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Now that we’ve covered how to plan meals and why it’s beneficial, it’s time to start tracking it. Understandably, many people struggle to understand why this is so helpful. As long as we follow the plan, why the need to track it? Well, consider that we habitually track many other important things in our life. For one, we track our income and our spending. We track our growth when we’re kids, we track our progress in many endeavors by marking off milestones. So why should our diet and exercise be any different? The truth is it isn’t. It can just seem tedious. So, we’re going to go over how tracking our diet and physical activity, or intake and output, can help us on the road to healthy weight loss.
A Homemade Receipt
Every time we go out to a restaurant, or even a grocery store, we get an itemized bill of everything we purchased. That isn’t news to anybody but translating that into our home lives seems to be ignored. Think about it this way; eating, or overeating, comes at a cost. Not only to our wallets, but to our waistlines and wellness. Why is it second nature to track how much money we spend on food, but not the amount consumed. By planning meals ahead of time, we can shop for groceries accordingly and save money. By tracking our consumption, we make sure that we don’t go overboard and run out too quickly. While a diet can indeed be successful without tracking it, why not take the extra few minutes to hold ourselves accountable? Speaking of accountable…
Accountability Leads to Stability
While attitude and discipline play a huge role in healthy weight loss, it’s important to remember the scientific facts behind it. In order to burn one pound of fat, we need to maintain a deficit of 3,500 calories (against our metabolic rate). While it isn’t necessary, or practical, to count every single calorie consumed, tracking our intake gives us a general idea of where we are on a week-to-week basis. And because we’re only human, we are bound to stumble every now and then. Maybe an extra serving here, or a guilty pleasure snack there, it happens. But by tracking it, we make it that much harder to forget about it. Seeing a record of what we ate has a way of making us think twice before we make the same mistake. It is equally important to be aware that tracking also ensures that we are eating enough. Too often, we go overboard. It starts off with good intentions, but it is a very slippery slope, and all of a sudden, weight loss is no longer healthy but a symptom of being malnourished. Keeping our cravings in check is important, but so is making sure we are fueling our bodies properly, because after all, the energy we use doesn’t come from nowhere. Tracking our consumption is both a tool to prevent us from overindulging, but also a safeguard to ensure we don’t fall short of our needs.
Logging Workouts Motivates and Protects Us
In the same vein as tracking our intake, it’s just as important to track our output. This side of it tends to be easier, if for no other reason than the sheer number of apps and services designed for exactly this purpose. But just like before, there are two sides to this. When we start working out, tracking our workouts elicits a very similar feeling to recording wins and losses. By keeping a record of our workouts and the ensuing results, we don’t just feel progress. We can see it. Seeing the pattern we’ve started to develop, as well as the progress we’ve made, is as powerful a motivator as any. As we have covered before, starting an exercise regimen begins with small steps before we can ramp up. It’s important to do this gradually so that we can get a good feel for our abilities and our limitations, and slowly but surely improve on them. But seeing that recorded, taking note of those improvements, whether they be slightly longer distance covered, or that we maintained a more even heartrate during a workout, serves not only as motivation but as reinforcement. Success is habit forming, and when we succeed on ourselves, it can be even more so. But like before, it’s also beneficial to track our workouts so that we know when enough is enough. It’s important not to overdo it, both as a means of making it a sustainable habit and to avoid potential overuse injuries or extreme fatigue.
You’re not Alone
When it’s all said and done, weight loss, nutrition, and wellness, falls under the category of medical science. By seeking the help of trained professionals, you not only have better resources to succeed, but the support structure you need to build better habits. The professionals at Olivera Weight Loss have over 40 years of experience in helping people reduce their weight to a healthy BMI, in a clinically proven and medically safe way, and with the means to help their patients keep it off. Patients who qualify for medical weight loss treatment with Olivera receive Phentermine, an FDA approved, clinically proven appetite suppressant, which is an excellent way to jumpstart better habits with proper portions. This is also helpful in tracking because it will help put your food intake into perspective. Keeping in mind that many factors can affect your weight loss journey as much as the shift into a more mindful approach to eating, having access to Meal Plans can help keep a balanced and nutritious, and delicious diet, in a sustainable way. With our established patients having the option to continue their care with our Telehealth service, receiving the support, encouragement, and continuing education they need, we make it easier than ever to follow your plan!
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