At this point in the course, you should have an understanding of calorie balance, macronutrition, micronutrition, the roles of fibre and hydration and the means by which you are able to find the necessary information in the supermarket so that you are able to make food choices in line with your goals. In this module, we will pull all of this together and show you the various means by which you can plan and track your food intake along with other variables, so that you can always be sure your decisions are going to have the desired result and that you can alter your approach should the need arise.
Within this module, we will be covering the various forms of food tracking because there are many, with differing pros and cons. Some are more accurate but more difficult or time consuming, and others require far less mental energy but deliver less reliable results. There is no right and wrong answer, and so what we must do first is help you decide just how accurate you need to be to get to where you want to go. This is important because using a method which is overkill can hamper your ability to stick to it long-term, though as we will discuss later on there is a very good argument for using a method which is more detailed than you need. This allows you to educate yourself around different foods and how different food choices impact your hunger and energy levels relative to other food choices.
Then we will outline a few different methods of tracking your food and other variables (including some technology which will help to make it easier), and explain the way in which you can use all of this self-collected information to guide your choices further down the line. Finally, we will cover some ground which has only tentatively been stepped over so far – the crucial nature of flexibility within a diet, including flexibility over your tracking method, food choices and even your approach to your goal.
Note that here we will speak to ‘you’, but of course these approaches are just as useful when applying them to a family member, friend or coaching client.
Let’s get started – how accurate do you need to be?