Write What You Bite and Mute the Tube

 

If I'm counting calories, my wife is counting carbs. All the football analysts promote NutriSystem which I tried, so my wife joined Weight Watchers. She calls Dr Atkins a diet; I call it a good excuse to grill steaks. I say tomato; she says tomahto.

There are countless strategies and plans for weight loss and we've tried our fair share. The one thing we agree on is that you have to write what you bite i.e. keep a journal of what you eat. It seems to be a common recommendation no matter what strategy or "nutriguru" you subscribe to.

It's best to journalize everything you throw down the pie hole throughout the day. You may not realize where extra calories or carbs are coming from, especially if you do a little nibbling here and a little snacking there.

Or perhaps, you may think you're eating right by say hitting the salad bar, but when you add up the 2 scoops of honey mustard, the cheese, and croutons, you may as well have had a double beef Whopper with cheese extra mayonnaise! By the way those are better if you request F.O.B. - fresh off the broiler.

Maybe the salad isn't quite that many calories and definitely won't give the same heartburn, but the calories can add up quickly at the salad bar. Journalizing makes you more aware of your intake. The pen is mightier than the fork.

If you prefer to keep a journal online, many people use fitday.com. The site allows you to not only track intake, it has a built in BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and calorie calculator, nutritional analysis, and you can track your exercise and fitness goals.

Another quick suggestion is to mute your TV during commercials, especially for fast food advertisements.

"Bah, dah, dah, dah dah - I'm Lovin' It" is a catchy little jingle. If you hear that enough times, you'll be racing to that drive through anticipating the greeting:

"Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order?"

Muting the TV during commercials will stop those subconscious triggers and impulses from entering you mind and tempting you.

Whatever nutritional strategy or diet you implement, remember to write what you bite. And, if you do happen to fall prey to the onslaught of fast food TV commercials, DON'T SUPERSIZE!