The perfect summer body — isn't that almost the new American Dream for millennials? Like many people, I have fallen into this mindset that I have to have the perfect body. So, starting around spring break, I set out on a quest to firm up. My idea of how to do this? Keep a food log. Here's what keeping a food log taught me:
Food logging doesn't actually fix anything. If you want to eat what you want, then you're going to do it whether or not you write it down. On the other hand, if you're serious about making a change, you're going to do it whether or not you write it down. It really is just an outward expression of inward drive. It isn't a magic fix.
Logging every single thing you eat can actually be really unhealthy. While it may help you be physically fit, it's important to remember your mental health too. While food-logging, I felt like I had a huge cloud hanging over me. Starbucks ran out of sugar-free vanilla syrup? There goes my splurge for the week. I had to write it down. Then, since I kept it as a note on my laptop that stared at me every time I turned my computer on, it would haunt me for the rest of the day. "No, you can't have honey on your yogurt that's way too much sugar since you already ordered a non-skinny Vanilla Latte." It was exhausting fighting with myself over what I could and could not eat. If I kept myself from eating what I wanted, I was angry at myself for denying myself something so small as some honey on yogurt. If I did give in though, I was disappointed in myself the rest of the day wondering where my drive went. It was exhausting.
"Good days" of food logging are not actually good days. I felt myself obsessing over how much I ate, what I ate and how much sugar I consumed. I cut down how much I was eating to only a few hundred calories a day. The fewer the things on my food log, the better I had felt I'd done that day. I even showed it to my friends and said, "Look at how healthy I was today!" That level of obsession is not actually healthy, my friends.
I don't want this article to be misunderstood, there is nothing wrong with wanting a healthier lifestyle. I understand that there are so many real health risks that can stem from not eating the right things and from not having a healthy, balanced diet. The key word, though, is healthy. Obsessing over everything you eat is not healthy. You don't have to write down everything, and you don't have to feel bad for everything you eat. If you lead a fairly healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and you want to splurge every once in a while, who cares? If you want to order that regular Vanilla Latte then do it, it'll be okay. Remember, as cliché as it sounds, Rome wasn't built in a day, so if you want to make a healthy change, be patient and kind to yourself and your body.
