Keep track of your diet to lose fat

Getting leaner

This is probably obvious, or should be, but it is something that I've learned recently.  Prompted by a post from Jeff Erno a few months ago I moved from my normal routine of just eating a good real food diet to actually tracking my intake and working to achieve certain macros and calorie levels.  It was quite instructive in terms of how much fat I was eating and how soon that crowded out other macro nutrients, if I was aiming for a particular calorie level in order to lose fat.  Nothing wrong with dietary fat....but ultimately calories count and it is easy to eat too much when you focus on butter and cream......

Once I started tracking and playing with a few other tricks (IF and carb cycling under the guidance of a coach) things started to really kick in and I am leaner than I've ever been.   I am sure I'll write more about this at some point.

Anyway, here is a press release about a study which highlights the potential value of tracking your food witha simple food journal if you want to lose fat.

Want to lose weight? Keep a food journal, don't skip meals and avoid going out to lunch

"For individuals who are trying to lose weight, the No. 1 piece of advice based on these study results would be to keep a food journal to help meet daily calorie goals. It is difficult to make changes to your diet when you are not paying close attention to what you are eating," said McTiernan, director of the Hutchinson Center's Prevention Center and a member of its Public Health Sciences Division.