Improving My Diet - Part 4 (Food Logging)

This article is the fourth installment of my series on various steps I am taking to improve my diet.  If you missed the earlier topics (Meal Planning, Eating a Rainbow, and Water Intake), you may read them on my blog, just visit http://agentsarah.blogspot.com/. This week I will address food logging.  It’s truly amazing how much more we eat than we realize.  If you really slow down and look at your portion size and log the food you eat correctly, often you will see why you are struggling with weight. 

If you have a smart phone, food logging is incredibly easy.  There are several great apps (MyFitnessPal, MyPlate Calorie Tracker, Lose It, etc.) that you may download to help you keep track of what you consume.  If you need help getting started, I will be happy to meet with you and walk you through any of these apps. 

So why is food logging an important factor in improving your diet?  We live in a society of large, grande, and supersized.  All of these are fine once in a while, but if you eat these large portions at every meal, you are consuming way more calories than you need.  Each person needs to intake a different amount of calories each day, depending on your goals, size, activity level, etc.  So I won’t give you a target calorie goal in this article, but I’ll be happy to help you work through your specific needs if you want to come by the office.  Once you figure out how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight, you can then determine how many more or less you need to eat to meet your goal weight.  Food logging helps you see what you actually consume.  So often we eat without thinking and by mid-day, you have consumed the amount of calories you need for the entire day.  People tend to forget about the calories in their coffee creamer or the chocolate treats on their desk.  But all of these forgotten calories add up and put you way over the amount of calories you actually need each day. 

I have said this before in other articles, but I am visual person.  Seeing things helps me understand them on a different level.  Food logging helps me see what food I am eating and helps me know where I need to adjust to meet my goals.  Hopefully, you will try this with me and I am happy to help you get started!

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or just want to chat, please feel free to come by the Hunt County AgriLife Extension office, 2217 Washington Street, Greenville, Texas, 75401, call (903) 455-9885, or email Sarah.Latham@ag.tamu.edu.