Don’t you hate when you try to eat healthier, but even with your best intentions, end up reaching for junk food instead?
The reason this usually happens is because of the lack of time in your busy schedule, which happens to be eaten up by a job, family affairs, and household chores.
However, the easiest way to fix this is by keeping a daily meal log to track your food consumption.
The naysayers will argue that there is a lot of room for error when you attempt to track your food consumption because a lot of times we don’t know if the food labels are 100% correct or we may not know the exact nutrient count for a particular portion of food.
Those folks do have a valid point, but it’s not about knowing the exact number of calories, carbs, protein, fats, and other nutrients you’re consuming as long as you’re in the ballpark you’ll set yourself up for fitness success.
Best effort will always trump inaction on any given day.
When it comes to meal logs, focus on the positives and be aware of the negative aspects, because there are pros and cons to everything in life.
Read on if you’re ready to discover five benefits of keeping a daily meal log…
1)) Provides Valuable Diet Insight
You don’t have to be a professional athlete to take advantage of the diet insights a meal log provides.
Fortunately, the more that you learn about your body, and how different foods either enhance or destroy it, the easier it’ll be to get fit on demand.
That’s just the way it is.
Applied knowledge is power.
Examples of The Insight Meal Logs Provide:
- Learn more details about your daily eating habits.
- Let’s see if you’re getting enough nutrients to spot deficiencies.
- Provides an at-a-glance view of total calories, carbs, proteins, and fats.
Being able to analyze your diet gives you total control to make any necessary adjustments needed to achieve your fitness goals.
Insights that you otherwise wouldn’t know if not for keeping a meal log.
2)) Encourages Accountability
Some people are naturally able to hold themselves accountable without the influence of others, but this trait is rare in most individuals.
If you’re not one of those lucky folks, then you can do the next best thing by developing the discipline of keeping a daily meal log.
Keeping a meal journal doesn’t require you to have special genetics, you simply log, monitor what you eat, and make adjustments to your diet based on your goals.
When you plan your daily meals, it’s a lot easier to hold yourself accountable when you know in advance what healthy foods you’re supposed to eat.
Compare that to not planning your meals, which causes you to grab whatever you can, usually from a vending machine at work or a quick run to a fast-food restaurant.
So, use a meal log to hold yourself accountable.
3)) Makes Reaching Physical Goals Simpler
We already touched upon how a meal log could hold you accountable for eating healthy foods, which happens to make it easier to reach your physical goals.
Planning your meals ahead of time allows you to quickly make adjustments to both your diet and exercise program.
Especially, if you’re not making positive physical progress.
Your workout log allows you to pinpoint problems in your diet with ease.
Meal tracking gives you the power to course-correct your eating habits, which allows you to reach your goals a lot easier.
4)) Helps Reduce Mindless Eating
It’s a safe bet to assume that most of us frequently find ourselves in situations where we snack on junk foods without even being aware of how much we’re consuming.
This usually occurs when we’re busy.
For example, sitting at a computer working on a project or watching a good movie.
You know what we're talking about, one minute you have a full bag of chips, then what feels like a blink of an eye, there are only crumbs left.
Keeping a meal log helps reduce your chances of mindless eating because you’ll have already planned healthy meals for the day.
Do you see how this works?
Meal journals can be very powerful tools when used consistently.
5)) Increases the Chances of Reaching Weight Goals
Have you noticed how these benefits work together to provide valuable insights into your daily eating habits?
Most of them are overlapping.
Knowing your diet numbers gives you the power to make those adjustments that allow you to drop those extra pounds and build attractive lean muscle mass.
Meal logs give you several options based on your daily recorded data needed to reach your goals.
If you consistently fill in your meal journal, make diet modifications, and exercise, there is no reason why can’t hit your physical milestones.
Conclusion
You just learned 5 Benefits Of Keeping A Daily Meal Log.
And now the next thing you need to do is apply what you’ve learned so that you can start sculpting the body you’ve always dreamed of.
You don’t have to complicate your meal-tracking efforts to get the results you desire, because a meal journal provides you with all the power you need.
Now, before we leave you to take action by incorporating a meal log into your daily routine, be certain that the one you purchase contains the following data fields:
- Date
- Name
- Time
- Total Calories
- Total Carbs
- Total Protein
- Total Fats
- Notes Section
- 6 Daily Meal Slots
Remember, there’s power in simplicity.
Meal journals are available in both physical and digital formats.
Choose the format that resonates with you the most or choose both.
Some people prefer the tactile nature of writing in a physical journal, and some prefer high-tech apps to track their food intake.
Are you aware that you can also download printable daily meal logs?
Keep in mind, that I barely scratched the surface of the many benefits of using a meal log to track your food consumption.
If you’re ready to hold yourself accountable by staying motivated to take action consistently, then download an easy-to-use meal journal and start tracking the foods you eat.
The sooner you make the move, the faster you’ll begin making physical progress!
