ate. Yup, even if you don’t know the calories, they’re still there and available at a moment’s notice…Buzzkill!

2- You can notice trends in your weight with the foods ate.

This comes in especially handy when you start your change to healthy habits. It takes time to figure out what foods help you lose weight and how you gain weight. I had to look over my records a few times to figure out where I was going wrong. It could be I was eating too many processed foods with too much sodium and not drinking enough water. I have even eaten too little, that can also cause you not to lose weight. So having this record serves as an amazing way to learn from your past behavior.

3- Learn portion control

Tracking what you ate is great, but without the portion size, it doesn’t mean much. An important part of eating healthy living is knowing what a portion is and what it looks like. To track effectively, make sure you are measuring what you eat. Healthy eating without portion control is like trying to paddle a canoe with your hands, it may work for a bit but not very well. Weighing potato chips will ruin the fun of eating them… but maybe that’s a good thing!

4- Make you think twice about your food choices

In the time is takes for you to record what you are going to eat, you may have changed your mind. The mere fact that you gotta write down something you are not proud of may be enough to stop you… think of it as positively negative reinforcement.

5. Learning different, healthier choices

Here is an example: Tonight I ate a cheeseburger for dinner. If I would have looked up what it all added up to I would have decided on something else. If I knew I was gonna have a cheeseburger I would have skipped the 3 small cookies and 1 oz. of potato chips.

Lessons: Plan ahead and know what dinner will be, eat low calorie (veggie or fruit) snacks, Track ahead.

Just by seeing the calories you consumed and the choices you made, you are armed to make better decisions in the future!

What to Track

There more detailed the information, the more benefit there is to you! Information like:the brand of bread or the exact number of ounces of meat you ate. It can help gain insight and learn.

1- The food you ate

Be as specific as you can be here. What was the brand of the food?

2- Portion size

Measuring your food is a real pain in the ass, but essential to tracking your food intake. What good is knowing you had pasta for dinner if you don’t know how much. STILL to this day, I measure my pasta when I eat it at home!

3- Nutrition information

Nowadays with all these fancy free apps you can get compete nutritional information on just about ANYTHING you eat. You can even enter recipes to see the nutritional information too! Thank you smart phones!

4- Time of day or meal type

Knowing when you at food can be just as important! Are you eating too much late at night? When do you consume the most calories? This information can help you to avoid your own pitfalls.

5- Water intake

Drinking enough water is essential to a healthy diet. You should be drinking at least 8 glasses per day. Water can help flush out excess sodium, keep you full and keep you focused!

Apps to Download for Food Tracking

Here are a couple apps you may like to try for your food tracking!

1- My Fitness Pal

I have a few friends that use this app and they are happy with it. It will remember the trends of what you eat and make it easier to input. Making it easier means you will keep up with it.

2- My Plate

This is the app I am using. I like the graphs it shows of how much carbs, fat etc and the distribution of it. The layout is easy to understand and they have sooooo many foods already inputed, all you need to do is search for something! You can also track you exercise and water consumption.

3- Calorific 

This app is great for visual learners and those that hate counting calories. It divides foods into green, yellow and red like a stop light. You can see the distribution of your healthy choices and see what your portion sizes should look! I may get this for myself!

4- Lose it

Great app for those with a weight loss goal. Lose it will let you know how many calories to eat and will also let you track your weight. It is favored by many and very popular.