After calculating your targets from Nutrition 103: Part I, it’s time for actionable ways to begin implementing your plan.
To continue using the direction and compass analogy from the previous article, in this article I offer optional avenues for you to pursue if you’re not sure where to begin or how to fine-tune your nutrition strategy. Like I mentioned in that article, there’s more than one way to get to your destination. The following are potential starting points for you to embark on putting your plan to work.
A Note on Awareness
As I mentioned in the previous article, Part I, people often tell me how amazed they are when they simply start being aware of what they’re eating.
The awareness of what, how much, when, and why you’re consuming is sometimes enough to help you realize where changes need to be made and subsequently how to adjust your habits. To round out the rest of the 5 W’s, even being aware of where or who you’re with can shed some light on eating habits.
If you really want to get your nutrition in check, then ideally I want you to initially measure, track, and evaluate to get a better understanding of your habits, your body, and to find what works for you. All of the avenues and strategies offered are simply ways to be more aware and mindful of your consumption.
Personally, I have strictly tracked my consumption for about a year. Once I developed the awareness of amounts and habits that worked and didn’t work for me, I’ve been able to maintain my wellness and nutrition off of awareness alone.
In fact, most people will *not* diligently track, measure, and evaluate their nutrition for the rest of their life. Nor do I think it’s necessary to. It’s my hope that eventually you get to the point where you don’t have to diligently track and measure at all. Maybe if you have specific goals or a specific period of time where you want to dial in your nutrition, by all means, go for it. Track as meticulously or meticulously as you want.
Ultimately, though, I want you to be able to use awareness, mindfulness, and maybe a little intentionality to lead your nutrition and eating habits. This includes being aware of when you’re going overboard in either direction of overeating or undereating. If things are ever getting out of control – one way or the other – I hope you seek help when necessary, don’t berate yourself, and choose to do what will ultimately make you your healthiest self.
Tracking & Measuring
Tracking is important because it allows you to gather data. This data is so helpful for you to get a better sense of what’s working and what’s not working. From the data, we can make informed decisions about how to best proceed.
There are countless ways you can track your food intake and measure your progress. When it comes to tracking and measuring your food you can use apps, take notes in journals and logs, take pictures, gauge portion control via hand sizes or plate distribution, pay attention to how you feel with intuitive eating or another method, or some other form of tracking. All that matters is that you find a method that works for you that you will follow through with. Remember: you can always update and change methods or frequencies along the way.
Evaluating Your Plan
After you decide your methods for measuring and tracking the next important step is deciding how and when you’ll evaluate your progress. Again, when starting out make some concrete decisions on how to evaluate your progress which look like: how you’ll know you’ve met your goal, what logging method you will use to help you measure progress and compare against your goal, and how often you’ll measure and assess your goal. Keep in mind, changes can take weeks, months, or longer to manifest in the body. In Part III of this series we’ll talk about guidelines of when and how to adjust this.
During your evaluation you want to look at the data and determine what’s working for you, what isn’t working for you, what is or isn’t going well, and where you can improve. It’s a great opportunity for you to reflect and make sure your actions are aligned with your goals, intentions, and purpose. I really encourage you to ensure that the actions you are taking are for a good reason.
“Untraditional” Ideas to Evaluate Progress
For the sake of this article, I’m referring to “traditional” being measuring your progress with numbers on a scale.
A scale can be a great compass to let you know what direction you’re heading. But don’t forget, muscle weighs more than fat. If you get to the point where you have enough muscle your weight may misconstrue your body composition of fat and muscle.
Therefore, other ways you can measure progress may include:
★ The pants test. Or generally how your clothes fit.
★ Intuitive eating and the way you feel.
★ The amount of energy you have to get through the day. Are you crashing and feeling lethargic or are you energized?
★ Bloodwork results from your doctor or other licensed professional.
★ Pictures you take of yourself. Day to day you may not notice any changes, but week to week or month to month you will be able to compare and notice differences.
TL;DR – There are more ways to gauge your progress than numbers on a scale. The scale can even be misleading once your body composition changes because muscle weighs more than fat! Keep an open mind on how you’ll know you’ve achieved the results you’re aiming for and don’t be a slave to the scale.
The Bottom Line
Wellness and nutrition is a process that comes down to: what you do consistently is what matters. Consistency is pretty much the secret sauce when it comes to wellness. Do try new things and switch it up occasionally if you want, but realize these things take time. Give yourself and your body time to implement and results to manifest. Then use the data you gathered to make informed decisions on how to proceed.
Additionally, while I don’t want you to be completely fixated and obsessive about numbers, I hope you find ways that are healthy for you to track your progress. Be cognizant of when your methods may become unsustainable, unhealthy, or unrealistic. Listen to what your licensed professionals tell you. Seek other opinions. But never let your mental, emotional, or physical health be at the cost of a nutrition strategy.
Lastly, a strict nutrition strategy isn’t necessarily meant to last forever. In fact, eventually, I hope you can get to a point where you only have some loose guidelines and can subconsciously track by simply holding an awareness for what you’re consuming. As I mentioned before, many people will see results once they’re being aware and intentional about what they’re consuming. Get into good habits following a plan, find what works for you, and eventually – when you don’t have strict goals or if you don’t want to – you won’t need to track and measure. Always evaluate periodically, but live your life to the fullest. Life is too short to skip the brownie a la mode.
This is not advice nor a recommendation. The amounts listed are straight from the USDA Dietary Guidelines for the generic population and are not specific to you. Discuss specifics with your medical/licensed professional.