Tracking

It has been proven that consistency moves weight loss success. One of the key elements of a healthy weight loss is keeping track of what you eat and drink. Studies show that when you are mindful of what you put in your mouth and you are keeping track, you will begin to see weight loss.

Now, why should you track all of this? Everything listed will help you in finding what’s working and what’s not. It is a way to tailor your weight loss to work for you!

Your weight

By weighing each day, you will have an insight into how you have been doing with your eating and movement for the past few days. Let’s face it, weight fluctuates from day-to-day. Well, it even fluctuates from hour to hour. Many things can affect your weight throughout the day. Your meals, your bowel movements, and even your water intake will affect your weight. So this is why it’s a good idea to weigh consistently every morning. For more information on weighing, check out this post.

Your meals

When you are trying to lose weight, it has been proven that consistency is the key to your meals. Find easy to prepare meals that you enjoy so you will not be tempted with foods that will not help you with weight loss. If you find a meal that works for you, continue to have that meal during your weight loss phase. For example, yogurt and fruit is an easy breakfast that is easy to prepare. By having this for breakfast every day, you are more likely to see a weight loss day the next day. By all means, you can still change it up and have something else for breakfast, but when you know something works for you, stick with it.

Being mindful of your meals and the timing of your meals will be beneficial as well. If you eat dinner regularly after 6 pm, you may find that you gain weight the next day. However, if you eat dinner earlier, maybe 4:30 or 5 pm, you may see a weight loss the next day. This is why it’s important to track your timing of meals.

Your beverages and bites

Everything you put in your mouth will add to your caloric intake. Even if you just taste a cookie, write it down. That way if you did great with your meals and only had a couple bites of a cookie and you had a weight gain the next day, you will know that you shouldn’t take a bite of cookie when you are trying to lose weight. However, if you had a couple of bites of that cookie and all meals were on point, and the next day you had a weight loss day, then you know that you can have a couple of bites and it won’t hurt your efforts.

Your water intake

As we discussed last week, the more water you drink, the more weight loss can happen. It’s so important to be mindful of the amount of water you are drinking. This will tell you if you are drinking enough each day to help with your weight loss goals.

Your exercise

It’s always a good idea to track the exercise you are doing. Track how long and what you did. Exercise makes your muscles swell and you can experience some water retention, so make sure you increase your water intake. By knowing this when you exercise, you will be able to understand why you may see a weight gain on the scale. But if you are being consistent with your meals and not over doing the snacks or junk food, then eventually the numbers on the scale will come down.

Your hours of sleep

Sleep matters! Your body needs sleep to restore energy and regulate your appetite. When you don’t get adequate sleep, you can feel hungrier and crave more sweet and salty foods. If you get adequate sleep, the feeling of hunger decreases. I often try and get 7-8 hours of sleep. I usually will have a weight loss day if I had adequate sleep. However, on those days that I only slept 4-5 hours, I will weigh more! I only know this because I track my sleep! So, track your hours of sleep and see if the amount you are getting affects your weight loss efforts! For more on sleep, check out this post on my website.

Your bowel movements

Yep, I’m going there! Bowel movements (BM) are for sure something you need to track. You will definitely have a weight gain if it’s been a few days since your last bowel movement. A lot of things can affect your BM. Changes in your diet, water intake, stress, and menstrual cycle all can alter your BM or even lack of… If you see that you gained weight, look to see if you had a BM in the last few days. If not, then we need to work on getting a good BM…

By tracking all of these things, you will be able to mindfully adjust your eating and drinking. I have prepared a tracking sheet for you to use to help you remember what all you should be tracking. You can print however many you need (1 for each day) and start tracking your way to a healthy weight! This is for your eyes only. You will not be turning these into me. However, if you aren’t losing weight and not sure what you should change, this is a great tool that will help you. I can look them over if you need help.