BP Wellness Center

creating a culture of wellness...

Time to start tracking your calories and becoming more aware of your eating habits. There are a millions of ways and systems of eating healthy and staying lean (Weight Watchers, counting calories, eating only certain foods, etc, etc, etc). They all have one thing in common--awareness. The thing that makes any eating philosophy successful is getting the individual to think about what they are about to eat, before they eat it and asking themselves the question--"how does this help me reach my goal?" This is what leads to behavior change. Most overweight people eat what they want, whenever they want, in whatever quantity they want--and then regret it 10 minutes later.

The key is having a system you use (and there are many, many, many out there) and using it. Just have rules for yourself and figure out how to stick with them. Make no mistake, lean and healthy people follow rules with their eating--it may not be obvious to others, but they have their own system--things they will or won't eat, how often they eat, where they eat, etc. Many refer to this or lump it into "following a healthy lifestyle." It is merely a system-- followed day in and day out. This is what we want to help you find for yourself--a system that works for you. We are going to give you many different ideas and information sources for you to put your own program together.

Here are some ways to learn about what you are eating. They all revolve around tracking your caloric intake to become aware.

Tracking Calories Online

One way is to do the tracking with a caloric tracking tool online. Nutrition Data and Calories Per Hour are excellent FREE sites which allow you to do this. If you like, explore the sites and learn how to use the tools. Both have detailed instructions and information about food and exercise:

NutritionData: Log on, register, go to the quick start page to start looking up foods from there massive data base.

Calories Per Hour: Log on and follow the instructions, see how you like it (ignore some of the weird ads)

Written Logs

Another option for tracking calories is to keep a written log. We've provided you with a log book and/or online log pages you can download. The written log can be used in combination with the online tools. Here's how you make it tracking calories a little easier.

Make a favorite/common food list. Most people eat the same 40-50 foods over and over again--same breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks etc. Look up your favorite/common foods, serving sizes and caloric contents (using one of the above tools or with one of the many calorie counts books available--which we do have in the BP Wellness Center as well). Write the food info down in the front of your book (like this). For packaged foods, read the labels. Once you have your list populated, you are ready to roll. We have information to help you also learn the difference an actual serving size and the helping size you are used to eating (oh, oh). Over time, hopefully you will change out some of your usual foods with healthier selections.

• Favorite foods log sheet

Daily Log Sheet

Use the list to track your daily intake. In the log, you can also track other useful things:

• Daily weight --another great way to stay on track with your goal and to check -in with your plan and strategy every day. Keep your weight in mind as you choose your foods through out the day.
• Today's goal --think about what you want to accomplish or remind yourself for the day (ie: eat less than ____ calories, eat more protein, drink more water, exercise 45 minutes, etc)
• What and when your eating-- try to spread your eating out throughout the day
• Any supplements you're taking (vitamins, minerals, protein powders, etc
• Exercise notes--what did you do for exercise today
• Water intake--did you remember to drink enough water?
• What did you struggle with today?
• Daily wrap-up --what were your final thoughts for the day?

• Daily Log Sheet
• Weekly Wrap-up

Sample Daily Log Sheet

Weekly wrap-up

Remember, success is all about keeping your goal in mind and taking small steps toward it and making small behavior changes every day. Those seemingly little things add up. Take a few minutes at the end of the week to sum up:

• Weekly success --what were you proud of?
• Goal asessement --re-evaluate your goal or maybe you though of another one to add in for the next week. This whole program is a process-- we want you to think about what you want and how to get it. The clearer and more defined the goal is, the easier it is to stategize on how to get there.
• Exercise notes --how is the exercise going or not going? How many days did you exercise? How can you improve?
• Progress report summary --what went right, what went wrong, important lessons, modifications for next week.

Check out this sample

Check in with the other info we've provided this week to help you.

Good job! Now go get-em!