Why It Is Important To Track Your Daily Activities And Calorie Intake To Stay In Shape
Losing weight is an uphill battle. While there are many success stories, the ones that work out, in the long run, are those that avoid getting thin quick schemes. Losing twenty pounds a month is not only unsustainable, it’s dangerous and could lead to all sorts of health complications, or even death. Even if you don’t want to lose weight but would simply like to ensure that your health is in good shape, the slow and steady course wins out ultimately. Tracking your daily activities and your calorie intake can help you stay healthy and fit. It will also help you better understand your body, and which foods or habits give you a boost both mentally and physically since the two are deeply intertwined. The following article presents a few compelling reasons for you to consider carefully tracking your daily habits, in case you’re not totally convinced.
Understand Your Nutritional Intake
Right now you probably have a vague sense of what you eat, although you’re probably not sure which nutrients you eat in excess, and which ones you lack. Tracking your food helps you get a better sense of where you’re at healthwise, and can help you better assess the foods that may be worth it for you to try to eat more of, and which ones you should avoid entirely. For many people with super busy lives and hectic work schedules, they may not be totally aware of the fact that they ate more donuts than they meant to at that office meeting, or they’re constantly hungry and unsure why – until they go through their food diary and realize that they had cookies for breakfast, which only spikes their blood sugar. Likewise, when you’re tracking your food, you’re better able to plan your meals so that you can make room for that slice of cake you want for dessert, as opposed to mindlessly grazing on other things throughout the day that you don’t necessarily enjoy, but eat out of boredom or a lack of planning.
Stay Accountable
Related to the point above, it may be easier for you to go completely off the rails when you’re keeping track of your calorie intake – far easier than you think. Through a quick visit to the Play Store, you’re bound to find helpful apps that will make logging your meals a quick task that is easily incorporated into your daily routine. Keeping track of your meals can help outline which ones are balanced, and can help you make better choices overall so that you’re fuelling your body as opposed to eating unhealthy foods you don’t even enjoy. If you use the app to set a calorie limit for yourself, you’ll also receive a quick notification letting you know that you’re about to exceed it, which is another great way to keep some accountability going for those who truly need it – which is most of us.
A Realistic Way to Achieve Your Goals
Whether you need to lose a few pounds, or simply want to be more active, keeping track of your calorie intake and how much you burn will help you achieve your goals. While the work may seem like an incredible burden, it really isn’t. This small act can help you eat anything you like while ensuring that you manage to lose a healthy one or two pounds a week, or simply maintain. Most fad diets or so-called “lifestyle habits” focus on deprivation. Going to the Cheesecake Factory every once in a while is strongly frowned upon, and you definitely won’t be able to have your cake and eat it too. However, eating smaller portions, staying active, and keeping a daily log of everything you’ve done is a much saner and feasible way to get healthy. Also, it’s affordable. You don’t need to spend a ton of money on weekly meetings, or on pricey pre-made meals. You set the goals yourself, and you work to achieve them.
Enjoy More Options
Building upon what has been briefly noted above, being able to simply log your food and exercise will help you feel more in control over what you’d like to do and how you hope to accomplish it. You can set your calorie intake for the day, how much walking you need to do, and you can incorporate your favourite foods all at the same time.
Getting and staying healthy doesn’t require a magic bullet. It’s a pretty straightforward system and you can indeed call the shots. All you have to do is be more mindful of what you eat, how much exercise you’re getting, and eventually you will be able to reach your goals. You won’t need anything more involved than that