The Benefits of Tracking

Tracking your food can be tedious, especially at the beginning; however, there are several benefits to measuring out your food and logging accurately that can teach you how to fuel your body long-term.

To start, tracking is NOT necessary, BUT if you have a specific goal in mind, you'll likely get there a lot faster if you do take the time to track your food for a period of time.

Some of the benefits of tracking include:

1. Better understanding of portion sizes

2. Better understanding of key nutrients and fiber

3. Better understanding of how certain foods make you feel

4. Highlight reel of areas where you tend to struggle

Better understanding of portion sizes

• You may think you're only eating 1T of peanut butter, but when you go to weigh it out that tablespoon is really 2T and you're suddenly eating double the amount of calories than you thought you were.

• Is that 4oz steak really 4oz? Or is it closer to 6-7 and cooked on a pan with oil or butter? Taking the time to weigh out your protein helps teach you how to eyeball portion sizes down the road

Better understanding of key nutrients and fiber

• Are you struggling with never quite feeling full/satisfied after your meals, even though you are eating enough calories? Things like fiber help slow digestion and make our meals more satisfying. By tracking, you can take a look at your fiber and see if you're eating the necessary 25-35g per day and make the necessary changes to hit that goal.

Better understanding of how certain foods make you feel

• Are you noticing you feel bloated after certain meals? Or sluggish during workouts? Going back thru your logged food and eliminating or swapping out food items can help you pinpoint the problem areas and help you solve those faster

Highlight reel of where you tend to struggle

• Do you wake up starving every morning? Find yourself crashing mid-afternoon? Have your stomach rumbling during your morning meetings? By going back thru your food logs you can check and see if you're eating enough calories early in the day/spreading your food out well during the day or eating enough fats in the evening to help keep you satiated all night long

While tracking is not for everyone and not something I would expect you to do your entire life, taking 2-4 months to really make an effort to track can definitely help teach you how to fuel yourself long-term.