Stuck in a rut? Not feeling like you are growing any? Are you writing it down?
I know, I know! I said that already in the other Journal It blog post! It just seems so catchy and in your face.
The mind is a powerful thing. When you are sick or tired, or sick and tired, your body will tell you that it needs more energy. It tells you this with a hunger response because you obviously aren't listening to your your body telling you to get some rest. Some people also eat when they are stressed out. Others fall to peer pressure from a well meaning spouse or friend who makes them cookies or cake... I prefer Pie!
There are lots of reasons you will eat that wont help you reach your goals. If you are here, though, shouldn't your goal have a little something to do with diet? Are your goals specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (S.M.A.R.T.)? If so, how are you measuring your diet? I will tell you how: you are going to have to write it down in some way, shape or form... or just follow someone Else's canned diet plan.
At a minimum, I recommend you track your calories over time. You should be aiming for about five meals per day, each about 1/5th of your daily caloric needs. Use the caloric needs calculator on the TeamBeachbody site. It uses the time tested Harris Benedict Equation that I know you love! Then, it's time to start counting.
Column 1: Time
Column 2: What you ate
Column 3: How many calories
Column 4: Running total of calories for the day
This will help you budget your daily calories to keep you on track. If you are eating 5+ times per day, it will help keep your blood sugar consistent and turn you into a lean fat burning machine!
Want to take it to the next level? Add columns for tracking the following:
Column A: Fat grams or calories. 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories
Column B: Protein grams or calories. 1 gram of protein equals 4 calories
Column C: Carbohydrate grams or calories. 1 gram of carbs equals 4 calories
Column D: Alcohol grams or calories. 1 gram of alcohol equals 7 calories. Okay, you shouldn't, but if you do, at least know the numbers!
Using columns A through C, you can determine your percentage of carbs or protein [(grams*4)/calories]. You can determine percentage of fat [(grams*9)/calories], and I am not helping you with your alcohol problem! Find a meeting.
Many of our programs have diet tracking sheets you can print daily and insert into a three-ring binder. Feel encouraged to use that! I have a little 8x5 notebook that works fine for me and I can take it everywhere.
Several of my college classes required a dedicated lab book. It helped me learn things and convert knowledge into wisdom so that this stuff just made sense and started to come naturally. Your body should be the most important lab you have. Without it, you can't live on this planet! So pick up a notebook, find a computer program, set some meaningful SMART goals, and get to it!
WRITE IT DOWN! PUSH A LITTLE HARDER! The results will come.
Links:
Why You Got Fat
They Sabotage My Fitness!!
Shopping List Magic
Food Journaling Again
I noticed that after doing this for 3-6 months, I have all my regular snacks and meals lined up to where I know what I can and can't eat and still meet my goals. Due to other things in my life right now, I haven't kept a diet journal for almost three weeks and am holding the weight and body fat steady.
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