Successful Weight Loss

Tracking Your Foods: The Way To Do It

By David Smith


When you decide to go on a diet one of the first things that you will learn is that it is important to keep track of what you eat during the day. Tracking all of the foods you consume will help you figure out which foods you will be eating as well as which foods you are not eating enough of. For example, after retaining a food journal for a few days, you might see that you are not eating very many vegetables but that you are consuming lots of sugar and bad carbohydrates. Having it all written down may help you identify the aspects 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 every single thing down but still aren't able to figure out how to shed weight? You can monitor your meals the correct way or the incorrect way. A food record is more than just a basic list of the foods you eat during a day. Other kinds of important information are going to need to be written down also. Here are some of the suggestions that can make it easier to become far more successful at food tracking.

You need to be very particular when you write down the things that you are eating. It isn't sufficient to list "salad" in your food log. You should record all of the ingredients within that salad as well as the type of dressing on it. You also need to write down the amount of of the foods you are eating. "Cereal" just isn't very good, but "one cup Shredded Wheat" can be. It is very important to keep in mind that the bigger your servings, 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.

Write down the time that you're feeding on stuff. This will allow you to 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 day or two you might 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 are eating because you're bored. This is important mainly because, once they are revealed, you can find alternative ways to fill those moments than with unhealthy foods.



Record your feelings when you eat. This can show you if you use food to solve emotional issues. It also helps you see plainly which foods you have a tendency to choose when you find yourself in certain moods. There a wide range of people who seek out junk food when they feel angry or depressed and are just as likely to choose healthy things when they feel happy and content. Paying attention to what you reach for while you are upset can help you stock similar but better 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).




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