tracking food, what's the point

[Anonymous]

I've read that it's helpful to track your food intake and look for patterns. I've been tracking since the beginning of theyear and in looking over my food diary I see one pattern is I eat too many sweets and another pattern is I drink too much. Not sure how this helps me.

[Anonymous]

Now you know to drink less and eat fewer sweets.

[Anonymous]

Usually people are a little more detailed when looking at patterns.

When do you eat the sweets? Is it always at 8pm? Is it the days you skip the gym? Is it in combination with a glass of wine?

Let's say its the 8pm one. Now you know you get snacky around that time. Prep some healthy snacks ahead of time, so that when 8pm hits you can grab a pre-made yogurt parfait w/ fruit and granola instead of a chocolate bar. That is at least one way you can use it.

It's also good to see how many calories you're actually ingesting. A lot of people say "but I only eat 1200 calories a day! I eat well!" but forget their starbucks calorie bomb in the morning, or the handful of candies you took after the staff meeting, or you write down 3oz spaghetti but it's actually 10oz, etc.

[Anonymous]

I just eat a lot of healthy food so i stay energetic healthy fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read that it's helpful to track your food intake and look for patterns. I've been tracking since the beginning of theyear and in looking over my food diary I see one pattern is I eat too many sweets and another pattern is I drink too much. Not sure how this helps me.

Stop eating refined sugar garbage and dump the hooch? Evidently you were not aware of this before.

[Anonymous]

When I am found tracking I have a calorie goal and I’m making sure I don’t go over it.

[Anonymous]

It’s also for accountability. If I eat that second piece of chocolate I have to track it and I don’t feel good about that. Better just eat the one.

[Anonymous]

It’s not the tracking—it’s the changes you make and awareness you have BECAUSE of the tracking that matters.

[Anonymous]

+1 it is absolutely awareness for me

1 better awareness of food nutritional value
2 better awareness of amounts I consume
3 before I eat something, I think of how to track it and that affects my eating decisions

WeightWatchers app is easy, you can track by good description, bar code, or a picture of food. Takes 30 seconds to track.

[Anonymous]

You have to look at the patterns, THEN make a change.

I logged food for awhile and realized I felt better when I ate more protein at breakfast. Changes my breakfast going forward.

[Anonymous]

It helps you realize how much better it is to eat grilled chicken instead of fried chicken.

[Anonymous]

For me, it is not wanted a record of 1 Bag of Sunchips or 1 pint of Ben and Jerrys. 1 serving of either is much better.

[Anonymous]

People underestimate how much they eat by about 500 calories a day. So if weight maintenance or loss is important to you, tracking is important.

[Anonymous]

I just intermittent fasting and eat the same things every day. Same snacks. Smoothie. Nuts seeds. Piece of chocolate. Dinners are varied. No tracking needed OP just get really simple with your diet.

[Anonymous]

I track mentally out of habit so I don't overeat.