Benefits of a Food Journal
I’m often asked, “Where do I start when it comes to weight loss?” My favorite place to start is passive observation. Observation is a powerful tool that, when used well, can change the course of a family’s health!
Why do I make such a bold statement? The reality is we all have habits. Even folks who think they don’t have habits have habits!
When things are going well we can expand and grow new abilities, but when the rubber meets the road, sickness, stress, kids, sports, etc we all fall back on what we know. That is our easy button!
For some of us, it’s driving through the Chipoltlane, for others of us, it’s buying a DiGiorno Pizza, and still others of us will resort to some type of casserole, soup, or stew to feed our family. Whatever it is, this is our baseline and what we need to shift to create success.
We need to observe what we do when we are on a good day, or a weekend, and when we are stressed to know how to create lasting change!
One of the other benefits of observation is that it’s a non-judgemental viewpoint. We are simply collecting data. We are not looking for ways to tear ourselves down, instead, we are looking for ways to encourage growth!
If you notice that every time your kids have sports you run through the fast food line, you will have to ask yourself a few questions!
- Am I okay with us eating fast food this frequently?
- How much is this costing us?
- Is there a simple healthy solution that I can replace our fast food with?
- Does this habit serve us in the long term?
When you have the answers for YOUR family, and YOUR health goals, then you will know how to make changes.
I understand the challenges that sports season brings! When my son began to play varsity spots that required 45 min drives one way twice a week, I began to cook things that were easy but they ended up being very high in calories. In addition, some days, I just didn’t get the meal prepped early enough, and we began to find ourselves choosing fast food after practice. While there is a time and a place for a burger, it certainly is NOT following a lengthy sports practice. We don’t create healthy athletes on junk food!
So I started to research foods that were quick, easy, healthy, and for us, most importantly, portable!
Some options we found: Tacos, Chicken Caesar Salad, Chef Salads, Soups (for the colder months), and even swapping things around so we ate our bigger hot meal at lunch and had sandwiches for dinner.
If you want my Taco Recipes. Check my resource page.
Remember, there are many healthy options, you just have to be willing to try. It’s okay if it doesn’t work. It just gives you more information on what not to do right now!
