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Saturday, November 23, 2013

Tracking Your Food: The Proper Way To Do It

By Bryan Mosely


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. Tracking all of the foods you eat may help you figure out which foods you will be eating as well as which foods you are not eating enough of. For example, when 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 will help uou identify 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 let's say you've been writing every little thing down and still aren't reducing your weight? There is a right way and a incorrect way to monitor your food. There is far more to food journaling than creating a listing of what you eat during the day. You must record other important pieces of information too. Here are a number of hints that you can use to help your food tracking be more successful.

You ought to be very specific while you write down the things that you are eating. It isn't enough to list "salad" in your food log. The correct way to do it is to note down all of the ingredients in the salad as well as the kind of dressing that is used. You should include the quantity of the food you take in. "Cereal" defintely won't be enough however "one cup Fiber One cereal" is fine. It is very important to remember that the larger your portions, 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 precisely what time it is when you eat. This helps you discover when you feel the most hungry, when you are vulnerable to snack and what you can do about it. After several days you'll observe that while you might be eating lunch at the same time every day, you are still hungry an hour later. This will also help you identify the occasions when you start to eat simply to give yourself something to do. This is important because those are situations that you can choose other things to fill your time with than food.



Record your spirits while you eat. This can help you determine when you use meals to help soothe emotional issues. This will likely show you whether or not you gravitate in the direction of certain foods based on your mood. Many people will reach for junk foods if we are upset, angry or depressed and will be more likely to choose healthier options when we are happy or content. Not only will this enable you to notice when you reach for specific foods based on your mood, it will help you find ways to keep healthier (but similar) options on hand for those same moods and help you figure out whether or not someone professional can help you deal with the issues that are sending you towards certain foods in the first place.




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