You are not the Problem - The System Is!
Monday on my FB page I asked everyone how they are doing with the 2021 goals they set out for themselves. If you feel like the healthy habits you set out for yourself just aren't sticking, almost as as if you're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, then know you are not alone.
Odds are, YOU are not the problem; the system is.
Instead of beating yourself up about constantly falling short of your expectations, you may need to shift your approach. Most people struggle to be consistent with tracking their food.
No matter how hard they try, they just can’t stick to food tracking for more than a week or two at a time.
So they get frustrated and blame themselves for lacking willpower and discipline, but the REAL problem is usually their approach to food tracking.
They approach food tracking by logging food into Fitbit or MyFitnessPal as they eat it. This approach can lead to failure because it requires you to constantly be thinking about food and remembering to log it as you go. Instead, a better approach would be to pre-log food the night before or to meal prep once per week so that your food is already measured out and you just have to log the same things each day. But for some, this approach still won’t stick.
Oftentimes, when we perceive that something will require too much effort so we give up entirely and do nothing instead. If pre-logging your food or meal-prepping a week in advance seems like too much, you can still track your food in other ways:
You can keep a written food journal to help you stay mindful of food intake and plan your meals.
You can use the Ate app to keep a photo log of what you ate and why you ate it.
You can write out a meal plan at the beginning of the week and stick to that plan. You can even create a meal plan on the free website here: Eat This Much
Whatever you decide to do, it’s about making self-monitoring a part of your lifestyle in a way that feels most sustainable and natural to YOU. Stop trying to force yourself into a system that isn’t built to your lifestyle. Look for ways to change your system so that you can stay consistent.
Remember, simple and consistent beats complex and inconsistent.
