New Thoughts for Tracking

Photo by Eaters Collective on Unsplash

Practical tracking tips and some straight talk.

Last week I wrote about WHY tracking is so important. Today I want to explore the HOW and the stumbling blocks and obstacles we may run into.

Tracking is SIMPLE but it is not EASY. The act of tracking is straightforward, but for it to work you need to create a system that makes it easy for you. Remember that this is something you are doing for yourself, on behalf of your future self, so honesty and accuracy are paramount.

Here are the primary excuses we may make:

Tracking takes too much time. When you first begin to track, it CAN be time consuming because you have to familiarize yourself with the system and the data. But the more you track the faster and simpler it becomes.

New thought: I will take the time I need to figure this out because it is important to me.

I can’t figure out how to track what I ate. This often comes up in the context of not wanting to have a record of what we ate. Maybe it was a large quantity, a high calorie count, a meal that you ate with unfamiliar ingredients, or all of the above.

Take your best guess. Take a photo and track it later. Under or overestimating what you ate and recording it is much better than skipping it all together. Break down which foods were on your plate, how they were cooked, and what the portion was like and get a number. It does not matter if you are off - it is the discipline of tracking that is most helpful.

New thought: Not recording an overeat or a night on the town does not mean it did not happen. I will do my best to track honestly because that is how I will learn about myself.

I can’t remember to track. This is easy - use a visual cue like a post it note, or set a timer on your phone.

New thought: I can figure out a system to remember to track because it’s important to me.

I don’t like tracking. So what. Adults do things that they do not want to in pursuit of higher goals and objectives.

New thought: I am willing to do what it takes to change the way I eat and that looks like recording what I eat on a regular basis. The payoff for doing this could be life changing, and I am willing to give it a shot as form of self care.

Tracking every meal feels like too much work. Start somewhere. Track your breakfast for a few days, then level up from there. Alternatively, track the meals or times that are most challenging for you to see what you can learn.

New thought: I am going to figure out how I can make this feel doable for myself and start SOMEWHERE.

This past Tuesday I made a peach pound cake. It was delicious and it was 357 calories for 1/12th of that cake. It was delicious, and worth every calorie - but if I had not tracked it, I would have probably had another piece. I decided that I did not want a second piece because then I would have had 700 calories of cake in my day. And that - 700 calories of cake in one day - does not jive with my long term objectives for myself. This is a great example of how you can make tracking your accountability partner.

Create some new thoughts for yourself and get tracking!