Food Logs

I've lost weight since I first started making goals and keep track every week and so I made a new ticker to keep myself motivated.




Logging really helps, especially using the Fit Day website. I can look back at my daily intake and figure out which foods I need to eliminate or cut back on. Before my surgery, I'd noted that I was eating way too much fat in my food although I thought I was mostly eating fresh fruits and vegetables. It's true, I was, but the fat I did take in was the wrong kind and too high.

For example, as a snack I'd have some cheddar cheese and a cup of grapes. An ounce of cheese looks small and harmless but it's got a high fat content! I love Ken's raspberry walnut vinaigrette ... but it's got a high fat content! Antipasto seemed healthy--all those veggies and cheese with little to no carbs, right? Once again, the fat in the cheese and olives and other goodies is very high.

I made changes in what I ate before going into the hospital. One day, the only cheese I had at all was 1 slice of provolone on a sandwich. It had 8 grams of fat in it. I had a cup of cinnamon toast crunch as a snack and that had 9 grams. Anything else was 4 grams or less. I ate poultry, fresh fruit and fresh raw vegetables at meals and used dijon mustard on my bread instead of mayo. That day, my fat consumption was just under 20%.

Thanks to keep the log and looking at the charts, it's easier for me to see which choices I need to make. If I want to have cheddar cheese as a treat then I need to make sure I'm not getting fat from too many other sources. Cheese has to become one of those "once in a while" treats.

I don't always remember to log and need to make it a bigger priority. It's such a useful tool that I need to totally internalize it -- like setting an alarm to get up and go to work or something. It has to be done. I got this the other day in my email, from beliefnet:

What is it about logging that makes you stop after only a few days? Is it too much work? Are you suffering a problem with the discipline? Is it making you painfully aware of some things you'd rather not face?

OR, please allow me to really get deep. Is it that you don't want to lose weight or get healthy at all? Let's be real with each other. If you do not change some habits, like starting to eat less or healthier, or use your body daily, you will not lose weight.

I used to think, oh, I know what to do, what to eat and what to avoid. I don't need to keep a log. Now I realize I shouldn't be so arrogant & self confident. Obviously, I didn't know everything I should avoid. It's not too much work. I can discipline myself to do this regularly and I wil.l.