Tracking Calories and Weighing your Food

I don't think it's sustainable forever, but I definitely recommend it.

Here's WHY

As we have evolved as humans, we have become more knowledgeable about food and what it contains so it makes it easier to understand what is in our foods. I personally recommend everyone to measure their food for at least 1–2 months. By doing this, you will get a better understanding of how to read nutrition labels and learn what an actual serving size of certain foods are. It will also help you learn how to incorporate low-calorie high volume foods (foods high in fiber, water, vitamins, etc), therefore, making it easier not to overeat and making you feel full longer. Examples of high volume foods are vegetables and most fruits. Some fruit is a little higher in energy (calories), but have a high fiber content. Low energy fruits like most berries, are awesome snacks and are very tasty when frozen. The internet is a great resource for information and you can buy a food scale for about 20$ which is cheap for something so useful! If you get informed and do your research it should be easier to reach your goals.

Conclusion

Like I mentioned before, I don't think measuring your food is sustainable forever, but it will help. You'll be better at eyeballing foods when you go to a restaurant or a night out with friends because you'll have had the experience of measuring. Being aware of the small things will make it easier for a flexible lifestyle, which I think is important. Enjoy the process and avoid going on "diets" every 3 months. This will help you learn how to maintain your body weight or lose/gain weight, depending on your goal. Do what you think is best, but what has made me successful is doing this and learning the basics. So, invest the 1–2 months tracking and you should see results!

(Example of 100 calories of different fat sources) (Credit: Christy Shaw Instagram)

Written By: Jereymi Longpre