Thursday, August 24, 2017

Food Tracking Update

Do you remember the post about my new healthy habit of tracking my food?! Well, if not, you can check it out HERE.


And if you don't remember and you didn't read the previous post, let me give you a brief synopsis. As of April 24th I started tracking my food with the My Fitness Pal app (PS This post is NOT sponsored or affiliated with the app, it just happened to be the one the majority of friends recommended and the one I've been using for the last four months).


I did not start tracking as a way to lose weight, but as a way to gain knowledge. I had little idea of what an actual serving size looked like, how much sodium was in certain foods, the amount of calories I was burning during workouts, etc.

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I have mentioned it a couple times on social media, but I think that this healthy habit has been a total game changer!

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And although I'm not focused on losing weight (but gaining health), I've actually lost a few pounds while on this journey.

PS Yes, I know I removed the weight from the graph... The numbers don't matter!

But aside from a number on a scale, I am feeling fitter, leaner and stronger! I know that running and eating right doesn't build muscle (thanks to Robin {@knead_to_cook} for hammering that point home frequently ;)), but it has made me feel less "fluffy" and allowed some of my previously hidden muscles to make their presence known ;)

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As most of you know by now, I am very much a Type A personality. Having this app has definitely made me think about my food choices (having to fess up and put in so many serving sizes, looking at how many calories I have eaten during the day, seeing when I am doing "mindless" eating, etc) much more than I had previously. I may be a little more lax with the exact measuring (mostly because I now know what a specific portion looks like of the foods I eat on a regular basis), but I am super pumped I not only found this app but have stuck with this habit.

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PS At no point during these last four months have I felt like I was depriving myself. I see eating healthy as just another way of caring for my body, similar to running or getting adequate sleep. If there is something that I want to treat myself with (whether that's Halo Top in the evening or #AllTheChipsAndSalsa), I just try my best to make sure it fits into my day. (PPS I use the calorie allotment as a model, but am not super strict since weight loss is not my main focus.)

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Do you track your food?

5 comments:

Chelsea @ Just Me Chelsea B said...

How awesome!! 120 days of tracking is a serious accomplishment! I've always wanted to try to track my food with an app because I've used pen and paper before and it didn't turn out super organized! I love that it tracks everything for you with a graph though! I'm such a visual person anyways that it would probably make such a difference for me!

Have a fabulous day Carlee!!

Anonymous said...

I track on and off. I did some bodybuilding in my early 40's so that changed how I ate. Now that I'm (gasp) 50, I'm doing a lot more cardio and I know I don't eat enough. So tracking it helps me be better about getting all the nutrients I need. I still struggle...

Jodi said...

I don't track food.. but your posts makes me want to. To really just see what I am eating. Some days I feel so guilty over certain things but feel I am generally balanced for my activity level... so it would be interesting to get perspective.

San said...

I loosely track my food on my Fitbit App... it's more to keep track of what I eat and that I plan a little better around workout days).

Do you integrate FitnessPal stats with Garmin?

Sarah said...

I wish I was better about tracking my food... it's just such a pain in the butt!

Sarah | Mass Gain Source