i’ve decided to start a food log to keep track of everything i eat. however, i really dunno what to include. i’m assuming all the major stuff like calories, carbs, protein, and fat. are there any programs that make logging easier?
by the way, check out Chris Shugart’s article on how to become a fat, weak, fitness failure
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;.ba13?id=480999
if you don’t know who chris is, he’s “T-Nation’s assistant editor, feature writer, and one sarcastic son of a bitch”…haha
jo3, on a lined yellow pad or in an Excel spreadsheet on your computer create a column for WHAT you’re eating and the amount in ounces, cups, tablespoons, etc. Notate whether it’s cooked or raw when you measure the item, as the numbers are often different.
From there you need a column for P, F, C and calories.
Congratulations on starting a food log. It’s the single most imortant thing you can do to take control of your body comp and dial in your nutrition.
Between you and me, I’ve always felt that someone who keeps a food log is really serious. It will teach you a lot about your body, what it needs and how it responds.
Check out the article called “The Missing Ingredient”
I don’t have it linked but I am sure thats what it is called.
-Dave
Great advice so far.
I just wanted to add that it will get easier with time. You will get foods and amounts memorized.
I do suggest you track EVERYTHING P,C,F etc. for atleast a year. Then maybe consider simplifying things a bit.
Learning how things effect you will be a lifetime journey, but one that will pay back 2 fold.
Congrats on starting a log,
Phill
I use fitday.com to for my food logs. It’s a free service and they have tons of foods already saved (plus you can enter custom ones for all the sups you’re taking). They also allow you to set goals and monitor your progress. It’s a really nice site. Just wish they kept track of nutrient timing…oh well, guess you can’t get everything for free.
Fitday is great. It solves the thre biggest problems:
1- calorie/carb/protein/fat breakdown for most of your foods (you can enter your own special ones for things like Grow and Surge - enter once and its always there)
2- pre-formatted. all you have to do is enter your stuff for each day.
3- prebuilt reports so you can look at how you are doing over a week or a month
doing this in a notebook or spreadsheet would take much more time for less functionality.
Try www.fitday.com you’ll love it