Portion sizes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. A bagel from the 1970s used to weigh 2 ounces, now it’s up to 4, and a classic cheeseburger has jumped from 5.9 to 7.3 ounces.(1) These examples alone are exactly why logging your food is so powerful: it highlights what our eyes no longer notice, and can help bring awareness to portion pattern distortion in just a few days, can, and cravings. and cravings. come into focus. Read on to learn why food logging is important and how to make it easy with our dietitian-guided tips.
Why is it important to log your food?
Logging your food not only helps increase awareness, it can help align your daily choices with your goals. If weight loss is your focus, it’s important to recognize patterns between how you eat and how your weight moves. One study found that participants who tracked their food daily lost twice as much weight as those who did not track at all.(2) In an online weight loss study, participants who logged 2 to 3 times a day lost significantly more weight than those who logged less often.(3)
MyFitnessPal Head of Nutrition, Melissa Jaeger, RD, LD writes, “Food logging not only shows you what you eat today, it can reveal patterns, habits and opportunities to change behavior so that your actions better support your goals.”
What you learn from tracking your meals
1. Real portion sizes
Once you start tracking your meals, you can quickly see how everyday portions count. The “handful” of nuts, for example, is often closer to two or three servings, not one (4). Recognizing true portion sizes helps you make informed adjustments without feeling like any foods are off limits.
2. Eating patterns and gaps
Do you find yourself skipping meals in the morning only to binge later in the day? Tracking helps identify patterns in your eating behavior and offers areas for improvement so that your eating can be more aligned with your goals (5,6). Plus, tracking shows which nutrients you’re not eating enough of (and those you might be enjoying a little too much of). Spotting these quickly means you can adjust your eating the following day, setting yourself up for success.
3. Hidden sources of extra calories
Tracking your food reveals both the nutrients in your favorite foods and the hidden calories that often go unnoticed (2). Condiments, snacks and drinks are common culprits for extra calories many people don’t realize. In fact, just a few tablespoons of ketchup can add surprising sugar to a meal (ie, a tablespoon of ketchup on that burger adds 20 calories but 4 grams of added sugar to your meal).(7) The goal isn’t to cut them out, but to find opportunities to swap in more nutritious options, like a Greek dip.
You also like
Do I need to track everything I eat, even snacks and condiments?
4. Emotional or environmental eating triggers
If stress sends you straight to the snack cabinet, you’re not alone. Tracking helps uncover emotional or situational eating patterns so you can turn triggers into healthier prey, like a brisk walk instead of chips (6).
5. How small adjustments improve progress
Finally, logging your food highlights small tweaks that can lead to big results. If weight loss is your goal, but your added sugar intake keeps rising, tracking can reveal hidden sources, like that morning coffee bar muffin (6). Once you see them, it’s easier to make simple swaps like whipping up a homemade breakfast like this Blueberry Muffin Breakfast Cake to take on the go. Remember that every small change moves the needle towards achieving your goals.
Tips for logging your food
Tracking your intake shouldn’t feel like another thing on your to-do list. Consider these tips to make logging a part of your routine that you look forward to. Believe it or not, there is a way to make it work for you, so it will be easy and effective.
Use an app to log your food
Old fashioned paper and pen may work for some, but not all. Use the smartphone you’re already on and log your food in an app like MyFitnessPal. This user-friendly format helps generate valuable information that can help identify patterns in your eating behavior and promote awareness of behavior change (8).
Create saved meals, recipes and frequent foods
Most of us rely on “go-to” meals, or those familiar foods that make planning easy and help hit our macros. It’s amazing! But if, for example, you have a bowl of Greek yogurt for breakfast most days, save it as a meal in MyFitnessPal. It makes logging faster and also helps you see where you might need more variety or adjustments to nutrients to better support your personal nutrition goals.
Log your foods
Some may find it useful to “write it when you bite it”, but time may not always allow for that flexibility. What I find works best, especially on busy weeks, is to log my food in advance the night before. This helps take the guesswork out of what I eat and ensures my macronutrients are met to help reach my goals. Or use features like Meal Scanning or Voice Logging for quick and easy logging solutions on the go!
Measure your portions
Invest in a kitchen scale and measuring cups and spoons to become familiar with portion sizes. This not only helps ensure you’re logging your intake accurately, but also helps with visual cues you can use when eating out as well (1).
Let go of perfection
Embrace the motto “Better is the new perfect.” Slip ups happen, but don’t let a cheat day derail your progress. Get back on track and log your food the next day. When you learn the basics of a healthy, balanced meal plan, there’s room for flexibility, and so does that glass of wine or piece of cake.
How MyFitnessPal helps you understand your eating habits
Whether you’re a long-time user of MyFitnessPal or just starting out, the app offers powerful tools designed to help you understand your eating habits over the long term. As registered dietitian Stephanie Saletta, RD, notes, “One of the strongest predictors of long-term success is staying on track even after you reach your goal. (9) New features in the app, such as meal planning and goal setting, help make maintaining healthy habits easier than ever.” Explore the latest MyFitnessPal tools designed to reveal patterns and promote lasting awareness of positive change:
- Simplified logging:
- Including barcode scanning, meal scanning and voice logging capabilities.
- Nutritional Insights:
- Including macronutrient breakdown and weekly trend reports.
- Goal setting and progress tracking:
- Achieve what’s important to you, including weight loss, muscle gain, and habit formation (like drinking more water) by entering your personal goals (and tracking them) into the app.
You also like
How to log food with MyFitnessPal
Bottom line
Awareness drives behavior change, and it begins when you understand your patterns. Getting curious about what you put in your body isn’t about restriction, it’s about understanding how the foods you choose to eat on a daily basis help or hinder your goals. Logging your food is a great way to understand these patterns, but it shouldn’t feel like a chore. That’s why the team at MyFitnessPal has made achieving your goals as seamless as possible with their new app features.
Remember, success comes from building sustainable habits. Logging your food is just one step that has been proven to work. Try logging your meals for a few days in MyFitnessPal, you might be surprised what you learn.
The post What Really Happens When You Log Your Food (And Why It Matters) appeared first on the MyFitnessPal Blog.