Why is weight loss tracking important for results and motivation? Because if you don't track your efforts and progress, you can't possibly know what is working and what is not.
The simplest form of tracking your progress is by weighing yourself once a week. This is an easy method to keep yourself accountable. Doing this, you see a number on your scale that indicates whether what you're doing is working or not.
The downside to just weighing yourself is that it's only one indicator of your progress.
So what else can you do to track?
Keeping a Daily Food Journal
Experts agree that keeping a food journal has many benefits and can help boost weight loss.
Do you remember what you ate today? How about yesterday? How about 3 days ago? I bet you can't remember off the top of your head but I'd also bet that if you're tracking your food to lose weight, you can easily go back and check!
Why is this important?
Because journaling your food has so many benefits:
- keeps you accountable
- makes you think twice before eating something that could throw you off your program
- gives you a record to refer back to so you can see what foods work well for your body and what foods give you problems
- provides you with a reference for favorite recipes - I love looking back on a week I did well to find what recipes I enjoyed and can reuse again
- is a place for you to track not only food, but also water, vitamins, supplements, medication, exercise, weight, and measurements
- takes the pressure off of trying to remember everything, freeing you up to focus on other important things
What Can You Use to Track
If you purchase an all-in-one weight loss program, there's a good chance you will receive some kind of tracking tool.
However, the simplest tool for tracking is a good ol' lined notebook.
Decide before you get started what you're going to track. This might be daily food, weight, body measurements, clothing size, how much water you drink, how many calories you take in, how much fat/sugar/fiber/protein is in a food or meal, what you did for exercise and how long you did it, or some combination of these and more.
There are also some great smartphone apps you can use to track calories, exercise, and more.
If you're handy in Microsoft Excel, you could draft a spreadsheet that includes the information you'll be tracking.
Or you could purchase a ready-made food and exercise journal. The drawback to these is that they don't always include the specific information you want to track and may not have space to customize the information you do keep track of. But this option might be for you if you see something you like that lets you track everything you want to track.
Tips for Successful Weight Loss Tracking
- Commit - make a decision to track for at least the next 30 days to see how you like the process and to see what results you get.
- Write It Before You Bite It - write down what you're going to eat and drink before you eat or drink; this ensures that you're being intentional about what you put in your mouth and gives you a chance to change your mind if you're about to eat or drink something that would hinder your weight loss efforts.
- Start Small - start by tracking just food and beverages and grow from there; add in weight, measurements, and exercise when you're ready.
- Pay Attention to What Works - make a note of food finds, favorite recipes, and anything else that really works for you and helps you lose weight.
