Bad Body Math - The Why and the How of a Food Journal
by Jason Jaksetic
What goes up comes down for the most part - but what goes on doesn't necessarily come off.
The
purpose of this blog is to show that poor calculation, or rather, the
absence of calculation, is at the root of excessive body fat.
Being
thin is a matter of addition and subtraction. It's not rocket science -
yes, there are immeasurable variables all over the place in your life -
it's what makes you unique and dynamic and so interestingly you - but
all things considered, if you balance what goes in your body, with what
what your body emits out, you derive a perfect figure.
Not rocket science, just thermodynamics.
Think of your body as a furnace. Or better yet, a star. Your body is a radiant point where matter ignites into energy.
(The whole Einstein-ian equation thing, remember?)
We can build bombs because we can unleash energy from matter.
Your body unleashes energy from food in the same way. The calorie is a unit of heat measurement.
You get fat because you are piling up fuel, but not burning it.
In fact, maybe you are so fueled up, you can't even get a spark going.
Herein,
lies the problem. Here it my be beneficial to think about the First Law of Thermodynamics here. Matter is not created or destroyed. It
just changes form.
Herein, lies the solution. You can
transform the body fat into energy. You need to carry all the excess
numbers on one side of equation to another. Actually, light them on
fire!
If you want your body to drop energy bombs all over
your surrounding landscape you might want to consider a food journal as
part of the equation to balance your weight.
If you burn
more calories than you consume your body will burn the fat weighing you
down. Your body has to burn the fat - it won't let you die. Though you
feel like your starving, your not. Your body is
snacking away on the lard your carrying around 24/7 when you are not
resupplying via your stomach.
Exercise accelerates this process by pumping up the burn, but you will probably notice
that just observing what you eat will put the weight loss odds in your
favor.
A food diary let's you see one side of body's equations. (We'll worry about the other side - the burn - in another article.)
The Food Journal - 3 tips to consider on getting it done right
- it's about awareness...
The first thing I find people notice when they even attempt to
write down what they eat is that they are blown away with how they've
never examined such the mundane, yet brilliantly enjoyable and complex
behavior of eating.. Humans are so busy these days it seems eating as
become an autonomous motion to accompany our other activities.
- don't stress...
You are doing your food
journal wrong if it's a burden. Don't stress about descriptions and
nutritional information of what you are eating. (Look at that later.)
Just take quick notes throughout your day on a pad you keep handy or on a
notepad app on your smartphone. Oh, there are 10,000 apps, too, but
don't use these if the technology will stress you out. Just grab a
napkin at breakfast and jot down what you eat, every time you eat.
- try it for a week...
You can learn a boatload of information with just one week of data. It usually is enough to make your bad habits obvious. Knowledge is the power to that allows you to shift the momentum of your habitual behaviors.