One of my favourite sayings is 'Tracking is the secret to success'. Research supports these words in every study held to date, reporting those that track loose twice as much as those that don't, and those that track are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off.
Tracking the food we eat teaches and enlightens us to WHY we eat, what and when, especially if we also record our feeling at the time when making our food choices and what we actually eat.
Tracking allows us to Reflect, Replace and Reinforce, prioritising our health and well-being.
Reflect:- on our eating habits, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Replace:- our unhealthy habits with healthier ones.
Reinforce:- new healthier eating behaviours.
By tracking the food we eat we raise our awareness to our portion sizes and eating habits, i.e. :-
Eating patterns
Triggers
Emotions
Relationships with Food/Emotions
Sensitivities
Intolerances
Tracking the food we eat also allows us to examine our nutrient intake, enlightening us to the balances we eat.
Carbohydrates
Protein
Fat - Saturated/Unsaturated
Fibre
Sugar
Vitamins and minerals
This education/enlightenment contributes to supporting our weight loss journey, as everyday is a school day.
There are lots of Tracking options, but the most ideal is in real time or in advance, as if recorded in hindsight we forget the details.
Ways of tracking:
Pen and Paper using a diary or journal, recording the food we eat and the portion size (weighing) staying within our deficit.
Photographing the food we eat to record in hindsight the best we can estimating portion sizes.
Using a tracking APP.
There are many food tracking APP's available;
WW
Slimming World (SW)
Noom
Zoe Predict
or one of the many Calorie Counting APP's.
The Fitness Chef
James Smith
The Body Coach
Nutracheck - personally my favourite APP
See How You Eat (SHYE)
Lose it
My Fitness Pal
NHS Weight Loss
My Net Diary
Lifesum
are just a few of many.
No tracking will work unless you record every nibble/bite, however quick you slip it into your mouth, staying within your deficit. Its also very important to record why you are eating and your emotions at the time.
Another one of my favourite sayings is '0.5lb a week is 26lb off a year, which is 2lb shy of 2st a year.'
Consider this when setting up APP's for your deficit, remembering you didn't gain the weight over night and it was the slow and steady tortoise that won the race and not the stop, start hare.
If you are following WW or SW their APP's have integral algorithm's that calculate calories into Synergy's (Syns) (1 Syn is approximately 20 Calories) and Points (1 Point is approximately 50 calories), according to alternative websites.
When it comes to balance of nutrients, always eat healthily meeting your targets for Protein, whole carbohydrates and healthy fats, avoiding refined carbohydrates, UPF's (Ultra Processed Foods) and bad fats (Saturated/Trans).
Repeated research shows diversity of plants/fibre is good for our gut health and overall health which supports weight loss. (30 different plants a week, and Protein is the most filling nutrient, that keeps you feeling fuller for longer, as it reduces your hunger hormone level ghrelin.
Keep or start, tracking, weighing and measuring to your success.
Resources:
コメント