Food Journal

This week started off with Monday as part of the weekend. I don't know about you but that threw me way off schedule. I realized as I was sitting down for this post today that it is Thursday. Ooops! I completely missed posting yesterday and now feel behind. So... here is Weight Loss Wednesday on Thursday! ;) (Who knows maybe I will blog twice today to catch up!)

Last week I made a commitment to myself and to all of you (all 3 or 4 of you who read this) ;) to be more disciplined in my journey to being healthy. I have been focused on the choices I am making with each meal and snack. Now of course I have not been perfect, (snickers milkshake date with my 10 yr old yesterday) but I have been aware of my choices and keeping track of when I eat something not completely healthy.

So, how am I doing this? Well, when I started on this journey almost 2 years ago I began with the simple task of keeping track. Yep, I would keep track of the food that I ate. Now I didn't get all crazy and track every single morsel that I chomped on, but I did write down everything at each snack or meal. By doing this my eyes where opened to exactly what I was feeding my body. I have to say when I first started I was shocked at all the things I ate and didn't even think about.

A few days of keeping a food journal and I started rethinking what I was eating. I would reach for a piece of cake and think, "Oh, if I eat this I am going to have to write it down." Or I would stand there and debate over the brownies or the apples, "Hmmm, if I eat the brownies I will have guilt later when I look at my journal. Better eat the apple!" I saw just how much of my food intake was junk and how little of it was good fuel for my body. Wow!

Now that I had a good picture of what my eating habits were like, well, I didn't like what I saw. This allowed me to see where I could make changes and what time of day was the hardest for me. (Late night snacks are my worst! Ice Cream anyone?!) So, I began to make small changes, choosing fresh fruits and veggies over the brownies, and having healthy snacks on hand for those late night cravings.

I would encourage anyone wanting to improve their eating habits to start out with this simple task. Keep track of what you are eating everyday for 2 weeks. See if anything surprises you or if you see any patterns of poor eating habits. (Ice Cream at 11:30pm, yep that's me!)

A reminder of the verse I am holding onto through my journey:

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Changing habits is not an easy task! But the reward of a healthy body is worth it!

{{{HUGS}}}