"I hardly eat anything, and I still can’t lose weight.”
Feeling this way can be incredibly frustrating and confusing. Sometimes, it even stops people from trying to get healthier altogether.
But in every case, the principle of energy balance applies:
When you eat more calories (energy) than you expend, you gain weight. And when you eat fewer calories than you expend, you lose weight. (Which sounds way simpler than it is, of course.)
So what gives? Let’s find out.
The Challenge: Food Tracking!
For a WHOLE WEEK, track everything you eat
All you have to do: Write down what you eat every day for a week.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve heard this advice before—maybe hundreds of times. But have you really done it? Actually write it all down (versus keeping a mental tally)?
For every single meal and snack?
Every day?
For a whole week?
If not, give it a try. It’s actually a lot easier than it sounds. You can write it down in a notebook, use a record-keeping app like MyFitnessPal, or even just snap a photo of everything you eat.
Make sure to include everything you eat and drink. Don’t forget to record the cream and sugar in your coffee, the dressing on your salad, and the lone fry (or was it eight?) you stole off your kid’s plate.
(Note: Unless you enjoy it, we’re not recommending you track this way regularly. This is just a little short-term experiment.)
Treat these notes as if you were a scientist. This isn’t about judging your food choices. It’s merely about noticing them. Be kind, curious, and compassionate with yourself.
For the most accurate snapshot of your eating habits, try to do this during a typical week without any big events, and don’t change how you normally eat just because you’re keeping track.
At the end of the week, take a look at your log. Is it in line with how much you thought you were eating?
This is a short-term challenge/experiment, we DO NOT recommend tracking your food long-term. We will be posting more about why we do not typically recommend food tracking in a later post.
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