Day 11- Tracking

A few weeks ago I came across the app , MyFitnessPal, through a friend who has lost weight through using it. I have never been into calorie counting but decided to take a look.
It allows you to track exactly what you eat on a daily basis, and the exercise you partake in. You can scan foods or pick from their extensive list, or add a brand. It calculates calorific value as well as fat, carbs, fibre, sugar , salt and protein.You can also add your own notes (moods, feelings, sleep etc).
I'm hugely impressed as one of the first activities I get new clients to do is to fill in a diet sheet for a week. Every single morsel must be included. Not only is this useful for me to look at the overall picture but it makes the person doing it way more accountable for their intake of food and drink.
It's SO easy to have a cup of tea with half a dozen biscuits, and conveniently forget you ate them. Similarly with alcohol, it's easy to drink more than you intended. If you're recording it ,though, your awareness levels are heightened and you are more likely to stop and think!
I was staggered by some of the calories and sugar and fat content of foods especially Starbucks and Costa muffins, cake etc that millions of people tuck away, in addition to meals, on a daily basis. A chocolate muffin for example would take up almost a third of a women's calorie intake - and guess what? They are all empty. There is NO nutritional value to a chocolate muffin. Our bodies can exist quite happily without them!!
Obviously for this six week period I'm making a note of all that I eat. It's fascinating me and it's keeping me on track. Especially as I'm blogging it as well. I'm tempted to cheat if I'm honest, lots of times a day, but my health is at stake here and what's more important - me sorting my gut out or a moment's pleasure whilst eating something 'bad' for me. Food for thought.

Food I ate today :
Bacon for breakfast, and a protein shake (prescribed by Emma, more on this later)
Lunch: spinach and feta tortilla slice, with an avacado, and lots of tomatoes.
Dinner: pork and bean casserole (home made by John- delicious) , with mange tout and broccoli.
Coconut yoghurt, berries, and cinnamon.
Snacks: cacao nibs and 2 squares of chocolate sweetened with xylitol. 2 fruit sweets made entirely of berries, and fruit juice (ordered these for the kids from a health food site and to be honest not sure if they're ok for me. Will check with Emma before I eat any more).
Day 11 down, 31 days to go!