Food Logging: Apparently ‘Wingin’ It’ Isn’t a Wellness Strategy
“All good things must come to an end.” We’ve all heard that one, right? Well, one good thing I’ve found it definitely applies to is the phase of life where dinner could be a bag of chips and a glass of wine—with zero consequences.
Midlife said, “Not so fast.”
The bag of chips I once adored? Suddenly it left me puffy, bloated, and wondering if my jeans had shrunk in the dryer.
The food app tracker that I had used on and off for years suddenly became my friend again—helping me get a clear picture of what I was putting into my body and which foods were impacting me both positively and negatively.
As I learned more about what kinds of foods benefited the midlife me, I started creating goals around things like protein and fiber. It took several iterations (and a few failed experiments) before I figured out the targets that actually worked for me—not just what the app suggested or what worked for someone else.
There are so many tracking tools at your disposal today. I love using the Lose It! app and I stick with it because it has years worth of my data. I can record weight, program specific goals, plan meals ahead of time and use their calendar to look at exactly what I ate on a particular date. That kind of insight has helped me connect the dots between what I eat and how I feel—physically and mentally.
One cool example of the app’s data being useful: I noticed, on another health app I use, that I was getting longer amounts of deep sleep at night on certain days. I pulled up the correlating dates on my Lose It! app and saw that on each of those days, I had eaten pistachios, a favorite snack. So naturally, I Googled “pistachios”—and what do you know? They contain melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep. These are the kind of cool connections you can make with the data. Now I know that having a serving of pistachios in the evening can actually benefit me.
Before you start making excuses that food tracking apps take too long to use, you should know they are now easier than ever! Many of them use AI tools to help make logging food a breeze. Lose It! allows me to put in a meal by voice or even take a photo. Also, after you have logged for a while, it stores your foods and meals so that just one click can send you on your food-tracking way.
Have you tried a food tracking app that you love? I’d love to hear about it! Send an email to connect@mymidlifemix.com and tell me the name of the app and which features you find especially helpful—or message me on my Instagram @My_Midlife_Mix! We can feature the tools here and help others find what works for them!
Remember, it’s not about perfection. It’s about awareness.
Because in midlife, your body keeps the score—and apparently it also keeps receipts.
Until next time,
Linda