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Monday, December 23, 2013

Tracking Your Foods: The Right Way To Do It

By David Smith


When you decide to go on a diet one of the primary things that you will learn is that it is important to keep an eye on what you eat during the day. Keeping your meal journal 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 might notice that while you eat lots of fruit, you almost never eat any vegetables. Having it all written down may help you 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? You can monitor your food the right way or the wrong way. There is much more to food journaling than writing a listing of what you eat during the day. Other varieties of important information will need to be written down too. Here are a few of the hints that can help you become far more successful at food tracking.

You need to be very specific while you write down the things that you are eating. You need to do more than merely write down "salad" into your food log. You must record all of the materials within that salad as well as the type of dressing on it. You also need to include the number of the foods you take in. "Cereal" is not as beneficial an entry as "one cup Honey Nut Cheerios." It is vital to understand that the bigger your helpings, 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.

Record the time of day you take in things. This will allow you to determine precisely what times of day you feel the most hungry, when you usually reach for snacks and then you can figure out how to deal with those times. After a few days you'll note that even if you might be eating lunch at the same time every day, you are still hungry an hour later. This will even make it easier to identify the times when you start to eat simply to give yourself something to do. This is incredibly useful because understanding when you're vulnerable to snacking will help you fill those times with other pursuits that will keep you away from the candy aisle.



Record your spirits while you eat. This helps you to explain to you whether or not you turn to food as a response to emotional issues. This may also show you whether or not you gravitate for specific foods based on your mood. Many individuals will reach for junk foods when we are worried, angry or depressed and will be more likely to choose healthier options when we are happy or content. Not only will this let you notice when you reach for specific foods based on your mood, it will help you find ways to keep healthier (but similar) alternatives 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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