by GameChanger Strength and Nutrition Coach Rob Riccobono
There’s no real secret to losing body fat. Just eat less and move more, right? But what else can you do to aid the process? There is one game changing tactic that you are probably familiar with but aren’t using: log your food intake.
Learn Your Excesses
Logging your food gives you a true picture of your diet, rather than what you think you are eating. Do you constantly utter the phrase “I’m eating right, but I just can’t lose weight.” Take a look at the actual layout of your meals, and you’ll likely find the issue. Food logging is most helpful for finding moments where you think you are eating a reasonable amount, but in reality you are consuming enough to feed two!
Maybe you keep a healthy diet during the week, and allow yourself more freedom on the weekends. Perhaps you allow yourself a cheat meal each week. Or you have a favorite meal or food of which you’re unsure of the nutrition information. Record these meals, find their calorie information, and learn if you’ve been splurging more than you realized.
Discover Your Deficiencies
Your nutrition might be ineffective because you are actually eating fewer nutrients and specific foods than you think you are. You might not be eating enough protein, vegetables, or fiber (all important components of fat loss nutrition). It’s very easy to have one day where you eat a large salad, a ton of vegetables, and a large piece of lean meat and think to yourself “I sure am doing a great job with my nutrition”, and then forget that you hardly had any of those foods for the rest of the week!
Have You Been Lying to Yourself?
Several studies show that many overweight individuals actually under-report how much food they intake. When people track their meals, their true diet comes to light. One study suggests the more overweight people are, the greater the chance they will misreport their diets. Another shows some subjects under-reporting their food by over 2000 calories a day! Is this misreporting done intentionally or unintentionally? Some people consciously lie about their diets, but it is also very common for people to forget about food they eat. We cannot pinpoint the exact reasons that people misrepresent their diets (here’s a study that tried to find out), but we do know it’s one of the obstacles you’ll face, no matter how truthful and accurate you think you are.
Fitness is not just about the body. Emotions and intellect play just as much a part in the process. Here is just one tool that can help address the physical and mental challenges we contend with when trying improve our heath.
P.S Getting started at GameChanger is simple and easy. Email us at info@gamechangergym.com to schedule your free workout.
