The Importance of Tracking

As part of the 50-Day Lifestyle challenge, one of the daily tasks is to track what/how much/when you eat and move. Although the physical task itself is simple - really, how tough is it to type in a note on your phone saying that you've had 1 apple and a tuna sandwich at 1 pm - the discipline of it is more challenging.

I, myself, have started tracking on many occasions - kept it up for months and then just stopped doing it. Part of it was that I just didn't feel like doing it, but the other part was that I felt confident in the routine choices I was making. If I'm having the same breakfast/lunch/dinners week after week, why keep on tracking?

Well, the thing is, when things become routine, you can also become a bit complacent and not notice the little extras that creep in to your daily diet. Sure over a period of a week or a month 1 or 2 cookies won't hurt -- but tracking makes you fully aware of whether you really are having a 'treat' once in a while or if it's more regular than that. Even things such as measuring your serving size once in a while will help confirm just how much you are consuming. I remember that when I weighed my portion of protein - believe I really was only eating 3 oz. I was shocked to find that I was eating 6 oz -- double my portion!

A reality check once in a while is a good thing. If you're putting in the effort, you might as well do it right.

Here's a good article that outlines the benefits of tracking your eating and your exercise. The listed reasons definitely help motivate me to write it all down!