Most people are shocked to find out how much they are actually eating compared to what they perceive themselves to be eating. Occasionally, you will find someone who believes they are eating more than they really are on a daily basis. Most of the time, however, it is quite the opposite. In other words, we tend to take in significantly more food than we think we do.
The reason for this is quite simple: a general lack of awareness of food and our food habits. When beginning a fat loss process, it is incredibly useful to become aware of how frequently you are eating, your total food intake on an average day, what an above-average day looks like and how often you are eating for enjoyment or distraction rather than for sustenance.
To be clear at the outset, it is important to reasonably enjoy food, and especially so on special occasions. However, being aware of your tendencies to eat outside of your need for sustenance is also important. Without analysis, just becoming aware of snacking - even on whole, healthy foods such as fruit, cheese and nuts - can help you to become mindful of whether or not those snacks (and their caloric impacts) are actually useful to you.
Apps such as Carbon Diet Coach and MyFitness Pal can be useful in helping you track your food, give you a real picture of your food intake and let you know how much you ought to be eating in order to achieve your fat loss goals.
If you are just beginning your food awareness process or if counting calories is uncomfortable or unsustainable for you through these apps, simply writing down what you eat in approximate amounts in Google Docs or Sheets, Evernote or even with a good old-fashioned pen and notebook can help to retool your awareness of your food intake.
As crucial as your awareness of your food is, the makeup of your food absolutely matters . . .