Do you track your food intake?
Do you track the beverages that you drink throughout the day that have a SmartPoints Value?
Do you track how much water you are drinking each day?
Do you track your activity?
Do you track your mood before you eat, or after you eat?
Studies show that tracking can be a great tool when it comes to weight loss. Plain and simple, tracking brings awareness.
- Tracking what you eat can bring awareness to how much you are eating, and likely prevent overeating.
- Tracking your mood before and after you eat can help to determine how often you are eating emotionally rather than eating because you are hungry.
- Tracking your activity frequency and activity intensity can be a great tool when deciding if you need to change up your activity.
I know that tracking can be a pain in the butt.
It takes time.
You don’t know how many SmartPoints/Calories you ate, so you don’t track it.
You just took a couple of bites, there is no point in tracking.
You are pretty certain that you are drinking enough water, no need to track that.
I get it. It is one more thing to do in working towards improving your health. Tracking your food and beverage, your activity, your water intake, your mood, does take time. Is it worth it? You need to decide that for yourself.
If you are struggling with your weight loss, and you do not currently track, I would challenge you to track your food and beverage (don’t forget to include those BLT’s – bites, licks and taste) for one day, and see if tracking brings awareness to something that you might be able to change. Heck, go crazy and track your food and beverage for an entire week!
You might decide that it really isn’t that big of a deal, and that the short time that it does take to track, is totally worth it.
YOU ARE WORTH IT!
Here are yesterday’s eats….
Breakfast – 10 SP
I might be addicted to this First Watch Butternut Squash Frittata! I am guessing on the points since I have no idea exactly how it is prepared and I haven’t yet asked anyone. I have been away from home more than usual lately, and it’s just a good spot to go where I know that I can order something point friendly that I know I really like!
I order it with Egg Whites, No Cheese, and fruit on the side in place of the Mixed Green Salad. I did eat the Ciabatta Bread.
Lunch – 10 SP
I had Chicken Salad (White and Dark Meat) that needed to be eaten, and I had a little leftover Roasted Butternut Squash. They actually tasted great together!
Dinner – 10 SP
Big Salad with Mixed Greens, Rotisserie Chicken (I had a little in the freezer), Bacon (I had some cooked bacon in the freezer too!), Red Onion, Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado and homemade Viniagrette.
These are my 2016 Goals
Make time each week to Meal Plan
Drink 100 ounces of water each day
Exercise 5 days a week
Three Meals and One Snack, Daily
“love the life you live, live the life you love”
I would be the one eating ALL of the chocolate! lol
Sorry I was more talking about the time (point 2 from above–mood).
I do plan my breakfast and lunch for work days but I just don’t think about what I’m eating or if I’m hungry. Just hurry and eat because I only have a few minutes before the next thing I do and I won’t have time to eat again until after school.
Good food for you that can be eaten quickly–a teachers life–ugh/lol.
I wonder if this could be the reason so many teachers have a stash of chocolate in there rooms??
Nancy, I totally understand being too tired to think about it and being pressed for time. I have an idea if you are up for it?
Have you ever considered planning out your meals the day before and even tracking them? Maybe before you go to bed, you could decide what you are going to eat for breakfast and lunch, and then track them. Then you would have at least two meals out of the way that you could track in advance. Maybe you even plan dinner and track that too?
Just a thought. Try for one day? Let me know what you think.
🙂
I hope that you are having a great week!
Julie
I LOVE THIS!! Tracking totally puts you in control. I love that you were able to have a treat and KNOW that you were within your daily smart points range. This is a perfect example of how it can be so helpful!
Thank you for sharing Caren.
I like the pen and paper on occasion too. It can be nice to actually write it down and see it in front of you without having to pull it up on your phone or computer.
This is awesome!!
Thanks for sharing…
Julie
I’m a terrible WW member when it comes to tracking for all the reasons (excuses) you can think of. This week my leader inspired me to get the WW tracker/journal and I committed to track for one week. I’m a good, ol “pen and paper” kinda girl and I’ve tried it before but for some reason this time I’m loving it. I love the feeling of being in control of my eating and the permission it gives me to indulge in something that I have the points for. Last night I had 6 Smartpoints left over and enjoyed a treat. In the past I would have eaten the same treat and felt like I blew it and fallen down the dark hole of chocolate 🙂
BTW your salads always look amazing!
I track—-BUT I need to go back and make sure my portions are accurate! Measuring and weighing has been lacking—-eye balling doesn’t work (for me).
I have never put down how I feel about eating.
At 5 in the morning I’m too tired, lunch at school is to short, and I’m so tired by the end of the day.
I think about it more on weekends.
Some good things to think about here.