Tracking for Success
We manage what we monitor.
The first time I ever tracked my food was when I joined Weight Watchers (WW) in 2009. I did not have a history of dieting and had never - not once - kept track of what I was eating. But, there is a reason that no matter what program you are following, there is some sort of tracking system.
I was like most people when I first joined WW - I simply wanted to lose weight. I was not thinking about lofty goals like changing my relationship with food. Just give me a program to follow, and I will follow it, lose weight, and get on with my life.
If only it was that simple. One decision at a time, we change the way we eat over the course of weeks, months and years. Our commitment to tracking is strong to start, and we often see satisfying weight loss numbers which feeds our energy to continue to do it. But then…we get tired of it, we fall back into old habits, we stop tracking on weekends, we begin to eat a little more again, and before we know it we have stopped tracking altogether because we know we are not really following the plan.
That very first week in WW I learned lessons that were so impactful that it seems like I just learned them yesterday:
I was eating far more than I thought I was.
I was eating a lot of “healthy” food that packed a lot of calories.
I was using a lot of my points with cookies.
I do much better if I make a plan for the day.
In short, I learned that I had to be mindful about my eating - and that was completely new. A food journal is a built in mindfulness tool and its power is not so much in seeing the points or calories, but in helping you focus on your behaviors.
But, before we recognize it for that “big” role having to do with mindset and changing our relationship with food, it provides us with a framework and a concrete opportunity to learn about our eating habits and make changes. It helps us figure out how much to eat, identify hunger signals, and learn which foods work best for our bodies.
There was a time that we would celebrate weight loss and non scale victories in the WW meeting rooms. These discussions not only helped the person who was celebrating, but would also motivate others in the room by demonstrating that success was possible. Additionally, members were so supportive and happy for one another - it was a great energy. I would ask the member to reflect on what they did to help themselves be successful and approximately 95% of the time (no joke) they would say “tracking”.
There are as many excuses for not tracking as there are people who want to lose weight. Here are two common ones that prompted the New Yorker in me to think “are you kidding me?” The first one was that it takes too much time; over time it will get quicker and easier and really it only takes a few minutes - aren’t you worth it? The second one was not being able to track because a person ate out; pick a number, make an estimate, choose an item that closely matches what you ate.
The big, unspoken hurdle is that people are not tracking at all, or are not tracking honestly because they judge themselves harshly based on what they ate. Instead, we need to teach ourselves that it is just information, not a system for self recrimination. Viewed with a critical, unbiased eye we can view it our trackers as information to help us make changes. And, the more we do it, the easier this piece becomes.
I do not mind tracking because I am a person who likes systems and rules. But many people are not like that. If that is you, what other system could you create for yourself that functions as tracking but does not feel onerous? Planning what you will eat for the day without looking at calories or points - just a list? Tracking macros? Pre tracking? Writing instead of using an app? Tracking on a few chosen days, or for a few chosen meals? Tracking only when you do not cook your own food? There are lots of ways to approach it - the idea is to figure out how to reliably use tracking or food journaling as a tool for success.
These days, I do not track every day but as soon as I see my weight getting squirrely I get back to it (I currently use the Lose It app). And shockingly (NOT - because we are always on the journey) I learn the same four lessons about my behavior that I learned that first week in WW.
We manage what we monitor.
