Step by Step to a fitter lifestyle - Step 2 - Food Tracking
Here are the steps I believe is needed to start your body transformation….
1) Get your mind ready
2) Start tracking your food
3) Work on your mindset
4) Make it a habit
5) Integrate exercise
6) Accept that set backs are a part of the journey
7) Stay consistent
We touched upon getting your mind ready here www.doufitness.com/journal/steps
Next we will address your nutrition.
If you have been dieting for a while I need you to forget everything you learned, or think, or did. I need you to wipe the slate clean – no rules, no preconceived notions, no good nor bad. If you put on some weight and you are just starting off here, that is great – again though, everything you think you need to do, put it on the back burner for now.
If you have read previous blogs or follow me, you know I believe in flexible dieting. I could go into macros, but I’ve found that you can reach your goals so much easier without the restrictions or obsession.
If you have been dieting and have been in a severe calorie restriction your challenge would be to reverse out of that space and then do it the right way. I’ll definitely blog about this situation. If you are stuck here, you are barely eating, over indulging on occasion because your body is deprived, and you are stuck at the same weight or possibly gaining. You are definitely frustrated and ready to give up or add even more cardio and restrict yourself even more.
Regardless of where you are currently, the start would be to beginning tracking your food.
Weight loss or gain is based on how many calories you consume over or under your calorie allotment. Calorie allotment is determined by your gender, weight, age, and height. There are calorie calculators you can find online to help you with that number. However, this is just an estimate and there are factors that can affect your baseline. (One of which is if you’ve been dieting for a while or on a severe calorie restriction). If you want to lose weight, you need to eat less than your baseline. If you don’t track your food, how do you know how much you are eating? You would be guessing, and quite possibly putting yourself at a disadvantage if you are undereating significantly.
Why would that be a disadvantage? If you cut your calories too drastically, yes you will lose weight in the beginning – however, your body is highly adaptable. It will sense that you are starving and beginning holding on to body fat in order to stay alive. The days you over eat because you feel so deprived, your body will store this extra calories in anticipation that you will be in starvation mode again. When you finally give up on this effort and eat “normal” again, your body already adjusted to functioning at the lower calories therefore, will again store all this extra calories.
So where do you start…..start by tracking your food intake. You can use an app or your own food log journal. Click here to see a portioning/food tracking guide. www.youtube
You may be surprised at how much you are actually eating. Or surprised at the types of food that are so much in calories. Once you get into the habit of tracking you can begin to cut some of your calories.
This is where flexible dieting comes into play. Dieting doesn’t have to mean salads, canned tuna, no sugar, eliminate your favorite foods forever. Flexible dieting allows you to consume the foods you enjoy as long as it fits into your calorie allotment. You get to decide. Yes, you will have to portion and you will have to sacrifice some but it doesn’t mean you HAVE to eat this or CANT eat that.
Start playing around with your tracking and you will get the hang of it. The more you play around with it, the easier it will be for you to figure out how to adjust.