3 tips for tracking nutrition
As a coach and an athlete, I’ve seen a wide variety of nutrition plans, tips, devices, secrets, and so on. Everywhere you turn there is a new product or trend that guarantees you success in your weight loss endeavors. It is no wonder there is mass confusion on what to eat, how much, and what to avoid at all costs. People are confused!
I am here to help put an end to some of the confusion and provide a few tips on how to make things easier when tracking nutrition.
I am a firm believer in flexibility over rigidity, as the best diet is the one that can be followed for the long term. Adherence and consistency will win every single time. Incorporating tracking calories and macro-nutrients becomes a new skill more many clients, as they can now see in REAL NUMBERS how much they are eating!
If you are tracking your macros and want some tips on how to be efficient and ‘hack’ the system, be sure to follow the tips below:
1. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
I cannot stress this one enough. If you have a rigid schedule with the same breaks, this should be an easy one to accomplish. The night before, plan out your meals based on your schedule. I like to wake up at the same time everyday with the same breakfast and lunch, leaving variety for snacks and dinner.
2. Flexible but consistent
The best part of flexible dieting is being able to choose from literally any food (so long as it fits your macros and calories). That being said, it helps to keep things consistent with foods you love to eat. For example, I eat eggs and cereal almost every morning because I love them and they are high in protein. Even if you have a flexible schedule, I find it helps to maintain a decent amount of similarities between meals day to day to keep things simple.
3. Be mindful
If you are going out on Saturday nights (let’s face it, who isn’t?), then I can almost guarantee you’re going over your targets for the day. One way to lessen the blow and combat that blowout night of eating and drinking is to be mindful of what you’re eating during the day. Most people overeat carbohydrates and fat because they are easiest and tastiest generally. My advice would be to keep your protein high during the day and supplement that with plenty of vegetables to keep you full for low calories!
Tracking nutrition can be a tedious skill, but once you have it down pat, it becomes a part of your lifestyle. From there it will be second nature and you won’t have to consciously think about each and every meal, it will just happen.
Nobody is perfect, but we can all strive to be better!
