Monitoring your food intake can be very valuable if you are pursuing certain health goals. Knowing how much you eat and what your macronutrient ratio looks like can help you reach your goals faster and give you a healthy lifestyle. For more info, posted below are some of the many reasons why you should monitor your food intake.
Help You Determine Food Intolerances
Bloated? A belly that always seems to stick out a little? Many people react differently to different foods, so keeping a food log is a great way to find out what exactly bothers each of you. It’s not “normal” to feel uncomfortable as soon as you eat something, need to go to the bathroom often, or urgently want to go all the time. So, if you’re used to gutting issues but can’t figure out why keeping a journal of your food and imagining how you feel each day is a great way to connect the dots.
Show You How Much You Eat
Tracking your food is also a good way to know exactly how much you’re eating. Surprisingly, while some people eat too much, others also eat too little. The first step to eating well is focusing on whole foods, the next steps are paying attention to how much you eat and what balance of macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) you are eating. By implementing an app that tracks your meals, it can help paint a picture and tell you when you’re eating the perfect amount of the perfect things.
Give You Awareness
How many times I’ve asked someone, “What did you eat today?” and they didn’t know the answer are countless. Too often we eat without paying attention to what we eat, let alone how we eat it, where we eat it when we eat it, and how we eat it. Most of the time people think they are eating better than they are, but when you put pen to paper, the facts don’t lie. If there is an app, food tracking can help you reach another level of awareness and attention to your diet.
Make You Accountable
Being accountable to someone, whether at work, at the gym, or in your daily diet plan, is a very valuable way to make sure you are consistent with your choices and the person you are most accountable to is yourself. While it may seem like a small thing, food monitoring forces you to think twice about what you put in your mouth and can help you reach your goals. In this way, tracking the food you intake would be effective.
Help You to Live Well
Tracking your food intake is not only helpful in finding out what you’re doing wrong, but it can help show you exactly what you’re doing right to make sure you keep doing it. Maybe you’re eating more veggies than you thought or drinking water very consistently, whatever it is, these good habits are often reinforced by keeping a food journal and are something you could (and should) feel good about. In reality, there is nothing wrong with finding flaws in your diet, it’s a good thing because it helps you identify what you need to work on.