5 Benefits of Nutrition Tracking

You can use all the help you can get if you want to lose weight and lower risk for chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.

Whether you are using a low-calorie or low-carb diet, or following some other strategy for weight loss, nutrition tracking can make it more effective. Here are five benefits of nutrition tracking.

1. It can increase awareness of your regular habits

Once you start tracking your meals, you can see how many calories and nutrients you have been consuming from which foods. This can lead to discoveries that can let you increase your weight loss. 

For example, you might learn that your fiber and protein intakes are often low, which could explain constant hunger. Or, you might find that a high amount of your calories come from just a couple of foods, such as a morning breakfast biscuit and coffee beverage contributing over 1,000 calories.

This knowledge can enable better choices, such as adding more fiber and protein, or switching to black coffee and a breakfast sandwich on and English muffin.

2. You can learn to make good food choices

As you learn which nutrients come from which foods, and which foods are higher in calories, you can become an expert at making nutritious food choices that will get you to your goals. For example, Lark might teach you that dietary fiber is associated with better weight loss and lower blood sugar.

You might also learn, through nutrition tracking, that high-fiber foods include vegetables, whole grains, fruit, beans, and nuts. If you know that choosing these types of foods at the supermarket and at restaurants can help you reach your weight and health goals, you might do so regularly instead of opting for less healthful choices.

3. It can increase accountability

One of the reasons why nutrition tracking works is that it can increase your feelings of accountability. Knowing that you will log what you eat may be enough to think twice before, say, taking a second slice of pizza or ordering a large instead of a medium mocha.

4. It can support mindfulness

While obsessive calorie counting can make eating less fun, it can be enlightening to notice relationships between what you eat and personal results such as your weight or how you feel. Nutrition tracking can support mindfulness by helping you focus on savoring tastes, aromas, and textures and the experience of eating, as you begin to appreciate what food does for you and your body.

5. It can help you plan meals

Logging meals after the fact can give you information and other benefits such as accountability, but logging meals before you eat them can serve a different purpose by letting you see how a food or beverage might affect your daily totals.

If you see, for example, that ordering sweet and sour chicken with fried rice might put you over the top for calories, sugar, and starch, you might be motivated to change your planned order to chicken with broccoli to keep down the calories, sugar, and starch, while increasing fiber and vegetables for the day.

Eating healthier and losing weight are some of the most important steps you can take for your health, and nutrition tracking can help. Tracking your foods and beverages can hold you accountable with your good intentions and make sure you know exactly what you are eating and how much.

A good nutrition tracker can fit right into your lifestyle without weighing you down, and it is not hard to find one. Lark offers intuitive tracking features, such as recognizing favorite foods and keeping a history of your choices. Plus, Lark's nutrition coaching includes instant feedback to celebrate the good choices you made and guide you towards any possible improvements next time.

Lark's nutrition tracking is part of the entire coaching program for weight loss and improved health. The program may be available to you at no cost if your health insurer participates! Click here to find out if you may be eligible for Lark. You could be minutes away from taking the first steps to hitting your weight loss goals and improving health.