Why track your diet and activity?

Why track your diet and activity? 

"I always each healthy."
"I allow myself one cheat meal each week."
"I worked out so hard today."
"I must have burned a thousand calories."
"Studies show this class burns 800 calories in 55 minutes!"
"I snack on almonds during the day for additional protein."

I have heard ALL of these before. I am sure you have too. Do you really know? Do you really know how many calories are burned during that run you just took? Do you really know what that cheat meal did to your overall nutrition for the day? Is it really just 1 cheat meal or a series of mindless consumptions throughout the day/week? Do you really know how hard you worked during that workout?

Without actually tracking these things the answer is NO.

An actual serving of almonds - just ONE serving - NOT snacking on them all day.

Notice that 1 serving of almonds is mostly fat, and the carbs and protein are balanced. I am not saying almonds are a bad food choice, but they are NOT a food to be snacked on throughout the day in hopes to make your protein needs. 

My personal choice for nutrition trackers is My Fitness Pal. 

It's a free app you can download on your mobile device or you can log onto your computer. You can customize your goals, track your diet, weight, water consumption and activity. Don't expect to perfect this the first time you use it. There is a learning curve but with practice you can really make this app work well for you. There is an option to upgrade for a fee - but I have never done that. 

There have been plenty of times I have talked to people after teaching a class where they look at me and say, "That has to be worth at least a pound, right?" The answer is WRONG. Even my high intensity cardio classes that last an hour do not burn even 1,000 calories. To burn a pound you must burn 3,600 calories (that you do not consume again later - that defeats the purpose). I also hear, "You teach so much / run so much / workout so much that you must be able to eat whatever you want." Again, not true. What I eat becomes even more important, food is fuel. 

You don't really know how many steps you take each day unless you track them. You don't know how many calories you have burned during your workout unless you track them. There are so many activity trackers and heart rate monitors out there that are great right now that it's hard to make a bad decision when purchasing one. The heart rate monitors allow you to see your intensity level during your workout, it will even alert you if you are not in your training heart rate zone while you are in workout mode. During your intentional exercise intensity level is important - it is where & how we see improvements. If you are not working out at a level that feels intense for you (everyone is different) you will not progress. These heart rate monitors often incorporate an activity tracker that will also tell you when it's time to get up & move during your every day life. If you've been idle & sitting too long it will vibrate to remind you to get up & take a few steps. It will tell you at the end of the day if you have actually achieved your 10,000 steps per day. 

Some proven brands of activity trackers are: Polar, Garmin, Fitbit. Each of these brands offers base activity trackers as well as those that will track heart rate & intensity during exercise. Do some research but don't over think it - there are a lot of great choices. 

If you need help getting started and understanding more about what you, as an individual, needs to do contact me. I would love to help!