Tuesday's Tip: USE A FOOD LOG

Just this week alone, I've been in touch w/ a handful of women who were awesomely humble enough to share what they eat with me. And then I have questions, of 'how much', and 'how often' to add to my inquire of 'what do you eat?' and 'when?'

All of these things matter. Remember I mentioned last week in weight loss, exercise is 20% & EATING is 80%. But what are you eating? Don't know log it! Look at Weight Watchers, they are successful because they have their clients keep a food log. My husband who had a personal trainer, kept a food log of everything he put in his mouth. We measured it all out...we still do. In fact, last night, there I was measuring out his 1/2 cup of steamed brown rice for dinner.

The point of food logs is it makes you mindful of what you are eating. Do you keep a checkbook? It keeps you mindful of what you're spending, right? You see where you went over, and where you did great.

A food log is the same. Think of calories as cash. What do you want to spend your calories on? Knowing that the less you spend, the better shape you will be in. This is true for us financially as well right. If you are on a mission to lose weight a food log is a must - keeping track of what you eat is a must! My friend just passed on a free one at http://www.caloriecount.com/. You can enter the food you ate, see the 'grade' it gets, and tack it onto your food log. You want to watch your calorie intake, especially if you're on a mission to lose weight!

When I start talking with people who want to lose weight, I first ask them what they've been eating. You can easily spot the sabotaging foods right off the bat by just rattling off your list. Does this sound like your food log: skip breakfast, doughnut when I get to work, coffee, cheeseburger and fry for lunch w/ a DIET soda (love the irony in that), and then late dinner of chili cheese fries, coney, w/ milkshake. What? I know someone very close to me who ate like this and it's more common than not. (Check out his story at http://www.thislittlepiggywenttothegym.com/ to read his amazing story of losing 200+ lbs.)

So if you're one of those people, "I know I need to lose weight, but I don't know where to start"...here is your starting point. Here is your assignment. Start a food log today! Write down everything you eat from now until Friday. And then on Friday when you're full aware of what needs to go. Spend the weekend cleaning out your fridge & cupboards & buy some lean, healthy foods! It will change your life.

Need some ideas on what lean, healthy foods to stock your cupboards with, let me know. Email me at jennifermorin@beachbodycoach.com!