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How to Use a Food Journal to Unlock Better Health

by Jadie Aranda 3 Comments

It doesn’t take willpower to lose weight and be healthy. It takes knowledge of how to work your own body.

In my post How to Use the Scientific Method for Superior Health, I made a comment I’d like to clarify. I said “Your body, your responsibility.”

I hope you didn’t roll your eyes when you read that. I meant something completely different than the popular view that people who are overweight just aren’t trying hard enough or using enough willpower.

It Doesn’t Take Willpower to Crack a Safe

Learning your body is like cracking a safe. Say your body has a 10-digit code you should use for optimal health. There are literally 10 billion combinations that could be right for you. For a lot people, 0123456789 works. OK, great. When that doesn’t work, we start grabbing at other numbers at random.

This website says try 0213456789. Damn, didn’t work.

This doctor says 1230456789. Shoot.

1234567890? Oh my gosh, I’m never going to get this!

But when you start listening to your body, it’s like this:

Man cracking a safe and finding the combination by listening. We don't need more willpower, we need to work smarter, not harder. Crack the code of your body's health by listening to it. Start by using a food journal

 

When we can listen to our body, it shows us the exact combination. Unfortunately, we still have the mindset that we need sheer willpower to try every recommended combination until we find the one that works for us. Most of us never find the optimal combination this way.

“It’s not that hard, you just have to work at it”

How do you know, not-that-helpful person giving advice? Taking care of our bodies is a unique experience unlike anyone else’s.

For example, I will never be a pro baseball player. No matter how hard I train, how much willpower I use, or how much money I spend, I will never have the ability to play pro baseball. It takes a certain amount of natural ability to be able to play at that level in addition to the blood, sweat, and tears.

Related:  5 Ways a Food Journal Will Make You Healthier (Free Download!)

But people with a natural ability to play sports may say things like “It’s not that hard, you just have to really want it and work at it.” Bullshit. No matter how good I get, I will never get to that level.

Being fit and healthy seems like a singular goal, like being a pro baseball player. You’ve got these ripped dudes telling you “Work hard and you can look like me.” Diet gurus that still tell you “Calories in vs. calories out.”

And worse, the people who put an MD after their name just to say “Take garcinia cambogia, you will lose weight or your money back!”

I’m sick of trying all these one-size-fits-all “combinations” that don’t fit me. I’m tired of failing at someone else’s diet and then feeling like I just didn’t have enough willpower to see it through. I’m finally ready to work smarter, not harder.

How to use your Food Journal to Crack the Safe

I created the Bite Me Food Journal to finally put that proverbial stethoscope to the safe. To crack a safe, you have to listen to one number at a time, learn it, then move on. I feel the same way about learning the body.

If you try to change too much at once, you will be overwhelmed and won’t be able to really hear what’s going on. The Food Journal allows you to get an idea of the current combination you are using. From there, you can start tweaking and listening, learning as you go.

After reading this, you may already know what you’d like to experiment with first. If so, great!!
If you don’t know where to start, go for some quick wins with daily goal setting.

Related:  Sugar Crash: How to Eat Sugar without the Crash

Bite Me Food Journal in Action - daily goal setting, drink enough water. We don't need more willpower, we need to work smarter, not harder.

 

 A food journal is a great research-backed tool that can help you crack into your body’s own code. Download your Bite Me Food Journal today and get started! 

The safe example really captures how I think about figuring out my own health. What do you think of the “cracking the safe” analogy? Write in the comments below and let me know! I really love to hear from you!

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Filed Under: Eat For Energy, Eating Healthy, Your Diet Can Bite Me! Tagged With: food journal, tools, water

About Jadie Aranda

Jadie Aranda is a passionate biologist who secretly teaches people science so they can live better lives. As a scientist and skeptic of all the diet misinformation fed to consumers, Jadie works tirelessly to sift through scientific studies, distill the truth, and share it with her readers in an understandable and engaging way.

In addition to publishing Eat My Science, Jadie is featured regularly in Denver Parent Magazine (denverparent.net) and you can buy her book, "Your High Energy Life: Banish Energy-Sucking Foods and Supercharge Your Days" on Amazon.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Varun Sharma says

    June 2, 2020 at

    Beautiful and informative blog.

    Reply
  2. Mohansai says

    December 25, 2019 at

    Thank you for writing this awesome post. Really it’s very helpful for my children. I shared this post my friends and family members also. Once again thank you so much

    Reply
  3. James Austin says

    May 6, 2019 at

    This is a beautiful post. And a great idea. It is fun and special to explore different parts of ourselves. With children we need to teach and learn. So much can be learned from their limitless minds where imagination never ends. What a great way to connect with our inner child as well. Thank you for sharing this idea.

    Reply

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