Tracking Your Weight Loss

Writing things down is one of the most successful habits that you'll ever have in terms of your weight loss. I started the day I got home from surgery and still track when I am watching what I eat, wishing to drop off a few pounds.

I suggest that all newbies buy themselves a really nice book to track in for post op life. Indulge and go to Chapters or Staples or any store really and find a cutsie little book or a nice leather bound planner - whatever floats your boat. Use this to track your eating every day, protein intake, exercise done and water intake. You can even write down your vitamins, moods, and the like. You may or may not want to write your weight down - I did and I think it would benefit me to see how the natural fluctuations go. If you become too obsessed then no it is not a good idea and I would avoid that other than to write in your weight once a week.

Writing things down is important because:

1) You can begin to see patterns in your weight loss. Want to know what food caused you to gain a pound over night? You'll see it there. You'll see the fluctuations in your weight.
2) You can keep track of foods that didn't work for you - intolerances. You can see common threads that may have made you dump or have the foamies.
3) It keeps you accountable for everything you put in your mouth.
4) Had a great week last week but didn't do so well last week? Compare the two weeks and see if there is a thread that you notice. Did you have too many carbs last week? Too many snacks. Read!
5) It keeps you accountable towards your goals. You might not reach your protein and water goals early out - but you'll keep bumping up the numbers every day.

I still have my book from my first year out. I am going to keep it forever I swear! It's a great recount of what I ate my first year, imperfections and all. I can easily show it to anyone who might ask "what did you eat your first year out?".

I find when my eating gets crappy, I don't write things down. See what I mean about keeping yourself accountable? You won't be perfect all the time... but at least if you write it down you will be honest in your recount of what you ate that day, or week, or month for that matter. Journaling your intake is a very successful habit.

While browsing the Barix website I found some food intake logs that also look interesting. If a journal is not the way to do and you want something more absolute and in stone, the logs there are wonderful. Please note that early post op you generally don't worry about calories too much so these might not be for those early out but are a good resource after your first 6 months on.

Dawn