Tracking Your Meals: The Right Way To Do It

By Elizabeth Wolfe


When you go on a diet one of the primary 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 eating, it helps you see what you are not eating. For example, after retaining a food record for a few days, you might see that you are not taking in very many vegetables but that you are consuming lots of sugar and bad carbohydrates. Having it all written down will help uou determine 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 let's say you've been writing every little thing down and still aren't reducing your weight? You can monitor your foods the correct way or the wrong way. There is far more to food journaling than writing a listing of what you eat during the day. You have to record other crucial pieces of information as well. Here are some of the tips that can help you become much more successful at food tracking.

You should be very specific whenever you write down the things that you are eating. It is not adequate to list "salad" in your food journal. Write down all of the ingredients in the salad and also the type of dressing you used. You should include the volume of the food you take in. "Cereal" won't be adequate however "one cup Fiber One cereal" is fine. It is very important to keep in mind that the bigger 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.

Record the time of day time that you consume things. This helps you determine when you feel the most hungry, when you are vulnerable to snack and what you can do about it. You'll see, for example, that although you eat lunch at the identical 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 happen to be eating since you're bored. This is critical because, once they are recognized, you can find alternative ways to fill those moments than with unhealthy foods.



Write down your emotions while you eat. This really helps to show you whether or not you decide on food as a response to emotional issues. This may also show you whether or not you gravitate toward particular foods based on your mood. There are lots of people who seek out junk food when they feel angry or depressed and are just as likely to pick out healthy things when they feel happy and content. Not only will this allow 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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