Tracking What You Eat

Have you ever logged your food for a full day, or better yet, a full week? It's interesting what we can learn about our diets when we actually see it all written out in front of us and when we pay attention to tracking what you eat.

Some people carry a little book and log their food by hand each time they eat. In this day and age, there are several food tracking apps that can be much more convenient. I started using MyFitnessPal several months ago, and the results have been very interesting. Good, but interesting. I know the difference between clean eating versus junk food and also correct proportions versus binging. What I didn't know, was how many small bites were starting to add up over time.

Even if you don't have a trainer making your meal plan, you can still track what you're eating every day in order to become more aware. When you're aware, it's easier to control. A lot of people don't like counting calories and don't even know what to look at on the nutrition label. These apps do that all for you.

It's hard for me to lay down at night when I track my food and can see that I'm off target. How do you find your target? The app can do that too. When you enter your current stats, and then your goal stats, you are told a calorie range to stay within.

Of course it is awesome to have a personalized diet and know exactly what to eat each day, but let's be real, not all of us want to pay for that or find out they really wouldn't stick to it if they had it. Life in moderation is a completely normal thing. Not everyone is training to be on stage or set records for heavy lifting. People out there living everyday lives can have a fit lifestyle and feel healthy and sexy in their clothes just by gaining some awareness of what you're already doing.

Tracking what you eat for at least a week will really open your eyes to the habits you already have, what you should add, and what you need to stop doing. Tracking what you eat can be a tedious process if you wait until the very end of the day. It sounds silly, but it's easy to forget every single bite you took. When you're mindfully tracking what you eat, you're more likely to skip the little snacks simply because you don't want to have to enter it in.

The app comes with meal reminders, so that if you go too long without tracking your meal, you'll be notified and prompted. Even if you don't take the time to log in right then, it's a nice little reminder that every single bite you take is important, and can determine if you get the body you want, or live with the one you're not willing to change.