What you don’t know
There is a saying, what you don’t know won’t hurt you. Well, I’m here to tell you that is NOT true when it comes to your health and fitness. There is a reason that fitness trackers became so popular; they tell you what you don’t know, how much or little you are moving on a daily basis. There is a reason Weight Watchers is so successful; tracking your food tells you a lot.
Is tracking your activity level really necessary?
I don’t want you to think of it as a necessity because some people stress out over not reaching their step goal each day. When used as a challenge to stay motivated, however, it can be very powerful. I want you to think of it as information, information that can help you be healthier.
Most fitness trackers vibrate and remind you to get up and move if you have been sitting for too long. My Fitbit suggests 250 steps per hour and in a 16-hour period that is only 4,000 steps. If you are so inclined to try a fitness tracker, wear it for a week to keep track of what your normal day consists of. In other words, forget you have it on and just go about your “normal” day and see how many steps you average each day over a week. Then you can set some goals. Remember that your goals need to be yours, they need to be something to help you, not to stress you out.
Is tracking your food really necessary?
We’ve already talked about the fitness part, but like I say at the end of each video I make, fitness is only half of the equation. You need to be aware of how much and what types of food you are eating. Tracking is a great way to truly understand how much you are eating and it can help you make better choices. There are several apps that help you with tracking and I use one called Loseit!
Start by simply tracking everything you eat over one week. Like the fitness tracking above, don’t make any changes; just track to learn and find out what you don’t know. One of my clients did just that, and what she discovered was that she was eating “like a 350-pound, 6’2″ man”. Once you know what you don’t know you can then make changes that will help you be healthy BEFORE you NEED to be healthy.
Here is a link to my Macros Tracking webinar from last year. There are a lot of tricks and hints to help you make healthier eating decisions and learn how to track macros.