We live in the informational age. With the press of a button, it has become incredibly simple to learn about anything you put into your body and break down its nutrients on a microscopic level. This is the generation of electronics and gadgets to help you track every physical aspect of your day which can be especially beneficial when keeping tabs on your weight. After my first session with clients, I give them a bit of homework; specifically, to track their progress. The cool part is that everything can be shared with me electronically and reviewed together in subsequent meetings.
Whether you use your smart phone, a wrist band, or a watch that looks as if you double as a secret agent, these devices can keep tabs on the nutritional profile of the foods you eat, amount of exercise you’re getting, calories burned after activities or even the number of hours that you sleep.
Often when I’m working with a client and we’re not seeing progress. They might say something like, “I only eat a small breakfast, just some salad for lunch and then fish and vegetables for dinner. It’s not like I have a sweet tooth, either. Then I go to the gym almost every day.” Being that I don’t have anyone under 24-hour surveillance, I have to take their word for it. It makes my job difficult because I’m not always sure what to say to that seemingly perfect effort. If someone is paying you, it’s a little overstepping boundaries to interrogate them to uncover why the results don’t add up.
My solution to cutting through the BS? It’s all about tracking. Yes, it requires some homework but the picture becomes much clearer for both parties. I want to know what you are eating and drinking for breakfast, lunch and dinner, what you go for at snack time and if you slip up before bed. What kind of physical activity you are up to, how many hours are you sleeping and are you eliminating every day or plugged up and constipated. Asking for all this information can seem a bit intrusive. Yet, without this full transparency will just delay major improvements.
Before you give up and assume with certainty that nothing will work, tracking has to be step #1. Once you’ve logged all of your daily information, trust me it will be more apparent where the problem lies. In many cases, your caloric could exceed your estimation by more than double. Portions, snacking and drinking all have to be accounted for – including nibbling on popcorn or nuts, sipping on juices and coconut waters or the lazy bowl of cereal at night instead of cooking dinner. These habits seemed so harmless that they would probably have been missed through conversations in the first few consults.
Additionally, what you were doing for exercise may be completely wrong for your body type. You may have also come to realize that you could sleep better, feel less stressed and less toxic with better habits. Most people are not in touch with their bodies so it’s no surprise that half our population is overweight. Without these tracking devices, you can keep going in circles and not understanding why you are fated to a body that won’t change. Please be certain that’s not the case. What I want to stress is that you shouldn’t be upset if you come to realize that you’ve been going about your weight loss attempts all wrong. This is actually the opposite and should be viewed as a blessing. I’m always thrilled when I work with clients and we figure out where mistakes were being made. This only means that we can make corrections and repair the damage.