Tracking for Nutrition: Apps & Journals
Writing down what you eat may double as a tool for achieving wellness goals and help you keep an eye on what exactly you are consuming in an average day. The most recent Food and Health Survey (2015) found that almost half of all Americans had given a lot of thought to the healthfulness of foods and beverages they consume (categories: not sure, none, a little or a lot) . They also confirmed that the support of family and friends is the most commonly used aid to improve the healthfulness of one’s diet. Interestingly, the survey found that more than one in five uses a weight loss plan or an app or other tracking tool (1).
Keeping track makes you more aware of what you're eating, helps you identify specific food habits and where you can make health adjustments when needed. Food tracking creates a level of mindfulness and awareness as to which foods are entering your body. And although the trend is to track food in hopes of monitoring calories and shedding a few pounds, the truth is that tracking for nutrition is so much more beneficial to the health of your body. Food is fuel and should be treated as such.
A few common Variations to tracking
Track by food group
While nutrition suggestions vary by country, see here, you’re probably familiar with the food pyramid or MyPlate graphic presented by the United States Department of Agriculture. This graphic provides a decent starting point to eating for nutrition as opposed to managing food choices in hopes of caloric restriction, deleting specific food groups from your diet or monitoring your weight. When tracking your intake by food group, one option might be to organize your food journal with categories such as “fruits, vegetables, protein, grains and dairy” horizontally across the top of each page. Daily, mark an “X” under the corresponding category to signify the varying foods you’ve eaten. The end of each week will provide you with an overview as to where you might be out of balance in your meals according to the USDA recommendations (2).
Track by macronutrients
The term tracking “macros” has become quite a buzzword as of late but the truth is, macronutrients have been a “thing” since the very beginning! Did you know that every food we consume is either a fat, a protein or a carbohydrate? That’s it. Yes, some contain more than one component within their makeup, providing protein and fat or carbohydrates and protein, but when it comes to the composition and nutrient density (how much nutrients they possess) those are the three main categories. For an Aspen Article on macronutrients head here. Tracking macros is a great way to actually gauge the levels of nutrition that your body is getting each day. Similar to tracking food groups, you’ll be able to see if one category is more prevalent in your diet and whether or not adjustments need to be made. With this type of tracking it might be useful to utilize a sheet of graph paper. From top to bottom write “proteins”, “fats”, “carbohydrates”, shading in the pre-printed boxes to show how many times you consume foods within these categories. Depending on the diet that you adhere to and the needs of your body, the composition of fats to proteins to carbohydrates will differ from others. Take some time to search which diet best fits your needs! For a few resources visit our recommendations.
Track by meal
If you’re looking to discern a type of food that may not be agreeing with your insides, then tracking meal by meal might prove to be the best. Dividing your journal pages into BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER and SNACKS is a good way to laundry list the items that you consume in a day. At the end of the day, try a highlighting & color coding system such as blue for gluten products, yellow for eggs, green for dairy from cows, pink for soy products and orange for nuts (some of the most common food allergens). Including a category at the bottom for DIGESTION and ranking the days based on your physical symptoms such as: 1 - terrible, 2 -moderate and 3-great will help to track any patterns that may be causing internal issues. Going through the food list may show specific food types that cause more struggles for digestion than others. It’s a good starting point for taking control of nutrition and the needs of your body.
Food journaling can come with a few barriers
The amount of attention needed to maintain it with regularity can be overwhelming or daunting.
Some may wonder when enough is enough, but it’s safe to say that journaling can end with a perceived success or at a defined endpoint - whichever meets your need. (If you’re looking for a food trigger to a recurring digestive problem, then continuing until there is clarity may be best.)
Goal setting in the beginning (ie increase my vegetable intake) can help maintain regularity, but without a stated goal, food journaling may fall away.
3 apps that can assist with food journaling
WHAT’S NEXT?
Go old school and buy a notebook for tracking or download an app that you can take on the go. Don't forget to track water intake too!
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References:
International Food Information Council Foundation. (n.d.). 2015 Food & Health Survey(Rep.).
Choose MyPlate. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.choosemyplate.gov/