Food and Exercise Journals

[Rissask]

I don't really know how we should do this.

A few of us have chatted about starting to keep food journals and then posting and somehow using the info for tips and motivation.

I think we should incorporate exercise/movement too, log what we do each day - it might help us be more accountable?

Any ideas on how we can do this?
We can all just post what we ate the day before, and then point out the errors of our ways, maybe?


It can be on ongoing thread that way, and no need to do it every single day, everyone can post as often or as little as you want maybe?


It would be a good way to get meal and snack ideas too.

[blueton]

Not sure about the answers to your questions - but I will have a think.

I have an appointment August 6th as a referral from my practice nurse.
I think I will be seeing a dietician or I hope at least some one else suitably qualified.

I believe she will wave a magic wand and I will wake up a stone or two lighter.

.. or she might just suggest I keep a food journal

[Rissask]

Well, there you go- hey, it can't possibly hurt, right?

My problem is not so much foods as my portion sizes tend to run large.

I will start us off-


Yesterday I had:

a banana for breakfast
2 cups of coffee with 2% milk

green tea and celery and carrot sticks at ten with hummus- about 3 Tablespoons.

for lunch:

turkey vegetable soup I made on the weekend. Maybe a cup and a half portion.
fat free yoghurt.
a diet pop.
about 8 medium strawberries
Jello

last coffee break, an orange and a half cup of (in shell) sunflower seeds. And 2 mugs of green tea.

Then I went home and discovered my husband, whose turn it was this week to get groceries, had no time to come home before his game so I had to go grab supper- so I went and got a 6" Subway sub, sweet onion chicken teriyaki on whole wheat. And yes, I had the cheese and the mayo. BUT- it was just a 6" and I was full after, on the bright side. I also had water, and nothing after 6 (I never eat after supper, luckily that has never been hard for me- or I'd weigh a lot more!)

man....I thought it was a good day, but that is a lot of food.

so? the seeds are high fat and sodium, I know. And the aspartame is bad- right? But why?
and more veggies and less fruit would be better, I know.
What else?

[Susie Q Roo]

I have a suggestion. Fitday.com lets you enter all your food for the day, then it calculates the caloric and nutritional content for you and graphs it all as to fats/carbs/proteins/alcohol. It's very helpful and sometimes eye-opening. Since these can be made public, anyone can then go and check out everyone's entries.

...or not. Just an idea.

[Rissask]

No, that site looks like a useful tool - thanks- I will check it out!

[OregonNative]

Originally Posted by Susie Q Roo

I have a suggestion. Fitday.com lets you enter all your food for the day, then it calculates the caloric and nutritional content for you and graphs it all as to fats/carbs/proteins/alcohol. It's very helpful and sometimes eye-opening. Since these can be made public, anyone can then go and check out everyone's entries.

...or not. Just an idea.

I love the idea of this thread .
I too have a hard time with portion control. I’m amazed at what a true portion size is when you look at the nutrition label. What would look like one serving actually turns out to be 2 . I use fitday.com and it’s a great tool for calculating and recording what I’ve eaten for the day. It always seems like my calories are higher than I thought they would be after I enter them on fitday.com. But at least it shows me what I need to correct for the next day.

[Susie Q Roo]

It makes me never want to consume nuts or juice again, that's for sure!

[blueton]

Originally Posted by Rissask

Well, there you go- hey, it can't possibly hurt, right?

My problem is not so much foods as my portion sizes tend to run large.

I will start us off-


Yesterday I had:

a banana for breakfast
2 cups of coffee with 2% milk

green tea and celery and carrot sticks at ten with hummus- about 3 Tablespoons.

for lunch:

turkey vegetable soup I made on the weekend. Maybe a cup and a half portion.
fat free yoghurt.
a diet pop.
about 8 medium strawberries
Jello

last coffee break, an orange and a half cup of (in shell) sunflower seeds. And 2 mugs of green tea.

Then I went home and discovered my husband, whose turn it was this week to get groceries, had no time to come home before his game so I had to go grab supper- so I went and got a 6" Subway sub, sweet onion chicken teriyaki on whole wheat. And yes, I had the cheese and the mayo. BUT- it was just a 6" and I was full after, on the bright side. I also had water, and nothing after 6 (I never eat after supper, luckily that has never been hard for me- or I'd weigh a lot more!)

man....I thought it was a good day, but that is a lot of food.

so? the seeds are high fat and sodium, I know. And the aspartame is bad- right? But why?
and more veggies and less fruit would be better, I know.
What else?

really - then there is no hope for me

[MaripositaII]

I like the idea Riss. When I was at the gym last Friday, someone said very nicely, "you're looking a little more filled out." He was trying to be cute It did hit home though.



I'm gluten intolerant so I tend to eat lots of rice, potatoes and anything that's gluten free. Might have to do a lot more reading to figure out what I can eat and what is low carb.

[Rissask]

blueton- I meant more of a larger variety of food than I would have thought I had in a day- the amount wasn't that much, really!

I looked at that fitday site but eek ....it is a lot of entering and work, I know that I wouldn't stick with it that long.

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Susie Q Roo

It makes me never want to consume nuts or juice again, that's for sure!

I haven't drank juice for years now, well once in a while in a drink or something I will have some, but that is it. No nutritional value, tons of sugar and calories, bad idea.

I do love me some peanuts....especially the lime or chili peanuts in Mexico.

[Susie Q Roo]

Originally Posted by Rissask

I haven't drank juice for years now, well once in a while in a drink or something I will have some, but that is it. No nutritional value, tons of sugar and calories, bad idea.

I do love me some peanuts....especially the lime or chili peanuts in Mexico.

For the most part, I haven't either. But I was following an allergy diet for awhile and juice was allowed. So I duly entered it and watched those calories shoot up. Didn't do much for the scale numbers either, so I nixed that and have gone back to what I was doing before.

[Susie Q Roo]

Originally Posted by Rissask

I looked at that fitday site but eek ....it is a lot of entering and work, I know that I wouldn't stick with it that long.

I don't know about you, but I eat the same things frequently, so I just find them easy in the recent foods list and adjust the amount. I'm used to keeping track of my food intake, so maybe it seems easier to me. There's nothing like having that black and white info staring you in the face to show you the error of your ways.

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Susie Q Roo

I don't know about you, but I eat the same things frequently, so I just find them easy in the recent foods list and adjust the amount. I'm used to keeping track of my food intake, so maybe it seems easier to me. There's nothing like having that black and white info staring you in the face to show you the error of your ways.

True, it's probably just the setting-up part that looks daunting. I will give it a shot, thanks!

[OregonNative]

Originally Posted by Susie Q Roo

I don't know about you, but I eat the same things frequently, so I just find them easy in the recent foods list and adjust the amount. I'm used to keeping track of my food intake, so maybe it seems easier to me. There's nothing like having that black and white info staring you in the face to show you the error of your ways.

I do the same thing. Once your main food items are listed it’s not hard to record what you have eaten. I’ll skip a few days from entering anything and realize that I’m off from my target and need to re-visit fitday again to keep on track. It’s definitely a great visual to keep you on track.