Tracking Consistently

ohayrachael

April 22, 2018

DON'T PANIC

Whether you're tracking macros, calories in, or calories out there's one tool that will help you reflect on your habits most of all: consistency.

We have all been on a regimented plan, and have stumbled from the path. If you're reading this now, you've probably read other blogs that recommend you dust yourself off and try again. Yet, this is under the assumption that the dust is not going under the rug. All of the "mess" you made falling off your plan is vitally important to keep track of! You may feel the urge to just forget about your mistake, or trust that because you felt terribly about it, you certainly won't forget it.

Try again! Dust yourself off!

Your mistakes are part of what's going to help you grow and learn. When I began tracking my missteps, I began catching onto trends that I wouldn't have before.

For example:
When I first began counting calories, I would binge and eat well outside my range for the day or even the week. I'd feel so terribly that I would throw in the towel and give up tracking altogether for weeks or months at a time. When I started tracking my macros, calories eaten, and calories burned consistently, I noticed that my average calorie range is much higher than what I had anticipated yet the average was fairly regular. Ah-ha! The reason I was not losing any weight despite a low calorie diet, was because binge eating would balance out my calorie average for the week. Without this important tracking data, I would have never seen for myself that my average caloric intake only maintained the weight I was at.

Consistent tracking overtime allows us to observe personal trends that we wouldn't have noticed otherwise. In an everyday situation, the goal is to get from point A to point B. For those trying to change their health, the destination route may change based off of many different factors. Maybe your body is triggered to lose weight during times of high stress. Maybe a hormone fluctuation causes you to hold onto water weight. Or perhaps you're on moon 37 of planet Zarubelle, and your weight changes due to the change in gravity.

Given all this, it is important to track your progress from the many different angles of life. Imagine your health as a delicate science experiment, one that changes with every new variable. Lock onto your variables and track when they change. Measure how to be your healthiest self by the milligram. I have been using SparkPeople premium to track, keep, and map my data for the past two years. The program works for me, but maybe a google spreadsheet, a hand written journal, or a simple guide with the words DON'T PANIC written on the cover will help you reach your destination in the most enjoyable way possible.

Track on, health scientist, track on!

Here are some helpful tools if you are looking into tracking, observing, and analyzing personal health data:

BMI Calculators

http://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html

https://www.smartbmicalculator.com

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

Calorie and Fitness Trackers

https://www.sparkpeople.com

https://www.myfitnesspal.com

https://mobile.fatsecret.com

Fun Online Research

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHqbu8d5NIZ_Mp6H4aejVOg

https://www.livestrong.com

https://www.cleaneatingmag.com