Logging My Food

Hi all. I’ve been tracking my food intake over the past week. I did this sporadically over the years when I was dieting (or trying to, that is). Now that I’ve been keeping a food log for a week, I’m getting an inkling of why I never kept my food log for any length of time: I’m not sure whether it’ll actually help me make healthier food choices.

That is, I’m pretty sure it won’t. Almost each day over the past week, the app I’m tracking my food intake in has been telling me that I consume more calories than I burn. It’s also telling me that I consume more fat and carbohydrates than I should and not enough protein. Yes, even on days when I eat meat and dairy. And I tend to choose low-fat dairy and the meal delivery service offers lean meats.

I’m not sure whether I want to continue logging my food intake, because on the one hand, yes, I want to be more conscious of what I shove into my mouth. On the other hand, I don’t want this to become an obsession, especially because it tends to lead to a pendulum effect. What I mean is I might like to know what I’m eating, but if the app keeps telling me it’s too much, I am probably going to decide to screw the entire thing after all and just start eating whatever the heck I want., I don’t want this to turn into another diet.

One thing that the app does help me with, is predict my weight gain or loss. Or at least, that’s what I hope it’ll do. For years, after all, I’ve been worrying that I experience unexplained weight loss. The reason is the fact that I quite easily maintain these days and even lost over 20kg over the years. I’m hoping that, if I do decide to follow through with MyFitnessPal, I’ll be able to see why I’m maintaining, losing or gaining. One worry that I never even thought of until I learned about protein though, is that I’m losing muscle mass.