the Benefits of Food Logging
My first assignment from my personal nutritionist, Liz, was to keep track of everything I ate and drank for one full week. “Don’t change anything about your habits,” she said. “Just write it down.”
Study after study confirms the benefits of food logging. People who do it tend to have healthier, well-balanced diets, simply because they’re more aware of the nutritional value of what’s on their plate. Plus writing everything down is a pain, so they tend to do less mindless snacking, leading to more effective weight control. And they’re better at practicing portion control, which also keeps the weight in check. “It’s about putting a value on the food we eat,” Liz said. “If there’s a beautiful homemade pie in front of me, I might decide it’s worth a slice. But some junky dessert cake in cellophane wrap? Forget about it.”
I kept a food log for the seven days leading up to the start of The Second Half challenge. I took Liz at her word and didn’t alter my eating and drinking habits in any way. The log included the first couple days of a week-long summer vacation, which were particularly hedonistic. Here are the five new rules I came away with.
Rule #1: Vary the ingredients. Like most people, I fall into ruts and end up eating the same few ingredients over and over, and a lot of them are meat. That’s not only bad for the waste line, it’s probably also a factor in my elevated cholesterol.
Strategy: Liz shared this technique: at meal time, draw an imaginary line down the middle of the plate and another line through one of the halves. The full half is for vegetables and fruit, one quadrant is for a grain, and the other is for protein, whether meat, fish, or beans.
Rule #2: Pack in the plants. Plant-based eating is really catching on at the moment, and for good reason. Studies show it can promote weight loss, lower cholesterol levels, and even prevent certain types of cancer. Then there’s the huge environmental upside.
Strategy: Take in more plant-based protein sources that will keep me energized, including ones I know and use, like lentils, beans, and quinoa, and others that will take some getting used to, such as millet, wheat berries, and rainbow chard.
Rule #3: Have a better breakfast. I had a buttered bagel and fried eggs three times throughout my log week. Part of the problem is I play early morning soccer without eating first. By the time I get home I’m starving, plus I’m feeling virtuous since I just worked out, so I eat whatever I want.
Strategy: Eat before playing, even if it’s only an apple or a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana. Eggs are fine in moderation, but balance them out with smashed avocado, which is high in vitamins and potassium.
Rule #4: Eat more room fruit. “Do you realize you didn’t have a single serving of fruit the entire week?” Liz asked. It was hard to believe, since we belong to a CSA and do buy a lot of supplemental fresh fruit throughout the week. But apparently my kids vacuum it all up.
Strategy: The banana breakfast sandwich will help get me to the recommended 2-3 fruit servings a day. I’ll also keep a private stash of fruit in the fridge. And I’ll bust out the blender a couple times a week for fruit-and-vegetable smoothies. “Just watch the calories because smoothies can become very caloric if you drink a lot and use fruit juices and only fruit,” says Liz. “Include lots of vegetables, water, and ice, and you’ll be fine.”
Rule #5: Cut back on the alcohol. My weekly intake at least doubled the 14 drinks recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Besides all the long-term health risks of heavy drinking, “that’s just a lot of empty calories,” says Liz.
Strategy: I’m already committed to cutting out booze completely for the duration of the project. After that I’ll reassess and consider strategies for sticking to the two-drinks-per-day maximum.