We know from experience that simply going to the gym and working out or being active is not enough to really achieve all of your weight loss goals.
We say it over and over again because it is so important that in order to reach your full potential you must change your nutrition if you want to lose weight.
A few weeks ago a client approached me to talk about nutrition because they have not lost the weight they would like and knew they needed to change something.
The client first asked, “What should I be doing differently?”
I explained that it is hard for me to give any advice without any data about what they are doing now, so I asked her to track her food for a few days and then let’s sit down and chat.
The next week the same client came to me and said: “I don’t know what happened when we talked but I already lost a few lbs.” Now as much as I would like to believe that I am so special that you can just talk to me and the weight will fall off I know that is not what happened.
I proceeded to ask the client what they were doing differently and if she has been tracking her food. She explained that she is not necessarily tracking her food but she is planning her meals more.
She then proceeded to ask which is more important planning or tracking.
In all honesty, I believe that they are both important, but I would probably choose to put planning ahead of tracking.
Why you may ask?
Because you can’t plan without tracking but you can track without planning.
Let me explain.
Let’s say you are tracking all of your food and writing it down. You could simply be writing down everything you eat but still eating too many calories and not enough nutrients. You are simply writing down what you ate after the fact.
If you were to plan your food and write down a menu for the day or week you are also tracking your food at the same time.
Planning allows you to set yourself up for success and be proactive about your decision while tracking is done after you make a decision.
If planning a whole week is too hard for you right now that is cool, simply start with a few days or a few meals and build off of that.
Set yourself up for success by making the goal almost impossible not to reach.
-Coach Pat
