A food trap

For me one of the hardest things about losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight is all to do with food. I was confused for many years about how I could be doing exercise regularly and at high intensity but still look the way I did. I knew it was my food, but seriously didn’t understand what I was eating.

I have never been a huge consumer of take away food or anything like that, but as with many people I didn’t appreciate the value of what I was eating nor that the portion size was completely out of whack.

So my first couple of rounds of 12WBT back in 2010 really were my education about food. I got to know the value of food – where I would watch the Biggest Loser and get all the calorie questions right, but since then have lost the details. I still struggle to keep track of my food and am now using MyFitnessPal as a tool. It is great (especially when I do well for the day and it gives me an estimate how much I will weigh in a few weeks), but I am finding that I am not recalling how much my food is worth. I plug it into the system and let it do all the calculating. The issue is when I don’t have it with me I don’t necessarily make the correct calculations or choices.  I wonder if I should still stick with the paper version to get my brain ticking over again?

• The positive about the electronic version is that it is quick and easy, looks good and I can (eventually) use the information in it elsewhere. The negative is that if I don’t have my iPad I won’t record as I go.
• The positive about the paper version is that I have to research and write down what it is I have eaten which will help me to retain the details. The negative is the time it takes.

One part of tracking calories that I really don’t get is how you count them for a portion of a recipe – I mean I get you calculate everything in the recipe and divide by the number of serves, but it all seems so much work. I will admit I estimate HEAPS and since I am using the FitnessPal app, I make a best guess from what it offers. I need to work on this.

While I am confessing, one problem I have with food is eating the kids leftover bits and pieces, I don’t like food going to waste. I am sure it is a flash back to my childhood days where my beloved Nan would keep everything and use it.

I also bake, so testing a mixture and the finished product is also a problem. I made some muffins today and tragically have eaten two of them. How do you measure the calories in the swipe of your finger on the side of a bowl? Testing recipes is something I must address. I try to choose recipes that are healthier, now I need to limit the taste testing.

So from this post I will focus on – being the baker not the eater, do a daily overview and actually READ the calories on MyFitnessPal.

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