Food Diary: Friend or Foe?

Do you keep a Food Diary.  You know, that little book that you write down every little morsel of food that goes into your mouth? 

Okay, I will admit, it can be extremely daunting and difficult and horribly old fashioned, but you would be surprised how many extra little details you miss when you try and calculate everything at the end of the day.

A Food Diary can be a great way to help you stay on track in your journey and can also help you to see when, in your life, you are more susceptible to snacking on foods that we know we will feel guilty about later.

Earlier today I posted this question on my Facebook Page.  Mothers consume an extra 73,043 calories a year by doing this . . . . 


The answer?  Stealing food from their kids.

Incredible isn't it?  Without thought we are allowing ourselves to fall prey to the one thing we are trying so hard to prevent.

I know that I am guilty of this and I am trying so hard to not do it.  Regardless of how much my mouth is watering when I see those delicious and delectable Teddy Graham crackers on the table!

Now, a Food Diary is going to be of no value to you if you cannot be honest.  That means, regardless of whether or not you had a bowl of ice cream at 9:00 a.m., you need to write it down.  That way, when you look back on it you will be able to see why you are not as far along in your journey as you were hoping or if your eating patterns reflect significant events in your life.

So what are some benefits of keeping a Food Diary?  Well, here are a few for you:

• Accountability - have your partner or a friend look at your Food Diary with you at the end of the week to see where you could have been more faithful in your journey.  
• Increases Awareness - you are able to more readily see where those extra calories are coming from
• Calorie Awareness - a Food Diary might help you realize that you are eating too many calories at one meal and will help you see where you can shed some calories and more strategically place them throughout your day.
• Proper Eating - a Food Diary will help you realize if you are eating too much of one food group and not enough from another food group.  It will also help you realize if you are eating enough fruits and vegetables.
• Portion Sizes - a Food Diary can also help you see if you are eating proper portion sizes in your meals.  Not sure what proper portion sizes are?  Check Here!

Those are some pretty big benefits!

When I started off on my journey I kept a Food Diary occasionally.  I will admit, I was not always the most faithful at writing in it daily but when I did, it most definitely helped me see where I was going wrong and what I needed to change.  Plus, my husband would look at it which helped to keep me more accountable.

My biggest pointer to keeping a Food Diary would be to write down what you are going to eat the day before.  That way, you can just follow it without having to sit and think and ponder throughout your day.  However, make sure that if you do eat something that was not previously written down that you include it in, maybe in a different colour, so that you can see where you may need to make changes (for example:  you may need to add in more protein throughout your day to help curb your cravings for snacks).

Here are 5 tips from WebMD to help you keep your Food Diary:

• Write as you go.  Don't wait until the end of the day to record what you ate and drank.  "We recommend they write down as soon as they can after they eat," says Victor Stevens, PhD.
• Focus on portion size.  Practice at home with measuring cups, measuring spoons, or food scales.  And be aware that people tend to underestimate how much food they're served.
• Use whatever type of Food Diary that works for you.  It doesn't matter whether you use scrap paper, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a notebook.  What matters is that you use it.
• Don't skip your indulgent days.  "We encourage people to keep records especially on days when they're tempted to eat," says Stevens.  "What gets measured tends to get changed."
• Cook at home.  You'll have more control over what you consume, and you know what that food contains, and how much of it you're eating.  That makes for a more detailed entry in your food diary.

Another important thing to consider when you are keeping your Food Diary, says Julian Hooks from Review that Diet, is what you were doing while you were eating.  He lists 4 important questions to ask yourself:

1. Did you eat in front of the TV?
2. Were you snacking while preparing a meal or cleaning up afterwards?
3. Do you eat while doing other tasks like reading or working?
4. Do you frequently eat as a social activity?

"These are most often times that we eat without even realizing it," he says.  "And more importantly, eating while we are not even hungry."

So if a Food Diary is something that you feel will work for you then I encourage you to start one today!!!  It may be another step in your journey to help you realize your cravings towards food and turn them into cravings towards God!

If you require a template to follow for your Food Diary, consider this one from Review that Diet.

I Want to What?

Exercise is not something that I have enjoyed doing.  I will admit, I . . . Am . . . . Lazy.  Once I was done work and the Little One's had gone home, all I wanted to do was kick back on the couch with a steaming cup of coffee and a good book (or the TV).  Who could even think about exercising after working an 11 hour work day running around after six (6) Little One's and then taking care of the house and making sure that everyone in the house was fed?  The woman that could think of exercising after that must be one strong and powerful woman who is goal oriented and focused on the task at hand.  That woman was most certainly not me.

