Tracking Your Foods: The Right Way To Do It

When you 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. Tracking all of the foods you eat can help you figure out which foods you will be eating as well as which foods you are not eating enough of. One example is that, after following your food for a few days you might realize that you are consuming far too many sugars and unhealthy fats without nearly enough organic nutrients. Writing all of it down can help you see precisely which parts of your diet plan really need to change as well as how much exercise you are going to need to do to make sure that you keep your caloric intake in check.

But what if you've been writing every thing down and still aren't slimming down? There is a correct way and a wrong way to track your food. A food journal isn't just a list of the items you've eaten during the day. You need to record other crucial pieces of information too. Here are a number of tips that you can use to help your food tracking be more successful.

Be as precise as you can when you write down what you consume. It is just not adequate to list "salad" in your food log. The correct way to do it is usually to record all of the ingredients in the salad as well as the kind of dressing that is used. You need to include the amount of the food you consume. "Cereal" is just not as good an entry as "one cup Honey Nut Cheerios." Remember the more you eat of something the more calories you consume so it is vital that you list quantities so that you know exactly how much of everything you're eating and how many calories you need to burn.

Record the time of day you take in things. This allows you to see what times of day you feel the hungriest, when you find yourself likely to reach for a snack and the right way to work around those times. After a day or two you could notice that, even though you eat lunch at the same time every single day, you still feel hungry an hour or so later. This will also enable you to identify the occasions 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 alternative activities that will keep you away from the candy aisle.

Record your feelings while you eat. This can help you determine when you use food to help soothe emotional issues. It also helps you see plainly which foods you tend to choose when you are in certain moods. There are lots of people who look for junk food when they feel angry or depressed and are quite as likely to select healthy things when they feel happy and 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) selections 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.