For me, trying to lose weight without keeping track of what I’m eating is a bit like trying to travel somewhere without a map. You might eventually reach your destination, but it’s likely to take much longer. You might take a few wrong turns, go back on yourself or even end up completely lost.
The food diary is my map.
Another big change has been learning that every trip out of the house doesn’t have to involve food!
Once upon a time, a trip into town would probably have included lunch. A visit to the garden centre would have meant coffee and cake.
Now, I’ll often plan — or even prepare — what I’m going to eat when I get home before I leave the house. It might be a salad waiting in the fridge, for example. That means I can walk through the door knowing exactly what I’m going to eat rather than standing in the kitchen wondering, “What do I fancy?” Inevitably, what I “fancy” when I’m hungry tends to be something involving high-calorie carbohydrates that won’t necessarily keep me full for very long!
Something else I found helpful was making a list of all the reasons WHY I wanted to lose weight. Keep yours somewhere safe — perhaps stuck to the inside of a kitchen cupboard door — and look at it occasionally, particularly when you find yourself raiding the kitchen looking for treats.
One question I’ve learned to ask myself before eating something particularly calorific is:
“Do I really want to eat this more than I want to lose weight this week?”
That moment of thought can make a huge difference.
Am I genuinely hungry? Am I bored? Am I fed up? Have I simply seen something tempting and suddenly decided I want it?
Sometimes I’ll have a glass of water, wait five minutes and then ask myself whether I still want whatever it was I was about to eat.
Because once it’s been snaffled down, it’s too late!
And if you then feel cross or disappointed with yourself, that feeling can last considerably longer than the few minutes of enjoyment you got from eating the treat in the first place.
I also remind myself how fantastic it feels to see a loss on the scales at my weekly weigh-in. That wonderful feeling can last for days. Remembering it when temptation strikes can be a surprisingly powerful motivator.
I’m writing this as someone who struggled with her weight for most of her life, from about the age of nine.
It wasn’t until I was 49 and started logging absolutely everything I ate and keeping track of the calories I was consuming that the truth really hit me between the eyes:
I was eating FAR TOO MUCH for a very short, sedentary person.
Once I understood that and began changing not just what I ate, but my whole relationship with food and the way I behaved around it, everything finally started to click into place.
At 57, I’m healthier and fitter than I was 20 years ago.
I just wish I’d discovered what worked for me years earlier.
But perhaps that’s the most important thing I’ve learned: this hasn’t really been about “going on a diet” at all.
It’s been about learning a different way of living — one small change, one decision and one bit of practice at a time.