Chapter 3: Maintaining Healthy Eating for Life 53
✓ Do it slowly. Increase gradually to allow your GI tract to adjust.
Increasing fiber quickly results in gas, cramping, and bloating. Very
unpleasant!
✓ Make sure you stay well hydrated because fiber absorbs water.
Keeping a Food Diary to Stay On Track
Earlier in the chapter we discuss how your calorie budget is similar to your
financial budget. How do you know when you’re out of money (or calories) if
you don’t keep track of them? Just a few days of being “overdrawn” on your
daily calories can mean the difference between gaining or losing weight.Research tells us that people who keep track of their calories lose twice as
much weight as people who don’t. Seems like a small thing to do, right?Don’t stop keeping your diary after you have achieved your desired weight
loss. Just like the surgery is a tool you have committed to for life, the food
diary should also be a lifelong tool to help you maintain the weight loss.Finding out what’s in it for you
Tracking calories is definitely an important tool for weight loss and
maintenance. By writing down what and how much you eat, you are able to
stay aware of your food intake and whether or not you tend to graze. Food
diaries can also help you to increase your awareness of why you’re eating.
If you write down any emotions you feel when you just want “something to
nibble on,” you may decide that rather than a cookie, what you really need is
a short nap.Food diaries also help you to plan what you are going to eat each day. Some
people write down what they’re going to eat each day first thing in the
morning. After all, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.If you experience nausea or vomiting, it can be due to a food intolerance. By
tracking what you eat, as well as any symptoms you may be experiencing,
you may be able to identify trends. It may be that the last couple of times you
drank milk, you became nauseated. If this is the case, wait a couple of weeks
and try milk again.And tracking calories isn’t just for your benefit. If you aren’t achieving
optimal weight loss, your surgeon or dietitian will want to see your food diary
to see where you may be off track or whether or not you need another fill if
you have an adjustable gastric band.