Fatty Foods Vs Tracking Calories

HEALTH - According to recent studies conducted in the USA and Australia men and wmen who keep track of how much they eat are twice as likely to double their weight loss during their diet routine.

The statistics speak for themselves. Its well worth it to buy a notebook and a pen and record every calorie you consume. Tape measure? Pfff! Bathroom scales? Don't make me laugh.

Australian women and men who had started a new exercise program were 3 times more likely to work out 5 days a week if they logged each session.

Out of nearly 1,700 overweight people on a six-month weight-loss program, the ones who kept a daily notebook of what they ate lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t.

Already companies have jumped on this trend and have been selling electronic food journals, apps for SmartPhones, high-tech armbands and wrist watches... one company even has a "smart shirt" which automatically measures and records your heart rate... its a tad ridiculous, but the concept is simple. If you watch and track what you eat you will realize quickly why your calorie intake is a lot more than you're burning.

It doesn't have to be super detailed or fancy either. You could track it on twitter page, sticky notes, text messages, emails to yourself, whatever you want to do.

Do's and Don'ts of Tracking your Calories!

#1. Be honest. Record every cookie you binged on.

#2. Keep it simple stupid: You don't need a huge Excel document and super detailed flow charts showing the ups and downs of what you eat every day. Just record the caloric amount (and maybe the fats and trans fats).

#3. Paper? Computer? iPad? Choose your fave format and stick with it. According to researchers those who pick their own system were 50% more likely to record their food intake and twice as likely to record their exercise routine too.

#4. Snap a picture: Using your cellphone to photograph a meal before you dig in may work even better than writing down what you ate, a Wisconsin study suggests.

#5. Track your Blood Sugar and Asthma too if that is a concern: If you're suffering from asthma and diabetes journals are also extremely beneficial.

You should only be eating approx.

1,800 to 2,200 calories per day.
A MAXIMUM of 2,400 mg of sodium (salt)
A MAXIMUM of 65 grams of fat
A MAXIMUM of 20 grams of saturated fat

Next... lets list some foods you should avoid.

#1. KFC's "Double Down" sandwich: Two pieces of bacon, two slices of cheese and “Colonel’s Sauce,” with two thick filets of fried chicken functioning as the bun. At 540 calories its not recommended you eat this regularly.

#2. Quiznos large tuna melt sub sandwich: 1,520 calories, 101 grams of fat, 21 grams of saturated fat, 2,020 milligrams sodium. Most of the calories and fat comes from the mayonnaise and cheese.

#3. Chipotle’s chicken burrito, filled with toppings, accompanied by a side of chips. 1,750 calories, 79.5 grams of fat, 23 grams of saturated fat, 2,750 milligrams of sodium.

#4. Applebee’s New England fish and chips: 1,910 calories, 137 grams fat, 24 grams saturated fat, 3,150 milligrams of sodium.

#5. Chili’s Big Mouth Bites, four mini burgers topped with jalapeño ranch dressing: 1,930 calories, 31 grams of saturated fat, 4,400 milligrams sodium.

#6. Outback Steakhouse’s full rack of baby back ribs served with Aussie fries: 1,936 calories, 133 grams of fat, 56 grams of saturated fat, 2,741 milligrams of sodium.

#7. Domino’s bread bowl pasta: Contains 1,340 to 1,470 calories, 48 to 56 grams of fat, 21 to 27 grams of saturated fat, 65 to 115 grams of fiber, 1,830 to 2,860 milligrams of sodium.

#8. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro’s double pan-fried noodles with a combination of meats: 1,820 calories, 84 grams of fat, 8 grams saturated fat, 7,692 milligrams of sodium.

#9. The Greene Turtle’s boneless wings, which includes 16 wings in “We Mean Hot” sauce, served with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks: 1,963 calories, 153 grams of fat, 30 grams of saturated fat, 10,877 milligrams of sodium.

#10. Uno Chicago Grill’s Chicago Classic deep-dish individual pizza, which is topped with sausage, tomato sauce and cheese: 2,310 calories, 165 grams of fat, 54 grams saturated fat, 4,920 milligrams of sodium.

#11. The Cheesecake Factory’s pasta carbonara: 2,500 calories, 85 grams of saturated fat.

What this makes you realize is that if you're eating out, you're probably eating a lot more fat, sugar and sodium than you realize. That makes it super important to actually track what you eat because people tend to forget.

For some reason I am suddenly hungry...