Tracking Your Foods: The Proper Way To Do It

By Michael Hicks


When you go on a diet one of the first things that you will learn is that it is important to keep an eye on what you eat during the day. Keeping a food journal helps you determine the foods you are eating as well as the foods you aren't eating. For example, after maintaining a food log for a few days, you might see that you are not consuming very many vegetables but that you are consuming lots of sugar and bad carbohydrates. Having it all written down will help uou identify 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 happens if you write almost everything down but no weight drop off of you? There is a good way and a idle approach to track the food you eat. There is more to food journaling than composing a list of what you eat during the day. You have to note down other vital pieces of information too. Here are some of the hints that can help you become far more successful at food tracking.

You should be very specific whenever you write down the things that you are eating. It is just not enough to list "salad" in your food journal. You should record all of the components within that salad as well as the type of dressing on it. You should include the volume of the food you take in. "Cereal" defintely won't be adequate although "one cup Fiber One cereal" is acceptable. Don't forget that the more of a thing you consume, the more calories you are going to take in so you need to list out the measurements of what you eat so that you will know just how many calories you take in and will need to burn.

Record the time of morning that you take in items. This can help you determine when you feel the most hungry, when you are vulnerable to snack and what you can do about it. After a day or two you could notice that, even though you eat lunch at the same time each day, you still feel hungry an hour or so later. You should also be able to see whether or not you might be eating due to the fact you're bored. This is unbelievably helpful because understanding when you're vulnerable to snacking will help you fill those times with other pursuits that will keep you away from the candy aisle.



Record your mood whenever you eat. This could show you if you use meals to solve emotional issues. It also helps you see clearly which foods you have a tendency to choose when you are in certain moods. Lots of us will reach intuitively for junk food when we feel disappointed or angry and we are more likely to select healthy options when we feel happy or content. Paying attention to what you reach for if you find yourself upset just might help you stock similar but more healthy items in your house for when you need a snack-you could also begin talking to someone to figure out why you cure moods with food (if that is something that you actually do).




About the Author:



Post a Comment

0 Comments