Food Log - A Necessary Evil

To lose weight, a food log makes all the difference in the world if you want to be successful. But let's face it.  The tedious task of logging food is totally painful--especially when you're a grazer like me.  Three pretzels here, 5 almonds there...it's impossible to keep track of it all.  That's why in the past, I've kept a log for 1-2 weeks max and then given up.

Yesterday, one of our weight management patients told me about a food log website called myfitnesspal.com/.  I've used online food logs in the past but found them annoying.  They had standard foods you selected from for your diary and you couldn't alter the serving size.  For instance, the standard size oatmeal serving was 1/3 cup and I used 1/2 cup.  Since I couldn't be accurate with what I ate, I quit after one day.  (Maybe I should have taken it as a hint to decrease my portion size.)  With My Fitness Pal, this isn't a problem.

To get started with My Fitness Pal, follow the prompts for age, current weight, goal weight, etc.  Once that's done, it calculates the amount of calories, carbs, fat, and protein you should have in a day to reach your goal weight.  You type in what you consume and it keeps a running total of what you've had so far that day and how much you need for the rest of the day.  You also keep track of your exercise (for which you're rewarded with extra calories you can consume).  You can enter recipes and it will calculate the nutritional content per serving.

I've been doing this for 10 hours and already it has altered what I eat.  This morning, a patient brought in some dark chocolate covered pomegranates, and I resisted because I didn't want to have to record it.  I ignored the food sample people at Sam's Club, even though it was lunchtime and I was ravenous.  (I hope they didn't think I was rude.  I'd hate to hurt their feelings.)

Hopefully, I will keep this up until I lose 8 pounds and keep it off for at least 3 months.  I know if I stop recording, I'll gradually start eating more.  Like they say, it's the BLT's that kill you.  (The bites, licks, and tastes.)