Week 4 - Keep a food journal (1-23-12)

To recap:
Week 1: Drink 14 cups of water a day - Still going strong and still struggling on the weekends.
Week 2: Get 8 hours of sleep per night - Still struggling with waking up in the middle of the night.
Week 3: Keep off the couch - ROCKING this one now that I found the step game on the Wii Fit that lets me count my steps while I watch TV.

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This week's small change is to keep a food journal.

Write done everything you eat and drink - every bite, lick, and taste.

Not only is this good for controlling your calories in for weight loss, but it's a great way to gauge how certain foods at certain times make you feel. Keep track of how you feel before and after your meals, too.

Since this has been pretty much my only weight loss plan for the past 2 years, I should nail this one!  I track my food - every bite most days - at MyFitnessPal (member name echaos if you would like to add me as a friend).

If I don't track every morsel and watch the calories climb during the day, I have no self control over either portions or choices.  But as soon as I know that I will be holding myself accountable to a number the minute I put that cookie in my mouth, I am (more) able to walk away.  It's also a great place to track my water (when I remember)

The one thing I don't do, but should, is to keep track of how I feel with different foods.  I have only recently accepted the fact that I am somewhat lactose intolerant.  I haven't cut all dairy out of my diet completely, but if I don't get my Starbucks Chai Tea Latté made with Lacteeze, I pay for it later.   I was never a milk drinker and the bit in my 1 cup of coffee per day doesn't seem to affect me.  But if I were to better keep track of how I feel before and after eating, I might get a better handle on how food affects me.