THE YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT PROGRAM
There is a lot of value in the actual act of recording what you eat. It’s a behaviour that truly takes seconds to minutes a day to do, but each and every time you pull out your app or diary, you remind yourself of your healthy living desires and strategies. This 2-week habit coaching program encourages you to record what you eat and explains how to use the information to help inform any future dietary changes.
DAY 0 - INTRODUCTION OF HABIT (SUNDAY)
Habit Challenge: Record what you eat
For the next two weeks, I challenge you to ‘record what you eat’. There is a lot of value in the actual act of recording what you eat. It’s a behaviour that truly takes seconds to minutes a day to do, but each and every time you pull out your app or diary, you remind yourself of your healthy living desires and strategies.It’s through regular and conscious effects and reminders that new habits are formed, and any behaviour that helps you to keep your goals and intentions at the forefront of your busy mind is a good one. The point of this habit is awareness, not change. What I don’t like about food logging is when it becomes punitive or judgmental. Food diaries aren’t there to tell you what you are or aren’t allowed. A food diary is simply a source of information to help inform your decisions, as well asan incredibly powerful habit-building tool. So this is not a calorie counting habit.
Recording what you eat isn’t meant to replace your dietary strategy;
it’s there to supplement it. Whether you’ve been intermittently fasting, following a Paleo or low-carb plan, or even just doing your own thing, food logging, regardless of its imperfections, oversights, and shortcomings, may be just the thing you need to figure out why you might be stuck.
How can I personalise this habit?
Choose how often you feel comfortable writing down what you eat. Is it for just one meal a day? Two? Just the snacks? Or all meals? Any amount will do. Choose how you’ll write down what you eat. On a paper journal? In your progress log? On a food logging app? You won’t have to share any of your notes. They’re only for you.
How can I make this habit easy?
The first step is to scale the habit to something you are 90-100% confident you can do for 6 days of the week. You might want to track specific meals (just breakfasts, lunches, or dinners), or decide that journaling on paper is easier than an app for you. Have one day off per week from completing the habit.This is very important: whatever you pick, it should only take you one to two minutes to complete each day.
What can I piggyback off of?
Look for an event you can use as a reminder to write down what you eat: after your morning coffee, getting to work, after your workout, getting home from work, when an alarm goes off on your phone, whatever you want. Just pick a pre-existing habit to use as your reminder.
TO DO: Create your personal version of the habit to commit to this challenge!
Here’s a template:
I am 90-100% confident that I will [insert habit] for 6 days a week after I [insert what you’re going to piggyback off of].
Here’s an example:
I am 90-100% confident that I will record what I eat on paper for 6 days per week after I finish my last meal of the day.
P.S. Don’t worry about making this perfect. We’ll help you adjust.