Is food tracking a good idea?

Tracking what you eat and drink is something we first ask our nutrition coaching clients to do when working with them. There are several ways to track your food and drink. You can keep a food journal and record daily by pen or use an app on your phone/computer to record your daily intake.

Tracking your food isn’t just for people wanting to lose weight. It is also valuable to anyone wanting to understand their habits, patterns, energy levels and issues with their digestion. It will help direct you towards positive changes. You probably won’t need to track for the rest of your life, but trying this for at least a month will shine a lot of light on what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat and how you feel after eating certain foods. It’s beneficial to write down your location, time of day, and mood when keeping a food journal. Keeping track of these things can reveal how stress, work, or certain people in your life affect your food choices.

Keeping track of your food and drink intake will help you stay focused on a healthy diet and provide more motivation to attain and maintain your health and wellness goals.

Other surprising and great benefits of food tracking;

Accountability - Recording everything you put in your mouth can be very effective in keeping you accountable to your goals. It helps you stay consistent with your choices and sets you up for success.

Detects food intolerance - If you feel bloated and nauseous after eating certain foods like eggs, dairy, or gluten, then you may be intolerant to these foods. If you have always had tummy troubles but don’t know why, tracking your food will help your realize which foods your body reacts negatively towards. Believe it or not, it’s not normal to feel uncomfortable after you eat or during a bowel movement.

Portion control - Tracking your food is a great way to identify how much you are actually eating. Are you eating too much? Are you eating enough? Ask us for advice on proper portion sizes then you can base your meals off of. Focus on whole foods and the balance of macro-nutrients (carbs, protein and fat) you are eating. Restaurants these days give huge portions. Everything is “up-sized”. Managing portion control will help you make healthier choices and stay accountable.

Weight loss -Keeping a food journal can help reveal the unhealthy habits that are stopping you from losing weight. By tracking, you get to see places in your food intake that show things like too little protein, too much fruit or not drinking enough water daily. Often people forget about the little snacks that they consume that could potentially be keeping them from losing weight. Maintaining a food journal will help you say no to the extra calories that may be stunting your weight loss.

Identify triggers - Maybe you are reaching for a snack when you are bored at work? Do you reach for a sweet treat when you are stressed? Tracking your food forces you to be mindful of your food choices and why you are making them, so it can help you look deeper into the why behind what you are eating. Do you always open the fridge the minute you get home?  Our food cues have nothing to do with actual hunger and everything to do with cravings, our environment and how we are feeling. Using a food diary to note certain triggers will help you get rid of the unhealthy habits. 

One of the best reasons to tracking your food is so that you can look back and see your progress. How motivating is that?! Changing habits is hard so when you do make some progress, it’s important to celebrate it, no matter how small the change. Small steps lead to big results.  Keeping track of your food every meal and snack will show what kind of nutrition you are getting and where you are lacking. Use a food journal as an important tool, especially at the start of your health and wellness journey.

Want to get even healthier? Are you wondering if food tracking might benefit you? Could you use some support figuring out which way is best for you? Curious about how health coaching can help you make healthy changes? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with us today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about! Visit www.noshoesnutrition.com and sign up for a FREE consultation.  We work with people from all over the world individually or in groups so don’t let anything hold you back!