I wanted to add some thoughts about tracking calories. I've been tracking, on and off, for many years, but consistently these past four weeks. Sometimes I guesstimate calories if it's something I'm eating regularly but usually weigh everything, and usually log it straight away. A couple of times tracking has saved me from a binge, but not for the reason you'd think.
Like today, I was a bit behind in recording my food in my tracking app, and I'd eaten a few things I probably shouldn't, and I was thinking I was way over and maybe it wouldn't make much difference if I had a bit more. But first I sat down and recorded everything I'd eaten. The bad things were: a handful of potato gems at lunch. One of the chocolate chip cookies Jasmine made. And I licked the spoon and the beaters after making a toblerone cheesecake. That is all. The rest of the day was good. So how much was I over my limit? Around 250 calories. I'm not saying I should do that every day, but it's no reason to write the day off and dive headfirst into a bag of burger rings! So I'm really glad that I did take the time to track and see I didn't have that much after all.
I track calories as well and find it really helps me. Sometimes we think we are staying at a certain level but don't think to add all the little bites. licks and nibbles throughout the day. I think this is sometimes why dieters gets frustrated that they're not losing as they think they should be.
ReplyDeleteOur bodies keep track even if we don't!