Mindful Eating “Versus” Food Tracking
/The only “wrong way” to becoming “healthier” is the one that doesn’t work. For instance, I can design a client the perfect training program that includes correctives for mobility issues, target heart rate cardio for maximum fat loss and the most strategic lifts for strength and muscle growth. But if the client doesn’t do it then it won’t work.
In my early days as a trainer at Equinox I had a manager once say “what you do is one part science, one part psychology and one part magic.” I’d add “sparkle” to that list, but I digress. Psychology is a huge part of wellness especially with proper nutrition. Some people simply don’t know or understand the science of what and how to eat. That’s easy to correct and can be fixed in a basic nutrition coaching session. But if knowing what and how to eat healthy were all it took more folks would be healthy. So finding the right tools for translating that knowledge into action is the secret and what keeps many folks floundering.
I was overweight for half my life. Since I was a child I struggled with obesity, food addiction and quack diets. What finally worked was a form of surrender. With the help of a dear friend and a nutritionist I gave up all the “bad” foods I loved for a year and ate only what was prescribed. I lost 50 pounds. And then when I transitioned off the strict diet back into “the real world” I started to gain the weight back. So I struggled for another 10 years with being “skinny fat”. And then my partner and I finally learned how to eat freely to our bodies’ caloric needs. We learned how to track our food to make room for pizza, burritos, dessert and (for him) a glass or two of wine. Rather than feeling restrictive like so many diets it felt very freeing. I finally found a way I could manage my body composition and still enjoy food and life.
Recently a friend asked my thoughts about “mindful eating”. In short, Mindful eating is based on mindfulness, a Buddhist concept. It's a beautiful concept and one I strive to achieve. But it takes a very long time in today’s world. And for folks looking for a more basic, first step to change it can be overwhelming. In my experience success can more often be achieved by first tracking one’s food for a period of time to achieve the right calorie (and potentially macronutrient) goals while making room for the foods you love. And during this time the foundations for mindful eating are gained. And eventually you learn new behaviors and routines and can ditch the tracking.
So I don’t see food tracking and mindful eating as conflicting. One is a step toward the other. Food tracking helps us determine a baseline and learn what’s in the foods we are eating (especially the ones we love). It teaches us how to decide what to eat in a day to achieve our goals in a quantifiable way while we learn the more qualifiable side of eating. If you can achieve mindful eating while skipping the tracking step my hat is off to you! But if you struggle with integrating the principles of mindfulness into your eating habits I encourage you to give it a try.
Side note, I recently introduced the concept of “pre-planning” to a client in a coaching session. And his eyes light up bright. It never occurred to him to “work backwards”. Meaning, if I know I am going out for pizza on Friday night and know I want three slices of cheese, a small caesar salad and a slice of tiramisu (NOMS!) I enter those things in MyFitnessPal on Friday morning and then “work backwards” meaning I then use my remaining calories to figure out what I’ll have for breakfast and lunch. That way I can enjoy my Friday night dinner knowing it won’t mess up my fitness progress. It might seem laborious but it takes about five minutes--less time than most people spend scrolling on Instagram or stalking on Facebook in a day!
For more on food tracking, macronutrients, mindful eating habits, recipes and basically everything I’ve learned about nutrition that works, check out my free guide to eating clean and getting lean.