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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Tracking Your Foods: The Way To Do It

By Philip Hunter


When you first start your diet one of several things you will learn right away is that keeping a food journal is very helpful. Tracking all of the foods you consume may help you figure out which foods you will be eating as well as which foods you are not eating enough of. For example, once you keep a food record for a few days you could notice that even though you eat lots of fruit, you almost never eat any vegetables. Having it all written down can help you recognize the elements 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 write almost everything down but no pounds drop off of you? There is a proper way and a completely wrong way to track your food. A food journal isn't merely a list of the things you've eaten during the day. You need to keep track of various other very important information. Here are some of the hints that can help you become much more successful at food tracking.

You ought to be very precise when you write down the things that you are eating. You should do more than just write down "salad" into your food record. You need to list each of the ingredients within that salad as well as the type of dressing on it. You should include the amount of the food you take in. "Cereal" just isn't beneficial, but "one cup Shredded Wheat" is. Remember the more you consume of something the more calories you take in 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 what time of day it is whenever you eat. This will help you find out just what times of day you feel the most hungry, when you usually reach for snacks and then you can learn how to deal with those times. After a short time you'll note that while you might be eating lunch at the same time every day, you are still hungry an hour later. This will even enable you to identify the times when you start to eat simply to give yourself something to do. This is essential because those are times that you can choose other things to fill your time with than food.



What type of spirits are you in while you eat? Write it down! This really helps to show you whether or not you decide on food as a response to emotional issues. It will also identify the foods you decide on when you are in certain moods. Many people will reach for junk foods if we are disappointed, angry or depressed and will be more likely to choose healthier options when we are happy or content. Paying attention to what you reach for when you are upset will help you stock similar but better items in your house for when you need a snack-you could also start talking to someone to figure out why you cure moods with food (if that is something that you actually do).




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