A sarcastic take on a food journal: a notebook made out of a cereal box from SuiteHeart.
That is also why I don't count calories. I know what healthy foods are (most fruits, veggies, oatmeal, grilled chicken, fish) and I know what is unhealthy (all things fried, all bar food, 90% of take-out, creams, cheeses, desserts) and I know what is in-between (avacados and mangos). I don't need to look at the calorie content for the frozen pizza I ate on Sunday to know that it was incredibly unhealthy. Nor do I need to calculate the calories for the banana bread I made last night (key ingredients include butter and sugar) to know that it is a dessert and not a healthy breakfast (though it was a delicious breakfast).
Not wanting to track my food intake seems very counter to my enjoyment of tracking everything from flossing to bed making. I think the difference is that tracking my habits requires a single check mark at the end of the day, which means I do not spend my entire day thinking about flossing. A food journal requires you to log, and therefore think, about your eating all day long. This may be irrational, but I don't want to obsess about what I am eating or what I weigh - and to me, I associate tracking your food or calories as a gateway to becoming preoccupied (in an unhealthy way) with food.
I think many of us have several friends that spend a lot of time thinking about calories/food/their bodies - and I think those friends are less happy as a result. While I'd like to lose 5 pounds, I spend very little time thinking about my body, food, or calories. Right now food is associated with fun - I enjoy learning to cook new meals, I enjoy sitting down to eat and having good conversations, and I enjoy trying new foods. I don't want food to become something evil, and for some reason, a food journal seems like a way to villainize food.
Why am I rambling on about food journals - keeping a food journal is a requirement for the bootcamp that I started yesterday. Do you keep a food journal? What have your experiences been in tracking your eating or calories?
5 comments:
I have tracked my eating at different times, and I don't think writing down what I eat makes me perceive food as "evil" - in fact, I think it makes me more mindful of what I'm putting in my mouth. I didn't stop eating pizza or drinking beer when I was keeping track of my intake... but I would eat the pizza more slowly, and eat less of it than otherwise. Likewise with the beer.
In fact, I think that knowing I was going to write down every thing I ate led me to enjoy the food I was eating _more_, rather than mindlessly grazing. Which led me to drop weight.
I started keeping a food journal because I'm back on Weight Watchers. It's the only way I can keep myself honest. :-)
Cutting calories is one of the most effective - if not THE most effective - ways to lose weight. But the problem with that is that lots of super healthy foods are high in fat and calories. Like nuts, salmon, avocados, and grass-fed beef. So I'm seeing a total dietary change as I try to cut a few pounds. I'm relying on low-fat, low-cal junk instead of on healthy fats and proteins.
TMI, I'm sure. But I agree - keeping a journal does curb the food enjoyment aspect of eating.
I've tried to keep a food journal on occasion, because a lot of people say it makes them more mindful of what they eat and helps them lose weight.
I found that although it made me more mindful for a few days, it became more of a chore than anything else. I agree - check marks are easy and quick and I like making them; food journals, not so much. I started to notice that I wouldn't eat things, not because they were bad for me, but purely so I wouldn't have to write them down. Also, for calorie counting, it's really easy to add packaged food to the journal, because that information is readily available. But for home cooked meals it drove me crazy because I'm a very specific person and I didn't like trying to estimate exactly how much of what ingredient was in something. This led me to either not write things down, or to eat more prepackaged food, both of which are completely counterproductive to the purpose of a food journal.
Ok, that was really long. Short answer: it doesn't seem to be a good option for me.
Thank you for all of the feedback! I'm hoping that it ends up being more of a positive experience than I'm anticipating.
@MrsD - almonds, salmon, avacados, mangos, grass-fed beef... that is what I'd love to eat every single day. Every day!! A journal may help me achieve moderation, I just don't want elimination. Healthy foods shouldn't be bad - it's just not fair!
stopping by from SITS and wishing you a great Friday!
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