We all know the importance of nutrition when it comes to weight management, whether that be weight loss or bulking. Tracking what you eat with a food diary can be a very helpful tool in achieving your goals for many reasons. Free apps such as My Fitness Pal are a free and easy to use.
Here are some benefits of using a food diary:
- Helps you to track daily calorie intake to ensure you aren’t over or under eating.
- Online food diaries often show macro nutrient percentages so you can see if you have a good balanced diet. You should be aiming for approximately 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats. Obviously going for the healthier choices from each food group.
- When written down you have better clarity of your overall diet. Bad eating habits are easy to pick out when recurring regularly throughout the week.
- If results are slow you are able to tweak calories & macro balance accordingly until progress is made. It gives you a tangible figure to work with.
- Most apps will assist with goal setting and tracking of results.
Before you start a food diary it is recommended to know your metabolism. You can then calculate your overall food intake for the day more accurately. This can be roughly calculated through free online tools or ideally through a body composition analysis which will calculate your basal metabolic rate based on active body tissue.
For more information and if you have any questions please get in touch.