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Tracking Your Food: The Proper Way To Do It

By Melanie Fox


When you begin your diet one of the things you will learn right away is that keeping a food journal is very helpful. Keeping a food record helps you recognize the foods you are eating as well as the foods you are not eating. For example, once you keep a food log for a few days you could notice that while you eat lots of fruit, you almost never eat any vegetables. Having it all written down can help you identify the aspects 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 what if you write everything down but no excess weight drop off of you? You can monitor your foods the right way or the wrong way. A food journal isn't just a list of what exactly you've eaten during the day. You must keep track of some other very important information. Here are a number of the hints that can make it easier to become far more successful at food tracking.

You should be very specific whenever you write down the things that you are eating. You should do more than simply write down "salad" into your food record. The right way to do it is always to note down all of the ingredients in the salad as well as the kind of dressing that is used. You should also include the amounts of the foods you take in. "Cereal" won't be sufficient but "one cup Fiber One cereal" is fine. Remember the more you consume of something the more calories you consume so it is vital that you list quantities so you know exactly how much of everything you're eating and how many calories you need to burn.

Write down the time that you are consuming stuff. This can help you figure out 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 even though you might be eating lunch at the same time every day, you are still hungry an hour later. You may also be able to determine when you are eating in order to have something to do. This is important mainly because, once they are identified, you can find alternative ways to fill those moments than with unhealthy foods.



Record your spirits whenever you eat. This will show you if you use food to solve emotional issues. It will even identify the meals you decide on when you are in certain moods. Lots of us will reach intuitively for junk food when we feel upset or angry and we are more likely to select healthy options when we feel happy or content. When you look closely at how you eat during your different moods and emotional states, you will be able to keep similar but healthier alternatives around for when you need those snacks--you might also start talking to someone who can help you figure out why you try to cure your moods with food.




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