Keep A Food Log!
KEEP A FOOD LOG!
I can't begin to tell you how important this was for me in my weight loss journey. This was right up there next to making up my mind to lose weight. A nutritionist insisted on me keeping a food log and since I was determined to lose weight I intended on dedicating myself to do everything necessary for me to get the weight off. I must admit, keeping a food log was not something I thought of as being important. It just seemed like busy work that I wouldn't be able to commit to long term. Boy was I wrong. I'm thankful that my husband gave me a Fitbit because there is something about tracking the ins and outs of this thing that motivated me to do more and to do better. I used the Fitbit website and app to log everything I was eating and it gave me the calories, grams of fat, carbs, protein etc on everything I logged. This was a huge eye opener for me. I soon learned how I easily carb loaded my entire day without even thinking about it and was barely getting in any protein. Seeing this in front of my face let me know... Nina, what you thought was right was just an elusion.
Sometimes, marketers will have you thinking something is healthy for you and will advertise how much fiber it has or how much protein they've added but what you'll find out is sometimes they've added a ton of sugar to make it taste good too. Logging my food gave me a desire to do more research on my food, actually look at the nutrition labels while grocery shopping and make much better shopping choices on what I eat. Those things I thought were good for me no longer made it on to my shopping list.
Yes, logging your food will allow you to see in numbers, what you consume on a daily but it also allows you to make changes in your eating that cause long lasting change. I didn't log my food forever because after a while you get it. You know the numbers associated with your favorite meals and snacks. You know the nutritional costs of a Krispy Kreme donut and how much work you have to put in just to burn it off. Keeping a food log is so important when losing weight so I highly suggest finding an app or a website that will make it easy for you. Like I mentioned before, I use Fitbit.com. I don't believe you need an actual device to sign up and use the website or app. I've also heard of others using and having success with myfitnesspal.com. There's a ton of free downloadable food logs/diaries/journals on the web that you can find by doing a simple "food log" google image search.
Also, for convenience sake, I've created a page on Amazon where I've placed fitness related items I've tried and liked. You can view them all HERE.
