Since the middle of February, I have been keeping a food log. It’s very simple: I write down the time and what I ate. That’s it. I don’t keep track of amounts or calories or macros or anything else, just When and What. Tracking numbers tends to send me straight to Crazy Town, so I don’t do that. I prefer to stay away from Crazy Town if I can help it.

Keeping track of my food this way allows me to see what I’m eating and how long it holds me over til I need to eat again. I can also see that if I haven’t eaten many vegetables by early afternoon then maybe I need to load up at dinner time, or that maybe I don’t actually need to eat a banana after dinner because I’ve already had a lot of fruit during the day. Or that maybe I’ve eaten a few too many pieces of Easter candy and I just need to lay off already. *ahem*

Mainly this logging of food reminds me to PAY ATTENTION. It keeps me mindful about what I’m eating and I find that I naturally like to eat about 4-5 times a day (3 meals and one or two small snacks). I’ve also learned that on Saturday and Sunday I have be extra mindful about eating breakfast and getting some veggies in – I tend to slack off on both of these things on weekends. I probably wouldn’t have consciously noticed this if I hadn’t been keeping track.

And I’m totally old school with logging: notebook and pen, baby! I have yet to find an app that will let me track only the foods without adding in the calories or macros too. I don’t really mind though, my notebook and pen are pretty. 🙂

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My sister gave me this notebook – it has really nice heavy paper.

If you want to keep track of what you eat, but logging calories is frustrating for you, maybe just try it my way for a bit and see if it helps. If not, no harm done, and you can explore other ways to do what you need to do. If tracking your calories floats your boat, then sail on, my friend! As I’ve always said, You Do YOU.