Do your know and keep track of what you eat and also plan for the future?

Are you one of those people who eats on the go, just grabbing whatever is available or do you plan your meals and have food readily available for you to eat as needed? Do you keep track of what you eat on a daily basis so you know why your feeling and looking the way you do?
If you plan your meals and have food cut and pre made or ready to make, then good for you, keep up the good work.
But, if you are one of those people who eats on the fly and whatever is available or in sight, now is the time to stop. If you don't know what your eating or how much your eating on a daily basis, now is the time to start. This random on the fly eating can lead to weight gain, even if you are not eating enough. It is so important for everyone to know what and how much you are eating. Many times we eat and don't remember or just eat way more then we really need and sometimes we don't eat enough, but either way if your keeping track you'll know if your eating well by knowing what you took in for the day and how much. If you don't keep track you are just guessing and your body is very important to you, so stop guessing and take charge. By keeping track you can see if you got enough or to much of the healthy fats, protein and carbohydrates that you need.
A good start is to write down what you eat for 5 days in a row and evaluate what you ate, how much you ate and the times you ate it. You can even write down how you felt that morning when you woke up, how you felt in the middle of the day and again how you felt close to the end of the day before you go to bed. Once you have written it down for 5 days, evaluate to see if you are eating enough or too much, you can see this calculation on my previous blog.
Next you want to see if your diet consists of about 20% healthy fats, 40-45% carbs (not from white or processed foods) and 35-40% lean protein.
Then, see if you are properly spacing out your meals, eating every 2-3 hours because your body can only process and use so many nutrients at one time and be sure your taking in a majority of your carbs in the morning and early part of the day and your healthy fats toward the end of the day while eating your lean protein at every meal.
Last, see what you need to do to change your diet in order to meet your bodies calorie needs, along with the appropriate ratio of fat, carbs and protein and build your meal plan and shopping list accordingly.
The only thing left to do is to prepare your food. Pre-cut, pre-cook and have foods available at all times for you to eat and have a cooler ready to pack if you need leave the house for anything, work, shopping, time with friends, etc. Remember to always leave your house with a healthy snack, that way when you take longer than planned, you have something to keep your metabolism going and won't have to worry about eating something that doesn't fit your needs.
Happy planning.... I do mine every Saturday morning right before I hit the farmers market :)