What Really Happens When You Log Your Food (And Why It’s Important)

Portion sizes have gradually increased over the past few decades. A 1970s bagel weighed 2 ounces, it now weighs 4, and a classic cheeseburger has gone from 5.9 to 7.3 ounces.1) These examples alone explain exactly why logging your food is so powerful: they highlight what our eyes no longer notice and can help bring awareness to portion distortion. (1) In just a few days, patterns around energy, desires and progress could emerge. Read on to find out why food journaling is important and how to make it easier with our dietitian-guided tips.

Why logging your food is important

Logging your diet not only helps increase awareness, it can also help you align your daily choices with your goals. If weight loss is your goal, it’s essential to recognize trends between how you eat and how the scale moves. One study showed that participants who monitored their diet daily lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t monitor their diet at all.2) In an online weight loss study, participants who logged in 2-3 times per day lost significantly more weight than those who logged in less frequently.(3)

Melissa Jaeger, RD, LD, Nutrition Manager at MyFitnessPal, writes: “Food logging not only shows you what you’re eating today, it can reveal patterns, habits, and opportunities to change behaviors so your actions better support your goals.” »

What you learn from tracking your meals

1. Actual Portion Sizes

When you start tracking your meals, you’ll quickly see how the daily servings add up. That “handful” of nuts, for example, is often closer to two or three servings, not one (4). Recognizing actual portion sizes helps you make informed adjustments without feeling like certain foods are off-limits.

2. Eating habits and shortcomings

Do you find yourself skipping meals in the morning to binge later in the day? Tracking helps identify patterns in your eating behaviors, suggesting areas for improvement so that your diet can better align with your goals (5,6). Plus, tracking shows which nutrients you’re not getting enough of (and which ones you might be enjoying a little too much.) Spotting them early means you can adjust your diet the next day, setting yourself up for success.

3. Hidden Sources of Extra Calories

Tracking your diet reveals both the nutrients in your favorite staple foods and the hidden calories that often go unnoticed (2). Condiments, snacks and drinks are often responsible for extra calories that many don’t realize. In fact, a few tablespoons of ketchup can add a surprising amount of sugar to a meal (that’s to say, one tablespoon of ketchup for that burger adds 20 calories, but 4 grams of added sugars to your meal).(7) The goal is not to eliminate them, but to spot opportunities to swap with more nutrient-dense options, like a Greek yogurt-based dip, when it makes sense.

4. Emotional or Environmental Eating Triggers

If stress sends you straight to the snack cupboard, you’re not alone. Tracking helps uncover emotional or situational eating habits so you can turn triggers into healthier swaps, like a quick to walk instead of chips (6).

5. How small adjustments improve progress

Finally, logging your diet highlights small adjustments that can lead to big results. If weight loss is your goal but your added sugar intake continues to rise, tracking can reveal hidden sources, like that morning coffee muffin (6). Once you see them, it’s easier to make simple swaps, like making a homemade breakfast like this. Mug Cake Breakfast Blueberry Muffin to take with you on the go. Remember, every small change moves the needle toward achieving your goals.

Tips for Saving Your Food

Tracking your intake shouldn’t be another thing on your to-do list. Consider these tips to help you make journaling a part of your routine that you look forward to. Believe it or not, there is a way to make it work for you so that it becomes easy and effective.

Use an app to log your food

Old school paper and pen may work for some, but not for all. Use the smartphone you already use and log your food in an app like MyFitnessPal. This user-friendly format helps generate valuable information that can help you identify patterns in your eating behaviors, thereby promoting awareness of behavior change (8).

Create saved frequent meals, recipes and foods

Most of us rely on “on the go” meals, or those familiar foods that make planning easier and help us hit our macros. It’s great! But if, for example, you have a bowl of Greek yogurt for breakfast most days, record it as a meal in MyFitnessPal. It speeds up check-in and also helps you spot areas where you might need more variety or nutritional adjustments to better support your personal nutrition goals.

Log your food

Some may find it helpful to “write it when you bite it,” but time doesn’t always provide that flexibility. What I find most effective, especially during busy weeks, is to pre-save my food the day before. This helps me take the guesswork out of what I’m eating, ensuring my macronutrients are in place to help me reach my goals. Or use features like Meal analysis Or Voice recording for quick and easy journaling solutions on the go!

Measure your portions

Invest in a kitchen scale and measuring cups and spoons to familiarize yourself with portion sizes. This not only ensures that you are accurately recording your intake, but also provides visual cues that you can also use when dining out (1).

Give up perfection

Embrace the motto “Better is the new perfect”. Mistakes happen, but don’t let a cheat day derail your progress. Get back on track and log your food the next day. When you learn the basics of a healthy, balanced eating plan, you have room for flexibility, as well as that glass of wine or piece of cake.

How MyFitnessPal helps you understand your eating habits

Whether you’re a long-time MyFitnessPal user or just getting started, the app offers powerful tools designed to help you understand your long-term eating habits. As registered dietitian Stephanie Saletta, RD, points out: “One of the best indicators of long-term success is continuing to track even after you’ve reached your goal.” (9) New app features, like meal planning and goal setting, help make maintaining healthy habits easier than ever. Explore the latest MyFitnessPal tools designed to reveal trends and create lasting awareness for positive change:

• Simplified logging:
  • Including barcode reading, digitization of mealsAnd voice recording choice.
• Nutritional overview:
  • Including macronutrient breakdowns and weekly trend reports.
• Setting goals and monitoring progress:
  • Realize what’s important to you, including weight loss, muscle gain, and habit formation (like drinking more water) by inserting your personal goals (and track them) in the app.

Conclusion

Awareness leads to behavior change, and that starts when you understand your patterns. Being curious about what you consume isn’t about restriction, rather it’s about understanding how the foods you choose to eat daily help or hinder your goals. Logging your diet is a great way to understand these patterns, but it shouldn’t be a chore. That’s why the MyFitnessPal team has made it as easy as possible to achieve your goals with their new app features.

Remember, success comes from adopting sustainable habits. Logging your food is just one step that’s proven to work. Try logging your meals for a few days MyFitnessPalyou might be surprised by what you learn.

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