As part of my work as a personal trainer, and overall fitness/wellness coach, I teach courses on healthy eating and nutritious shopping. One of the most surprising tips I tell clients is the importance of what you eat versus exercise with regard to weight loss and staying in shape. Did you know that nutrition is 80% of weight loss and exercise makes up the remaining 20%?!

Many people do not realize this surprising fact. But it’s true. What you are putting in your mouth is so important. As the mothers of this country are now up in arms about school lunches and what we are feeding our children, we should be just as cognizant of what we are feeding our own bodies.

So for the next week do me a favor. On top of doing those pushups, keep a food diary. Write down absolutely everything you are putting in your mouth, including gum, and the random candy or Hershey’s kiss. If your kids are off school, have them keep a food diary along with you, or have them practice their writing skills by writing down what you, and the family, are eating. Even better would be if you wrote down how you felt after you ate. It can give some clues to what foods energize you and what foods don’t agree with you (maybe you have a dairy intolerance and that’s why you feel sleepy and awful after you eat cheese pizza).

It’s amazing what you find after keeping a food diary. The one thing I find most mothers don’t realize they are doing is picking at their kids’ meals, and then eating their own meal afterwards. Sometimes it adds up to eating two dinners and you are not even aware of it!

I’d love to hear from you any insights you may find from keeping your own food diary. And I have noticed there is a template for a food diary on Google Docs in case you’d like to keep one online.

In the meantime, it’s summer and that means long days and great weather. Have any exercise inspirations you’d like to share? I would love to hear from all you fit moms out there!

Yours in health & fitness,
Jen