At least, at the time it wasn't.

You see, it turns out that I could become that type of woman.  I could be the type of woman who was up at 6 a.m. to start work and to ensure that her own two (2) girls were dressed and fed ready for school.  I could be the type of woman who spent the day watching six (6) Little One's, teaching them, encouraging them, loving them for 11 hours for the day and then sending them home with their parents.  I could be the type of woman who cooks a healthy meal for her family.  I could by the type of woman who could do ALL that and then think of lacing up her shoes and going for a run or maybe even a spin on the bike.

The longer that I work at changing my focus from craving food to craving God, I find that my attitude towards exercise is changing too.  I find that there is a desire to workout now.  I feel like if I don't workout then my day is lacking something.

Today was supposed to be a rest day.  I was supposed to enjoy my down time and curl up on the couch with a cup of tea, my laptop and a nice chat with a good friend.  However, I found myself walking the door after returning from leading a group of kids at church and wanting to lace up my sneakers and put a few kilometres under my feet.  So that is what I did!  I laced up and went out and ran 3 km.  Boy did it feel good!

There is something so rejuvenating and empowering about getting out with some powerful praise and worship music and putting some mileage between me and my day.  It feels great to work out the frustrations of the day that I had.  My head becomes more clear and my perspective on life seems to switch.  That is not to say that today was an overly frustrating day.  It was just a long one with a frustrating moment.  It felt good to have God speak to me as I listened to the sounds of the music flowing in my ears.

Dear friends, if you feel like me, like exercising just isn't possible right now because "things are too busy" always remember that you can make it work . . . if you want to.  I liked to use the "too busy" excuse all the time.  Saying that I was "worn out" and "exhausted."  However, now that I make the time to exercise I find myself more energized and more ready and able to tackle the day ahead of me!

Like the photo says, it doesn't matter whether it is a 14 minute mile or a 7 minute mile.  It is still a mile.

A Reminder About Why I Am On This Journey

This journey started off when I was reading Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst.  I have long since finished that book and placed it on my table beside my bed where it sat, buried beneath more books that I have since finished reading.  It was not forgotten, just neglected - like many other things in my life seem to have been.

Today I decided that I needed to pick up the book again.  There was this nudging feeling in my heart that I have felt many times over the last month or so.  This time, however, instead of ignoring it, I listened to it.  I am glad that I did.  I am not even done the Foreward and the book is reaching out and grabbing hold of me again.

My friends, let me tell you that this is one powerful book.  It seems like when I read it there are things that stand out to me that did not stand out to me before.  Like things are more relevant this time around then they were the last time that I read it.  Lysa has this way of drawing me in and pulling me closer towards my relationship with God.  Reminding me, ever so gently, of where I am failing and falling short.  Not to reprimand me, but rather, to gently guide me back onto the path that I was wandering very far from.

I would love to be able to write this book out word for word for you, but instead I will highly recommend that you go out and pick up a copy for yourself!  Please understand that while I use this book in relation to my food cravings, the same concepts that she speaks about can be applied to any other craving that you might have in your life.

Lysa speaks about the rich young man in Matthew 19 who comes to Jesus and says "What do I still lack?"  (Matthew 19 vs 20)  Jesus responds, "If you want to be perfect [whole], go, sell your posessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me."  (Matthew 19 vs 21)  The rich young man goes away sad because he won't give up the one thing that consumes him.  Is this not like people today? Is this not like me?  Refusing to make healthy choices and live a healthy lifestyle so that I too can follow Him? Refusing to give up the hold that food has on me.

Lysa writes:

Jesus meant this for any of us who wallow in whatever abundance we have.  I imagine Jesus looked straight into this young man's soul and said, "I want you to give up the one thing you crave more than me.  Then come, follow me."  Suddenly, Jesus isn't just staring at the rich young man; He's also staring at me -- the inside me.  The part I can't cover up with excuses and makeup.  
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  Mark 8 vs 34
It's not an invitation to drag our divided heart alongside us as we attempt to follow hard after God.
With  Jesus, if we want to gain, we must give up.
If we want to be filled, we must deny ourselves.
If we want to truly get close to God, we'll have to distance ourselves from other things.
If we want to conquer our cravings, then we'll have to redirect them to God.
God made us capable of craving so we'd have an unquenchable desire for more of Him and Him alone.

Wow!  What a true eye opener!  These words spoke straight to my soul today.  Right where I needed them to be!  Getting healthy isn't just about losing weight.  It's about recalibrating our souls so that we want to change -- spiritually, physically, and mentally!

