Lessons learned: If you eat it then record it
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As you know I’ve lost 100 pounds now and am sharing some of the lessons I’ve learnt. If you’d like to see all the posts in the series so far click here.
The lesson I learned is that I need to track what I’m eating. Calories in have to be less than calories out if you want to lose weight. I think a lot of us get frustrated at times as we believe that we are not eating much at all but the scale doesn’t move. When this happens to me then I start writing what I’m eating down and working out the calories. I soon find that that extra cup of Milo, that helping of grapes and those 3 cookies liberated from the baby have a surprisingly high calorie count.
Skinny Guy has just written a post on this:
Keeping a food journal will help you see not only what you eat, but also how much you eat. It is a strategy that will help you become more mindful of your eating habits and become more aware of how what you eat affects your body.
Your journal can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like. I know some folks who carry around a folded piece of paper and a pencil while others use spreadsheets and other high tech solutions, including web sites such as FitDay…
I’m pretty lazy so I don’t record everything I eat everyday, but when my weightloss slows down or I start noticing I’m eating stuff I shouldn’t be then I start to record everything for a few days, just to remind myself of the energy coming in that needs to be expended.
This is one area where I don’t necessarily agree. During my 40kg weight loss I certainly changed my eating habits completely, but I never did record calories. To be honest, I just found it to be too difficult and couldn’t be bothered. Now, recording the amount of exercise I do, that is a different story, I’m completely anal about that!
Hi Andrew, thanks for your comment on my blog, well done on your weight loss to date. Awesome. Good race on Sunday too.
I used to do this and it really worked (for me) - went from 98kg down to 83kg in 2007. That and as Andrew (AJH)says to record excercise. I’m going to have to start doing it again as I’m regressing over winter. Bad diet
Really just a matter of eat less and/or move more and creating that calorie deficit.
such a personal one here—-BUT when you find what works for you you MUST stick with it for continued success.
MizFits last blog post..Tues Tips (sweaty edition)
I’m really loving these posts Andrew. I’m with Mizfit on this one being personal. But I’m with you in that I’m learning that recording and journaling food is helpful. I don’t think I’d want or need to do it everyday but times when I need it I need it and bam I can get back on track. I need it now and I’m totally going to start recording tomorrow.
Winter is getting me down… we got blasted down here today with snow and a really cold southerly… ick I’m ready for spring already!
I’m so glad that food journalling is helpful to you! It drives me right into crazyville:) And heaven knows I spend enough time there as it is, lol!
Yep. you’re right. that’s what I have to do.
I’m an on-again, off-again recorder. I use it when I need it. Sometimes I’ll record just the splurge-y items or foods that aren’t part of my normal menu. Anything to keep me mindful when I’d rather not be.
Different strokes for different folks.
Some of my clients do well with a food log. Some need to count calories. Some don’t
Got to figure out which buttons need to be pushed to change your habits enough to elicit a 100 lb fat loss.
You da man.
I am one that needs to record but I get lazy. Funny, I lose when I write it down…I should just suck it up and do it more. great tips!
I totally agree with you! I definately find the closer I keep track, the better I lose. BUT that being said, i did maintain towards the end of summer last year without tracking, I would just track for a week at a time if I felt I needed a “portion control” refresher.
I keep track of all the calories I eat everyday, but I don’t write anything down. When I don’t know how many calories are in something, I usually check http://www.thedailyplate.com. I probably should carry around a pocket-sized notepad for food recording though. Sometimes it’s really hard to keep track of all those calories in your head when you are at a get-together where there is lots of food everywhere.
I’m scared to record my food….. I don’t wanna know
I should, though, just to make sure I get in the basics of nutrition. I’m kind of haphazard. Yeah, maybe I’ll start recording again, just till I’m sure I’m back on track… thanks for the push.
Oh dear… you might have opened a can of worms with this one.
I currently disagree with you, but in the past, I would have agreed.
I have a question though - you’ve had a flurry of these posts with the introduction of “As you know I’ve lost 100 pounds…”, did you have these cached up and ready to publish as soon as you hit that 100lb mark? Because surely, the lessons are the same no matter how many pounds you’ve lost?
[aside from that, why the hell are you working in pounds?! What country do you live in again? :-P]
AndrewE
reply on June 25th, 2008 9:20 pm:
I like pounds! They are easier to lose than kilograms.
And I thought waiting for the 100 pound mark was more symbolic.
Thanks for the link, Andrew!
I can see that there are a lot of differing opinions on keeping a food journal, and that’s good, because it is a very personal thing. What works for some won’t work for others.
My original post deals with some of the issues mentioned in the comments here, and as I mentioned, a food journal is just a very useful tool for you to use as part of your weight/health management toolbox.
The food journal is a must for me. I may get to the point where I don’t have to be religious about it, but I’ve had enough failures to recognize a trend when I see it: when I don’t record my food/calories, I don’t lose weight. As someone who is crazy right brained, I find the notion of relying on math for this to be, well… uncomfortable to near burdensome, but it’s the only way that seems to work for me, so I record my daily calories here.
j
its true … keeping a food calender does help and is a good tool, that way you can easily keep track of why you did or did not lose that weight , you can tie your exercise to the amount of calories too.
One of those things I know I should do — keep a journal. Since I’ve hit a bit of a plateau, might be the nudge that I need.
I wondered about that pounds thing too. Figured you were just being kind to us metric chalenged Americans!
I’m so glad you blogged about keeping a food journal. I resisted it for a couple of years–just kept thinking “I’m eating so healthily; how come I’m not losing more weight?” Yes, I was working out . . . and eating precisely enough to maintain my weight.
When I started counting calories and keeping a journal, a very modest caloric deficit (15 percent of daily need) and regular exercise produced a predictable, safe fat loss of about 1.4 pounds a week. Now I’m a complete convert . . . but so many people I talk to are simply unwilling to try it.