Here’s something I know for sure. When you take the time and commit to writing down and tracking everything you eat, an amazing thing happens. You lose weight! I was first introduced to this concept through Weight Watchers, and each and every time I’ve done it, I’ve been successful at losing weight. I’m committed to making this a discipline in my life again. Why? Because it works. But not just that, it also has a lot to do with something my friend Danielle, who has lost over 130lbs., shared with me. She said:
“When you are used to overeating it is very easy to fall back into those habits. When you measure and write everything down it holds you accountable.”
It really does boil down to the simplicity of that statement. Along with that nugget of wisdom, here are a few other reasons why tracking is instrumental to the weight loss process.
Tracking causes you to be honest with yourself, especially on those weeks when you weigh in and see that you’ve gained or that the scale hasn’t moved. You can go back in your journal and clearly see that you did not make healthy choices. Now this is not always the case because there are many factors that come into play when the scale doesn’t budge, but on those weeks where you can see that you didn’t make better choices it at least gives you a “reason” for the setback.
It slows you down and makes you think before you eat. We’re not on a restrictive “diet” and I’m sure there are days when you opt to eat what you want. With that being the case, you may decide not to eat so much of it because you have to write it down. This falls on the same lines of the accountability piece, because if you know you have to write it down, hopefully you will “think” before you eat something you know you probably shouldn’t eat.
You can see patterns of days/weeks where you do well and not so well. Tracking serves as a point of reference. This is particularly true for those high stress days/weeks in your life, as well as that time of the month ladies. Tracking can help you to better anticipate those times by spotting them as triggers, so you can prepare a contingency plan (a way of escape).
You can track your feelings. So many of us are emotional eaters. We eat when we’re happy, we eat when we’re sad, we eat when we’re stressed, anxious, bored, tired, etc. etc. etc. So when you find yourself binging on a Hershey bar, and you write how tired you were at the time you ate it alongside that entry, then that’s a sign for you to take a step back to figure out what’s going on in your life that you need to get a handle on vs. reaching for the candy bar.
It shows you if you’re not eating enough or if you’re waiting too long between meals to eat. As much as I like food, I am not a big eater (if that makes sense). There are days when I’ll eat one or two meals, and that’s it. There are days when I’ll skip breakfast and lunch and won’t eat until dinner. There are days at work when my one and only focus is completing a project, and I don’t take time to go to the bathroom, let alone eat. Clearly these are bad habits that must be broken, and again tracking will shine the light on these trouble spots.
So when you begin to think about tracking in these terms, it makes sense to discipline yourself in this area. Tracking is a tool that can lead to better habits and decision making, so get out that journal and pen and get to tracking. I know I will!
Your Turn To Share
What holds you back from tracking what you eat? How can you overcome this obstacle?