Keeping Track Of Precisely What You Consume: How To Do It Correctly

By Christian Amos


When you begin a diet one of the most often heard pieces of advice is to keep a food log in which you write down every thing you eat during the day. Keeping your foods record not only helps you see clearly what you are having, it helps you see what you are not eating. For example, when you keep a food journal for a few days you could notice that while you eat lots of fruit, you almost never eat any vegetables. Writing all of it down can help you see exactly which parts of your diet plan really need to change as well as how much exercise you are going to need to do to make sure that you keep your caloric intake in check.

But let's say you've been writing every little thing down and still aren't losing weight? There is a right way and a wrong way to track your food. There is much more to food journaling than creating an index of what you eat during the day. You have to keep track of some other very important information. Here are some tips that you can employ to help your food tracking be more successful.

Be as specific as possible get whenever you write down the things you eat. It is just not adequate to list "salad" in your food log. Write down all the ingredients in the salad and also the type of dressing you used. You should include the amount of the food you consume. "Cereal" is not good, however "one cup Shredded Wheat" can be. 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 exactly how many calories you take in and will need to burn.

Write down the time that you are eating things. This will help you determine precisely 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. You'll notice, for example, that though you eat lunch at the identical time every day, you also--without fail--start to snack as little as an hour later, every day. This may also help you identify the times when you start to eat simply to give yourself something to do. This is important because all those are situations that you can select other things to fill your time with than food.



Record your mood when you eat. This really helps to show you whether or not you turn to food as a response to emotional issues. It will also identify the foods you choose when you are in certain moods. There are many people who seek junk food when they feel angry or depressed and are quite as likely to pick out healthy things when they feel happy and content. When you pay attention to how you eat in the course of your different moods and psychological states, you will be able to keep similar but healthier alternatives around for when you need those snacks--you might also start talking to someone who can help you figure out why you try to cure your moods with food.




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