One weight loss tip that I come across constantly is to keep a food journal. So around about the end of December I thought "What the heck" and decided to give it a try. I grabbed a notebook and started.
I didn't go with the super detailed version where you write your portion size and calorie intake. But I do write down every single thing that goes in my mouth. Every entry starts the same, the date and next to that I write 'water'. Every glass of water I drink gets a little tick mark beside the water heading. (more on this another time but I used to drink virtually no water). And then next to the water I note any exercise I did that day.
Under the date/water/exercise heading I write down everything I eat & drink. Everything. Even something little like if I grab a couple french fries at work that goes on the list.
I was going to take a pic of a page from the notebook but then I realized 2 things...
1- you wouldn't be able to read my scribbly writing and 2- I have my own "shorthand" that makes sense to me but probably not a lot of other people! lol
So instead I flipped to a random day and 'translated' it for you. Here is an example:
Jan. 5/10 water lllll lllll T
2 eggs, 2 strips bacon, slice whole wheat toast, 2coffee/ half pear/ chicken wrap, small Greek salad/ bbq ribs, sweet potato fries, Pepsi/2 chocolates
So there is all the food I had that day, plus I noted that I drank 10 glasses of water and I worked out on the treadmill. Some days I have better food choices, some days they're better.
A few things that I find beneficial from keeping a food diary... I have noticed that the amount of caffeine (or no caffeine) does not seem to play a role in those migraines I was getting. I also know that its much easier to keep in mind when I've had my 'treat' and to keep from letting myself have too many 'treats' in a day. Its also nice to see that I'm managing to get a decent amount of water on a regular basis.
You know what else? Seeing what I've eaten and my exercise right there makes it easier to tell myself "You don't really need one more piece of chocolate!"
2 comments:
I'm so fighting the whole food diary thing, but I'll probably have to go to it. I keep a mental list of what I eat, but the thought of putting it on paper really just pisses me off. For no reason, I know, I just think that I shouldn't have to quantify what I eat. I'd better just get over being pissed off about it, because what I'm doing isn't working. Grrr...
Cdn, I have more to comment about later but wanted to just give you this to ponder first.
Does the amount of water you drink correlate with your migraines? As in, less water, more migraine frequency?
Just something to ponder. I'll elaborate in a couple days.
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