A case for food journaling

From the Community…

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  Posted by Mr NMB Fri Sep 5, 2008 7:36am PDT

  I just had to tell you about that one.....

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  Posted by Mr NMB Fri Sep 5, 2008 7:39am PDT

  There is no such thing as unhealthy eating just inappropriate calorie intake for an individual’s metabolism what? Let me explain before you go off.

  When I lived in Manhattan a five years ago and working for New York Sports Club’s

  I interviewed literally hundreds of members to research there eating habits and was shocked to find that what I considered junk food was the mainstay of there diet, a donut for breakfast a slice for lunch hot dog for dinner what the hell, yet they were thin, strong and appeared healthy. All of the members I checked had literally normal LDL cholesterol, resting heart rate and blood pressure. Then all of a sudden it started making sense to me, all of them and their entire total daily caloric intake was appropriate for the amount of exercise they were doing, so now I don’t feel so guilty for a cheese burger now and then.

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  Posted by Mr NMB Fri Sep 5, 2008 7:39am PDT

  I just had to tell you about that one.....

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  Posted by Brett Blumenthal - Sheer Balance Fri Sep 5, 2008 8:05am PDT

  Mr NMB thanks for sharing! I have to say, I'm not sure the people I'm talking about share that phenomenal of a metabolism/luck. I think genetics do play a ton into this...and there are so many theories out there...so it is always a challenge. But it is interesting to know.

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  Posted by Linda702 Fri Sep 5, 2008 3:26pm PDT

  I agree with Mr. MNB , yes it is better to eat healthy foods, foods that have nutritional value, but if you don't exercise it doesn't matter what you eat. You have burn up more calories than you consume.

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  Posted by Barachiel Fri Sep 5, 2008 5:39pm PDT

  I believe in synergy. Proper rest, nutrition, exercise, limiting stressful situations. All are factors hitting your body in near immeasureable ways.

  Also keep in mind your body is geared toward an equilibrium. So I would definitely agree with Brett about metabolism/luck. Also ethnicity, but I get in trouble when I go in depth on that. For some reason.

  So it goes both ways, it just depends on what your goal is. I know trainers who have encouraged their model clients to smoke to "keep off the pounds." But I don't see the boys at Sityodtong LA (muay thai gym) training with Krispy Kremes. There's a big difference in training to look good, as opposed to trainig to improve health and quality lifestyle.

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  Posted by Barachiel Fri Sep 5, 2008 5:41pm PDT

  I also like the food journal on:

  http://www.fitnessjournal.org/

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  Posted by mabcosmic Fri Sep 5, 2008 6:16pm PDT

  I've known people who didn't lose weight while dieting. People would talk behind their backs saying that they were secretly stuffing their face, and a week later got a diagnosis of hypothyroidism.

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  Posted by Lorien75 Sun Sep 7, 2008 8:40am PDT

  I've been journalling faithfully for a few months now. I was using fitday.com until i joined weight watchers, now i use their online tracking tools. It really does make you aware of what you are putting in your mouth. Now i actually think before i eat, and i've lost almost 15 lbs in 6 weeks. I'm not depriving myself at all, just paying attention to portions and making sure i eat appropriate amounts of fruit, veggies, whole grains and dairy. And when i really want an ice cream cone.. i have it! So far i'm loving it, and the journalling is key.

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  Posted by Deb in CT Sun Sep 7, 2008 1:53pm PDT

  I started on NutriSystem in May. For the first 2 weeks I followed their plan, which did not require journaling. In fact, that is a selling point for them. I did loose 11 lbs in the first 2 weeks, but I do have a great deal to loose, so the significant loss in the first 2 weeks is not really all that unusual. After that, I continued on NS for 10 more weeks but started tracking my intake using Sparks.com. It’s a free diet/wellness website that has a number of great tools, articles, and online support, which I would HIGHLY recommend.

  I did this because I knew I could not afford to be on, nor did I want to be on, NS indefinitely. (While some may find the food “tasty” and supposedly even “delicious,” I did not, nor has anyone I have known personally who has tried it. But it does work.) I needed to learn proper portion control, BADLY. My concept of a portion of virtually anything was TOTALLY wrong. By measuring/weighing the food you add to NS (you provide the fruit, veggies, diary, & some bread & protein) & tracking everything, I have been able to: ensure I truly ate one portion of add-ins (and not the 4-5 portions I was eating before); determine what a properly balanced diet with the correct calorie count both looked and felt like; and see for myself that I could eat tons of some healthy foods I liked for the same calorie count as a few bites of some less healthy choices. I soon began to know what combinations of foods I could eat to achieve the correct balance and calorie count, when allowed me to then use the nutrition tool in Sparks to PLAN my meals, not just track them. I think this was key for me. It made it possible for me to continue to loose at 1-2lbs/week, after I transitioned off NS.

  My weight loss has slowed down a bit as I get closer to my goal weight, more towards the 1 than the 2 most weeks, which is to be expected. This is not a result of going off NS however. I purposely held back a couple of weeks of food just in case I totally rebounded. When I ate a week of NS after being off for 3 weeks, I lost at the same rate as I did when I ate my own food.

  Of course, everyone is different and looses differently, but I know that tracking/planning my food and adding exercise back into my life after years of a stressed, couch-potato existence, have been the key to my sustained success. I’ve lost 46lbs and counting after 17 weeks. I have only gone over my target calorie range twice and then still stayed below what my maintenance range would be. While I still have a ways to go, I am confident that I now have the tools necessary to get there.

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