Tracking your food is the simplest, most effective way to stay on course with a fitness goal — it is how I lost 20 pounds last year to become a better runner. A few months into your New Year’s resolutions, the easiest way to see if weight loss is working is the scale, and the easiest way to control it is to log everything you eat. In this Physical Friday I explain how food tracking keeps me honest and why it stops the mindless, bored eating that adds up.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Track your food. It is the simplest and most effective tool I have used — I lost 20 pounds last year so I could run better just by logging everything I ate. Weight loss is easy to measure with the scale, and when you record every bite you know exactly what is coming in and how it affects your body. Whether you use a notebook or an app, knowing your intake makes hitting the goal far easier.
It makes you conscious of every choice. When I go to grab something and think about logging it, I often stop and ask why I am even eating it — and the answer is usually that I am bored, not hungry. That awareness alone cuts a ton of unnecessary calories. A good tracker also sets your calorie, protein, carb, and fat targets based on your goal and adjusts them at check-ins so you stay on pace.
I use Carbon Diet Coach, though this is not an ad and I do not care which one you use. What I like is that I can scan a barcode and it logs the item accurately, and it tells me how many calories, plus how much protein, carbs, and fat to eat based on my goal. After about eight or nine days it asks for a weigh-in check-in, and if I am off pace it recalculates my numbers to keep me on track.
No. You can track in a notebook or any way you want — the point is simply to record what you eat. Apps like Carbon Diet Coach or MyFitnessPal make it easier with barcode scanning and automatic targets, but the method matters less than the consistency. If you can track your food and know exactly what is coming in, that alone makes reaching your goal much simpler.
Yes. If you know your best-performing weight, tracking lets you stay within two or three pounds of it instead of swinging up and down. You know exactly what you are eating and how it affects your body, which keeps you dialed in for the best possible performance. I dropped 20 pounds specifically to run better, and tracking was how I got there and stayed there.
That is okay — a lot of people start with momentum and then drift back into old habits. If your weight-loss resolution has stalled, look into tracking your food as the fix. Get on the scale to see where you actually are, then start logging everything you eat. Once you can see your intake clearly, you can correct course and get back on pace toward the goal you set in January.
Here is the approach I use to stay on track. I share the details in the episode.
I walk through the details in the episode. Press play in the player above.
A few months into the year is when resolutions wobble. The scale tells you the truth about where you are, and the food log tells you why. Put them together and you stop guessing. I explain how I used both to drop 20 pounds for running in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Most of my extra calories never came from real meals — they came from grabbing something because I was bored. The simple act of logging makes me pause and ask whether I actually want it, and most of the time I do not. I get into how that one habit changed things in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Tracking is not only for losing weight. If you know your best-performing weight, logging keeps you within a couple of pounds of it instead of bouncing around. You stay dialed in and you know how food affects your body. I cover how I use it that way in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I really hope you are on track for the resolutions you set in January. If you are, fantastic — keep going.
If you are not, tracking your food might be the answer. Pick a method, log everything, and let the awareness do the work. Press play in the player above.
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
New Year’s resolutions · food tracking · Carbon Diet Coach · MyFitnessPal · weight loss · running · Physical Friday · Saltwater Experience
I’m Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series where I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong enough to keep doing what they love for life.
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