Quotes
“Know thyself.”
—Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus, 479 to 424 BC
“You are what you eat” or “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”
—Physiologie du Gout, ou Méditations de Gastronomie Transcendante, by Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1826
Introduction
If the maxims quoted above are true, then we owe it to ourselves to be more conscious of what we consume. Making healthy eating choices takes intention. Left to our own devices, it is difficult to recall exactly what we eat and drink day-to-day, making it difficult to notice unproductive patterns and to foster new habits. Keeping a simple diary of consumption—what we call a “Food Journal” at The Difference—can be extremely helpful.
Personally Tested
I remember first testing out our model in 2008. Over a period of two months, and without much effort, I committed myself to tracking everything I ate and drank and then translated each item into calories. It was an eye-opening experience and I learned so much. It should be mentioned that I also successfully lost 60 pounds and reached my target weight after about two months. By doing so, our company’s hypothesis was proven true: “Can weight change be accurately predicted by a simple formula of calories in minus calories out?”
Lessons Learned
My most important realization from this trial run was that I began to develop an intuitive sense of when I was still under my daily caloric threshold for eating or when I reached it and was overeating. The Difference calculates this threshold and calls it “Base Burn,” or the average number of calories burned daily. Mine is around 2,300 calories. Empowered by knowing this number, I eventually developed an invaluable sixth sense. For example, when reaching for another slice of pizza, I would get a cautionary feeling that said: “Maybe I shouldn’t.” When I thought about the fact that I would be updating my Food Journal at the end of the day, certain items began to register in real time as helpful, neutral, or counterproductive to my weight management goals. I started to order different things from the menu when dining in or ordering out and there began to be moments of pause before I reached for a snack or served myself at meals.
I also gained indispensable micro-level information. For example, we eat a fair amount of Caribbean food in our household, and I soon discovered that fried plantains were ridiculously high in calories. One serving of them (about 9 pieces) has about 550 calories. Compare that to a serving of another carbohydrate side dish like rice (200 calories per cup), mashed potatoes (214 calories per cup), or even a large baked potato (279 calories). I love fried plantains, so I decided against denying myself, but began to treat them more like dessert, only eating a few of them at the end of the meal as a treat instead of as a side dish.
A Food Journal can also be useful to someone who decides to see a nutritionist or dietician. These professionals can analyze this data to counsel a client on more detailed issues like nutritional content (e.g., cholesterol, sodium, or fiber) and consumption choices like changing the relative amounts and type of fruit, vegetables, or proteins consumed. With a little extra effort, individuals can even self-adjust based on the feedback from a primary care physician who can interpret blood work.
Conclusion
Using The Difference made a difference in my life. I gained maximum benefit by being a better informed person. I hope others can make the most of the practice of food journaling, too. Our technology makes it easy for people to create and manage food journals.
Please email us at Info@TheDifferenceApp.com for more information, or join our mailing list.