Food Diary

So I get a cool benefits plan with my job that helps with co-pays and various things that my primary insurance may not cover. Sometimes being a grown up actually has it's benefits (no pun intended... well maybe a little). So, I decided to go see a dietitian because I don't want to be some unrealistic paper thin human. I just want to be the best Shanna that I can be. I also think fad diets are ridiculous and I don't want to participate because they're not sustainable. I've been working pretty hard the last year or so to get into shape and just be healthy, really a preventative action because I have a very poor family medical history and I'm getting older all the time. Well one thing that my dietitian has me doing is keep a food diary. She doesn't have me count calories or anything. Mostly she wants me to be able to meet fruit/veg, carb, and protein goals each day. I have found this helpful because it helps me plan my meals better because I have to meet all these goals, but I'm not supposed to eat when I'm not hungry.

But- there's more to this. This is accountability. Ya see, I want to do this right because even though my job pays for this, I am paying a silly amount of money to do this, and I hate the idea of wasting money. I really think everyone should try this for a week. Just write down everything you eat, the time, and rate how hungry you were when you ate it. Know the whole time that you're going to let someone at the end of the week look at it. You'd be surprised at what you'll avoid because it turns out that I randomly eat some strange things.

For example: This morning I ate an egg, a hash brown, an organic all fruit smoothie w/ protein powder..... and two oatmeal cookies. Now I have to write this down and I'm going to look ridiculous.
I got in lots of protein and fruits... but those cookies! I'm not even a sweet junkie. But those cookies were callin' my name so I ate 'em. Give this food diary business a try and see what you think.

Posted in: Nutrition