Breaking Free from Food Tracking
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Transcript
If you've been on your healthy eating or weight loss journey for a while now, you're probably not a stranger to the idea of tracking your food. But the tracking methods that you're probably used to are ones that I generally do not recommend.
You're probably familiar with apps like MyFitnessPal, or if you've ever done Weight Watchers, your WW Pocket Guide, tracking everything and calculating your points at the end of the day. I'm sure there are many other apps and programs out there that want you to count your calories or your macros.
And I know it can be scary to go from tracking everything, to tracking nothing. For years you've relied on an app or a calculator to tell you what you're allowed to eat.
So to move from that space of relying on someone else - a program, an app, another human, another nutritionist, even - telling you what to eat for your body to get you to your goals, and then learning to do all of that on your own, that could be super scary.
And that's kind of where I felt there was a huge gap when I was going through my healing journey with food. I remember my therapist telling me that the only way I was going to be able to heal my relationship with food was to stop tracking. And I was like, “No, I can't, never, I don't know what I would do! I will overeat. I will gain weight. I am not interested in not tracking.” But after several months of thinking this over and continuing to struggle, I was like, you know what? I'll give it a try. And it worked.
It wasn't easy. There were definitely times where I felt the urge to track or to check in with MyFitnessPal, just to see and just to make sure that what I was eating fit my macros, or was, you know, fitting within my calorie limits for the day. But eventually I just learned to listen to my body.
I would wake up and ask myself, what am I craving for breakfast? If I were hungry for lunch at 11:00 AM, instead of waiting for the perfect four-hour window after breakfast, I would eat lunch at 11:00 AM.
So I want to take the next couple of episodes to dive into the three things that really helped me move from a place of tracking everything (and when I tell you everything, I mean, everything) to trusting my body and learning to eat more mindfully.
This is kind of a side note, but I don't know if you've ever heard these before, but these are literally the mottoes that were part of major weight loss programs, and mottoes that I repeated to myself to remind myself to track. So if you're familiar with them, you're probably chuckling to yourself, but they were:
If you snack it, you track it.
If you bite it, you write it.
If you drink it, ink it.
If you nibble it, scribble it.
It's so crazy. And looking back, I realize this is no way to live a life - tracking and writing down every single thing you eat. It takes away the freedom to enjoy new recipes or actual meals with friends. Everything I prepared and ate was in a way that I could easily look up the food and track it.
Anyway, I digress.
After years of tracking my food and then learning how to listen to my body, I created tools and a method that I wish I had had to help me with that transition. And I want to take the next few episodes to explain that a little bit further.
The method that I now use to coach other women is based upon what I call the ABCs of lasting food freedom. The A stands for awareness, the B stands for beliefs and the C stands for consistency.
And I think these three things are truly the keys to food freedom and lasting change. So if you're with me, tune into the next three episodes and I'll dive a little bit deeper into each of these.
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This episode is brought to you by the Eat Freely Journal - the all-in-one mindful eating journal with the guidance, tips, recipes, weekly meal planner, and daily food journal you've been looking for to help you reach your goals and heal your relationship with food.
You can also check out other meal planners and food journals in my shop!
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