01
2011
What Does it Mean to ‘Know Your Numbers?’
The first step toward improving your diet must begin with, “knowing your numbers.” The “numbers” that I am referring to are the number of calories, grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates that you eat.
The goal for knowing these numbers is to help you become a more conscientious eater.
Like anything else, practice makes progress. I cannot encourage you enough to keep a food log, even for just two weeks. By food log, I mean a record of EVERYTHING that you put in your mouth. All liquids (yes, water too) and even gum should make the daily journal (comprehensiveness will lead to better accuracy and adherence).
At the end of each day, I encourage you to correlate each item you recorded with number of calories, grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. I know it is tedious! To make it easier to do and to track, I recommend a few different tools:
Websites:is an excellent site for tracking
For calorie counting and tracking, I also recommend these free sites:
Books may also be an excellent source for completing your food log.
Hundreds are out there, and should NOT be expensive.
You will often be surprised by your daily caloric intake! I was when I kept my own log!
Once your diet is documented, however, we can see where and how to make the appropriate changes, substitutions, etc.
I lost eight pounds in the two weeks that I first kept a food log. Studies have proven that they work, and I certainly understand why…conscientious eating. Your surgery will certainly help you, but it is so vitally important to make good choices!
