How you track what you eat and drink when trying losing weight?
I never used a food tracker. The idea seemed kinda intense to me honestly…. Then covid winter happened. I was trying to cut some LBS after a long fattening period (Holidays, isolation, muffins) and discovered MyFitnessPal thanks to Dafne. She had been using it in conjunction with an online training program she joined. I had a first hand experience on how It was helping her monitor her food intake and wanted to join in on the fun. FOMO wins again.
I believe in the basic calorie principle. Calories in, minus calories out will establish if I gain or lose weight. Scientifically, we can get way more specific and so many factors vary from person to person, but as a broad stroke I like it. If we burn more calories than we eat we’ll cut some LBS.
When I started using the app my life looked like this: logging each meal into my phone app, weighing out each individual ingredient prior to mixing them together for a meal (serious right), trying my best to pair foods I was eating at restaurants with food options on the app (IE small grilled steak w/ a side of potatoes), fighting to stay under my slotted calories for the day, and using a weekly weigh in to monitor my progress.
My first revelation, I was eating way too much. Crazy right!?! And I thought weight gain was a mystery. Second revelation, pork has a lot of calories.
Using a food calorie app helped fine tune how much food I could eat daily. It helped me take control of my relationship with food and ultimately my mind. I also discovered I could have a big dinner/night out and stay under my calorie count by eating less food earlier in the day. Preparation is key!
I think food monitoring is awesome for everyone to try once. Maybe it’s not a forever thing, but for the above average man/woman trying to better understand the world around us, why not? Also, the practice of setting a single day and time to weigh our bodies and check in with our progress is great.
I recently stopped being so regimented with my tracking, because I learned what I needed this time around. I figured out that I was eating too much, and seeing it on paper helped me curb the urges and drink some more water. I’m still using MFP on Thursday mornings to monitor my weight and snap progress photos. Hopefully this has inspired you to check out a food tracking app, and if so, I’d love to hear about your journey on our social platforms.
ONWARDS!
Ray
