Saturday, February 6, 2010

I should've also mentioned

Well if you haven't read the "Scribbles" post you should head there first. I was trying to get it done before I went to work and left a few things unsaid. The comments kinda reminded me of that.

Now that your back I'll continue....

For a long time I "poo poo'd" the idea of a food journal. I really didn't see the whole point. After all I was paying attention to what I was eating. But its funny, when you start actually writing down what you eat you pay a lot more notice.
For example I had thought I was eating fairly healthy, most days. Then I noticed that I don't eat nearly enough fruit. And since journaling I have seen that I am doing better with the veggies though.
It also brought to my attention things like how often Pie and I have pizza for lunch. Or Chinese food. Seems like it was happening way more often than I liked to remember! lol

I've also used the food diary to take note of things like those killer headaches. With the food diary I was able to discover that caffeine and chocolate were not triggers. (Thank you God!)
As for the water/headache connection. Well part of the reason I started to actually choose water as a beverage was that I had read that dehydration is a big trigger for headaches. I am usually well within the recommended daily water intake and have not noticed headaches being any better/worse/frequent in relation to my water.

And one last thing. In what may be a weird way the food diary also makes me proud. Its nice to go back a few pages and have it right there in my face how often I've worked out. Or how my food choices or servings* have improved. It kinda gives me some feedback. So for now I'm going to keep doing it.

*I had mentioned that I wasn't being super strict with my food diary. No counting calories or serving sizes. What I meant from "servings" in this context is that if I have 1 slice of pizza instead of 3. Or small fries instead of large.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Good to hear that the food journaling is working for you so far. It is kind of shocking sometimes to see the food written down. Good that caffeine and chocolate aren't making your headaches worse... Interesting that water consumption doesn't change things much either... Hopefully your headaches are manageable though.

I am just starting to do that now - Mark wants me to email him what I've been eating, etc. So not only do I have to write it down for myself, I have to share it with someone! ack!

Anonymous said...

Glad you saw where I was going with the water question.

Other ideas for the migraines might be low levels of some vitamins. Not enough lysine or niacin can cause headaches. Do you take a multi? Just another thought.