We need to ask God to give us the desire to be more healthy.  You see, shallow desires produce shallow efforts.  We cannot do this on our own.  We need to seek out a spiritual want to that can only be provided by God himself.  We need to stop trying to do this on our own and realize that God can give us all that we lack.

I don't know about you, but that fills my heart.  God truly cares and He wants us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him and He knows that it is not something that we can do on our own.  We just simply need to ask for the empowerment.

To Exercise or Not To Exercise . . .

Have you ever had the urge to workout?  Have you ever craved push-ups or sit-ups or maybe, just maybe, lifting some weights?

If you have . . . GREAT!  If you haven't, then I feel your pain!

I never want to exercise.  Don't get me wrong.  I love how I feel afterwards and I love knowing that I have done something good for my body.

But when it comes down to it, I just don't crave exercise!  EVER!

Oh how I wish that I did though!  I know that it would be so much better for me if I did.  Yet the thought of it makes me feel exhausted before I have even started!

In order for me to exercise, I would need to get up at 5:30 a.m. to get at least 30 minutes of cardio in.  For those of you that know me on a more personal level, you will all know that I am by no means a morning person.  I love to stay up late with the quiet of the house after every one has gone to sleep.

I tried to workout today after work, but what a sad workout it was.  I pushed through and I did my 30 minutes of cardio on my bike, but it was HARD!  Definitely much harder then if I were to workout in the morning.  For some reason, despite having to wake up so early, I find my morning workouts much easier to get through then I do after a hard day of work.

It is just that early morning factor that I am having an extremely hard time getting used to.  I like to think that my husband is right when he says that it will get easier over time.  At least one can hope that it will right?  I am so thankful that there is a nice, hot cup of coffee waiting for me once it is all said and done!

I just want to be one who craves exercise instead of craving food.  I know that it is possible to get to that point, but I question how long it takes for someone to get there.

I know that it takes time to make something a habit, but is exercising something that just becomes a habit or are we truly capable of craving our workout time?

Tonight I shall go to bed with the satisfaction that I have started this week off right . . . .and maybe some muscle rub for my tired and sore legs!

GoodBye Sugary Sweets

You have been a bad friend to me!

Okay, I will be honest, I have to be on here otherwise this whole blog will be pointless.  I have not been good the past couple of  days.  I have allowed my emotions to take control of me and have found myself eating foods that I know I should be avoiding.  Instead of bring myself humbly before God, asking for his strength to help me pass these cravings, I have given in and let food satisfy me again.

I am not going to lie and say that this journey is easy.  Pardon the pun, but sugar coating things never did anybody any good.  So here I sit, hanging my head in shame as I admit to what I have done.

The guilt is terrible.  Knowing now that I have not only let myself down but have let my readers down too.  It makes me feel awful.

I don't want to be fake though.  I don't want to wake up in the morning and say that I have done nothing wrong and that I can start over again.  I don't want to start over!  I want to be able to continue strong on this journey that I have started.  I want to be able to come here and tell you that I did it!  I overcame my "wants" and my temptations!  Yet right now I feel like I have put back some of those bricks that I had removed from my mountain.  My road became shorter in the last few days.

Over the next few days I know that the "want" to eat unhealthy foods is going to be excruciatingly difficult to overcome. My life is shaping up to be extremely busy and full of difficulties at the moment and it is at this point that I reach for comfort foods.

Ruth Graham, in her book Fear Not Tomorrow, God is Already There, says:

Either we can be victimized and become victims, or we can be victimized and rise above it.  Often it is easier to play the victim then take off our masks and ask for help.  We get comfortable with our victim status.  It becomes our identity and is hard to give up.  The Israelites often played the victim card, and I love what God finally tells them, "You have circled this mountain long enough.  Now turn north" (Detueronomy 2:3 [NASB]).

Turn North!  It's time to move on!  Self-pity, fear, pride, and negativity paralyze us.  Take off our masks takes courage, but if we don't do it, we will remain in our victim status and end up stunted.

How incredible!  Turn North!  That is what I want to do!  I am sick of circling the mountain!  I am sick of feeling victimized by my weight and unhealthy eating patterns.

I know I can stop these unhealthy circling patterns by coming before God in prayer.  Yet I feel awkward at times praying about food.  I mean, here we sit being able to eat all different kinds of delicious, stomach satisfying foods while that are countless others who do not have any kind of food to eat.  Should my focus not be on them and their lack rather then me and my lack of "want"?  It seems so petty at times.

Yet I know that if I am to truly overcome my food idols I need to come humbly on my knees.  No more being filled up with foods that are only going to let me down the next morning.  I am going to be filled up with and satisfied with the love of God.