Does logging food stress you out?
Can you do it for a few days, but then you give up due to logging errors, forgetting, or whatever other excuse you come up with? 😉
Trust me, I get it.
Honestly, logging food sucks.
For some people, logging food works great and has become a part of their lifestyle. For those people, congratulations you are at the pinnacle of quantity consistency. Well, assuming you consistently hit those numbers 😉
The truth is, the majority of the people that I work with are busy professionals with a family and all of life’s obligations. Some travel 5 days a week, almost every week of the year. Some have extremely stressful jobs. The list goes on and on…
Sure, they can log their food for a few days. Maybe even 30 days, but after that they go back to their old ways. You see, if you become a robot through the process of logging your food for a 30 day challenge or the start of a new diet, you are potentially setting yourself for failure. Apps like My Fitness Pal are meant to act as a tool, NOT A COACH.
Logging your food to assess your current intake or to check in later on to ensure quantity consistency is perfectly fine, but obsessing over the fact that you are 5 grams over on carbohydrates in absurd. I have literally had clients that came to me that had been logging their food for almost 1,000 days in a row…WTF!? It all depends on the person and their mindset towards food, their body, and the tracking systems they choose to use. Not to mention, their goals and lifestyle.
There are some clients that prefer logging food on an app and others that prefer habit based coaching. You’re probably thinking, what is habit based coaching? It’s basically a more stress free way to feel, look, and perform better long term. Habit based coaching is basically the process of identifying the habits that you have in your life that are preventing you from reaching your goals and taking action on slowly, but surely improving these bad habits in order to truly live your best life. For example…
Not getting enough good quality sleep?
Drinking too much alcohol?
Undereating?
Overeating?
Poor quality food?
Not working out?
Sitting too much?
Ignoring personal development (podcasts, books, etc.)
Overtraining?
Etc.
If anything on this list applies to you, ask yourself which is the worst? What is the thing that you find yourself consistently doing that you know you shouldn’t?
From there, start with that. Make it a priority to TAKE ACTION on that one thing that will move you forward. For some people, this bad habit can be improved within 2 weeks and for others it can take much longer. Remember, you don’t have to be perfect. We all fall into temptation, brush it off and win that next opportunity! We are looking for gradual improvement, not perfection. Once you feel as if you have taken control of your life in this aspect, identify the next bad habit. Continue doing this until you have built a new foundation of nutrition & lifestyle consistency that will live you feeling, looking, and performing better, both in the gym and every other aspect of your life.
As always, if you ever need help don’t hesitate to reach out! I have struggled with so many of these areas and I have had to overcome them in order to take control of my life. If you can control your habits, you can control your life.
Live your best life!
Justin Murphy