One of the first things I mention to my clients is that they need to keep a food log! Keeping records and logging their daily intake is HUGE and can really be the means of making or breaking a plan! If you want to reach your ultimate goals, it is important to keep track and log your progress! Keeping a log is KEY and here is why…
#1 Keeping a food log keeps you conscious of the foods and liquids you consume every day. Many people eat unconsciously whether they are at work snacking throughout the day or at home on the couch watching TV or on the computer at night with their favorite nighttime snacks. People have a hard time really understanding the amount overall calories they consume and or drink until it’s actually documented to review and analyze. A food log instantly puts the hard data in front of you so you can see the breakdown of nutrient information like how many grams of protein, carbs, fat and overall calories you’re eating every day. This food data is great for anyone from a beginner to an advanced fitness enthusiast to see a snapshot of how the total daily intake compares with how many calories their body burns each day. This is critical for success with any weight loss program. For the advanced athlete, a food log allows you to drill down the numbers, learn your body better, and make finely tuned adjustments to their overall macronutrient breakdown in order to optimize their diet to increase athletic performance. For a beginner athlete, a food log helps you understand exactly what it is you are putting into your mouth from the creamer in your coffee to the chocolate you had, unconsciously, to the wholesome chicken breast you had at lunch. One of the biggest things people don’t understand is how things can quickly add up! Keeping track allows you to really see what it is you are putting into your mouth!
#2 The information that should go into a food log includes everything you eat and drink each day. Liquids are crucial to document in a food log since liquid calories can be huge factor for excess calories in a person’s diet. Many people don’t realize just how many calories are in their favorite coffee
drink but it can add up to more calories than a fast food meal! Sodas are another key aspect to monitor and track. Along with tracking all foods and liquids you consume, its extremely important to document how you feel at each meal. Were you happy, sad, depressed, angry or frustrated when you ate your meal? How did this effect what food choices you made and the amount of food you ate? This emotional tracking in your food log is absolutely critical for really understanding what makes you overeat or why you choose unhealthy foods during the day. It also allows you to be conscious of this the next time you run into a stressful situation where food is around and what things you can do to make healthier choices.
#3 The three rules for successfully tracking your food intake are (1) records all food and liquids, (2) records all quantities consumed and (3) make small changes for long term success. The first rule is to record everything you eat and drink each day. Its important to document absolutely everything since you really need to get an overall understanding of how many calories are coming in. Along with logging the foods and liquids, the second rule is to track the specific quantities of each item since you need to know how much of what item is being consumed. Recording “pizza” is not enough when keeping a food log. 1 slice of pizza is a lot different than a entire large thick crust pizza when calculating overall calories, so make sure to record the quantity also. The third rule is to make small changes once you have gathered the data. Small changes can lead to big results. Simply switching from regular soda to diet soda can drastically cut your daily calories and lead to substantial weight loss. Habits are hard to break and when someone is overwhelmed with having to make major changes with their eating plan, it usually leads to the person getting frustrated, feeling deprived and reverting back to their old habits. Making small changes each week is the best way to succeed with keeping a food log and making healthy food choices for a lifetime.
#4 Once you have created your food log and recorded it for a few weeks, you can begin analyzing the data to see where you can start making changes. Another great tool to use with your food log are photographs. Tracking your photos is very useful since it gives you instant visual feedback to see if the changes you’re making in your diet and training are actually resulting in changes to your physique. For example, if you’re really working hard on getting rounder, fuller shoulders and have decided to start adjusting your overall calories or grams of carbohydrates, and your training, then you can analyze your food log for those weeks and compare it to your photos for the same time period. This allows you to see if your nutritional and training plan is really giving you the results you’re looking for.
#5 The most common mistakes people make when tracking their food intake is forgetting to record everything they consume. This includes all food and liquids every day. Its really important for people who keep a food log to really stay conscious throughout the day and remember to quickly record the items they consume. A great solution for people who don’t like writing everything down each time they eat or drink is to use a voice recorder for quick logging. Many of the popular cell phones have a built in voice recorder which works great for this. Make a quick audio recording of your food intake throughout the day and then you can later log your intake. Where there is a will, there is a way!
Once you have the data collected, another common mistake is to get frustrated when analyzing the numbers. You might think you’re barely eating anything and then you analyze the numbers and see that your overall calories are well above your daily caloric limit. This can be resolved by viewing where the majority of the calories are coming from. Most of the time, the culprit is a small selection of foods that contain a high level of calories. For example, that delicious Starbucks drink you pickup each day, as a way to start your day, could be sabotaging your entire eating plan by packing close to 1,000 calories from fat and sugar. You would be surprised, but making it a “skinny”, non fat or unsweetened, can avoid that serious damage!!
As you strive to achieve your goals and learn your body, remember that it is KEY to keep a food/ training log, along with photos, to track your success and keep you making progress!!
Go out and find yourself a bright and colorful log and start keeping track today! 🙂
