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| SHUTTERSTOCK/ALYSSA ZOLNA |
Using a food-tracking app can easily make you hyper-focused on the numbers, says Wesley Delbridge, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “I’ve seen a lot of people take food tracking to the extreme and burn themselves out or develop an unhealthy relationship with food,” he says.
Check out these five creative ways to track what you put in your mouth—without driving yourself insane.
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| ALYSSA ZOLNA |
Hunger is your body’s built-in food tracker, says Jim White, R.D., owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios in Virginia. Your hormones do all of the math for you, letting you know when you need a boost of energy via food, and when it’s time to pump the breaks.
To monitor what's going in your mouth, White recommends tapping into your hunger scale. It ranges from one to 10. At one, you’re terrifyingly hangry. At 10, you’re tempted to unbutton your jeans (YOLO). The goal is to keep your hunger levels between four and six, he says. Start eating when you hit four and retire from the dinner table at six. You’ll automatically prevent mindless eating, over-eating, and fits of mid-day grumpiness.
To monitor what's going in your mouth, White recommends tapping into your hunger scale. It ranges from one to 10. At one, you’re terrifyingly hangry. At 10, you’re tempted to unbutton your jeans (YOLO). The goal is to keep your hunger levels between four and six, he says. Start eating when you hit four and retire from the dinner table at six. You’ll automatically prevent mindless eating, over-eating, and fits of mid-day grumpiness.
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| ALYSSA ZOLNA |
“Take pictures of your meals and share them with others,” says Delbridge. It could be via Facebook, Instagram, or even a dedicated food-tracking app. For instance, Pic Healthy(free for iOS) allows you to share pictures of your meals, rate how healthy (or unhealthy) they were, and open things up for your friends to comment—cheering you on, giving recipe suggestions, and helping you make your next meal even better
“Someone may comment that your salad looks great, but noticed that it looked low on protein,” he says. Next time, you can beef things up with an egg, chickpeas, or chicken. Nom nom.
If you’re going to count anything, make it your fruits and veggies. The good news: you don't need to go higher than five. Increasing your produce intake to at least five or more servings per day guarantees you'll be noshing on plenty of weight loss-supporting vitamins and minerals and filling fiber, says White. By eating more produce, you won't have to play "must resist the vending machine" at 4 p.m.
Can't bother to tally up five per day? White says you can just aim to include at least one fruit or vegetable in each meal and snack. We know you can handle that.
It's time to bust out your old diary. According to research from the University of Kentucky, learning to manage stress is even more important than learning the right eating techniques when you're trying to lose weight. Besides spurring emotional eating, stress can throw off your hormones, like leptin, ghrelin, cortisol, and adrenaline, which makes you crave foods high in fat and sugar—because who stress eats celery?
Plus, by putting pen to paper you can cope with feeling frazzled and keep your stress—and emotional eating—from going HAM.
You don’t have to calculate every last macronutrient to eat a balanced meal. Just do a quick scan of your plate to make sure that it contains some carbs, protein, fat, and—if you want bonus points—fiber. Getting a combination of these nutrients is vital for fueling your body, preventing overeating, and keeping sugar crashes at bay, says Delbridge.
This rule applies to snack time, too. If you normally grab an apple for your 3 p.m. munchies, that’s great. But you still need some protein and fat. Try adding in string cheese or nut butter to stay on track 'til dinner.
Article source: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/g19939807/food-tracking/
“Someone may comment that your salad looks great, but noticed that it looked low on protein,” he says. Next time, you can beef things up with an egg, chickpeas, or chicken. Nom nom.
 |
| ALYSSA ZOLNA |
If you’re going to count anything, make it your fruits and veggies. The good news: you don't need to go higher than five. Increasing your produce intake to at least five or more servings per day guarantees you'll be noshing on plenty of weight loss-supporting vitamins and minerals and filling fiber, says White. By eating more produce, you won't have to play "must resist the vending machine" at 4 p.m.
Can't bother to tally up five per day? White says you can just aim to include at least one fruit or vegetable in each meal and snack. We know you can handle that.
 |
| ALYSSA ZOLNA |
It's time to bust out your old diary. According to research from the University of Kentucky, learning to manage stress is even more important than learning the right eating techniques when you're trying to lose weight. Besides spurring emotional eating, stress can throw off your hormones, like leptin, ghrelin, cortisol, and adrenaline, which makes you crave foods high in fat and sugar—because who stress eats celery?
Plus, by putting pen to paper you can cope with feeling frazzled and keep your stress—and emotional eating—from going HAM.
 |
| ALYSSA ZOLNA |
This rule applies to snack time, too. If you normally grab an apple for your 3 p.m. munchies, that’s great. But you still need some protein and fat. Try adding in string cheese or nut butter to stay on track 'til dinner.
Article source: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/g19939807/food-tracking/
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