How an App Helped Change My Eating Habits in a Few Weeks
Disclaimer
I may be working at ATE, but I tagged along once the app was in progress. I was informed of the teams execution in October and was reintroduced to the app and its progress early December. I became a beta user in mid December before the Holiday’s and I was hooked on the app right from the start. I was an active beta user first then joined the team rather than the other way around. By doing so, I was able to share my thoughts and experience about ATE without being a techie that understands what actually happens in developing an app.
Before ATE
Whether you know me from the past or read an earlier post about me describing my relationship with food, this app was meant for me.
I’ve counted calories, tried diets of all sorts, I’m a pescatarian, don’t love vegetables (but I’m starting to enjoy them) and have a gluten and lactose intolerance (granted I still occasionally eat a little of both and suffer the next day, but who can resist a chocolate molten lava cake with ice cream?). Yes, I know you are thinking I must be a pain to go out to eat with… but rest assured I can always find something on the menu!
As being an athlete growing up, a former college swimmer, and now working out and lifting 5–6x a week, I’ve always loved to eat and absolutely love to eat (good food that is) to this day. No denying that. I will never leave a crumb on my plate. But, this comes with a price tag. Not only do I like to eat, but I also expect myself to fit into the clothes that I’ve worn since my freshman year of college.
The Struggle Bus
This is where the struggle hits. Being able to maintain the same weight, size, figure for x amount of years is nearly impossible. My senior year of high school and freshman year of college I was the smallest that I had ever been. I was counting calories but maintaining my calorie count through desserts rather than healthy foods. During the second half of college I gave up calorie counting, and my weight shot up. I compensated by trying to count calories again, didn't work, tried diets, didn't work. This pattern repeated itself until I moved to a new environment and really started to focus on myself: my eating and my exercise. It was a new beginning for everything.
The Turnaround
Moving to a new place with a fresh start, I finally got the hang of things. I felt better and confident in my skin again and my friends could tell that I was a lot happier. I changed my eating habits by writting down in my notes section of my phone what I ate but not counting calories, rather being aware of what I was consuming. I would start out well in the morning but by the end of the day my phone was dying and so was my memory of logging.
Then came ATE
When I heard about the no calorie counting food journaling app I was beyond excited, it seemed like the perfect app for me and I could not wait to start using it. It matched my lifestyle and made my previous journaling process easier by taking a simple picture of my meals.
During the holiday’s I was focused on always grabbing my phone before I ate and making sure that I would build my timeline. I found motivation in myself to eat better to raise my overall percentage higher. Let’s be real as an athlete you are always trying to do better, whether getting a best time, scoring more goals, etc. Think of your overall percentage on your ATE timeline as that, it’s not easy. It takes time, practice and patience. It really is a journey in eating better.
From the start of using the app here are my weekly stats:
This is me altering my eating habits, paying attention to what I eat and being mindful. I am not a perfectionist, just striving to be better. I get cravings like everyone else, eat #offpath not only on the weekends, and sometimes I over indulge in some extra macaroons. Do I know its not the right thing to do? Yes. But I’m human and so are you!
What ATE has helped me realize
- Self awareness and being mindful have helped me drastically in these past 7–8 weeks! In the beginning, filling out why I ate was a big wake up call for me. Many times I would be eating out of pure boredom. So I tried to change that bad habit and make it so that I ate because I was hungry.
- Another way the app has led me to being more aware is with the timer. Meals are grouped together that are within 30minutes of each other. This means that if you eat a salad for lunch (#onpath in my case) and follow up with a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting (#offpath in most situations) within 30 minutes, the salad is also categorized as off path because the salad and cupcake are grouped as one meal. Big disappointment on my part. So to fix this issue of mine, I’ve started doing the following: I eat my main meal slower rather then shoveling it down my mouth (this buys me some time) OR believe it or not I wait out the 30 minutes to pass and sometimes my urge to eat something sweet after my meal goes away! I don’t think I would of come to terms with that if I did not constantly see how often and when I eat my meals.
- A current goal that I am working on is eating every 2.5-3 hours. This is a big change because as you can see from above, I usually eat every 2 hours, but within the last 3 weeks there was a connection with my percentage increasing as my time between meals increased. So I’m giving that a try to see if that’s something that will help increase my lifetime percentage. Striving to be better, not perfect.
Seeing the bigger picture because of ATE
I’m able to manage my weight better and not get frustrated with myself because I know exactly why things are shifting the way they are. I am able to lift heavier than I ever thought I would be capable of because I am paying attention to my nutrition and being honest with whether it was #onpath or #offpath, and overall I find myself enjoying the food that I eat because if it is an #offpath meal I know I deserved it or I know I will make a conscious effort to eat #onpath for the rest of the day.
Striving for 100% perfection is no longer who I am. I’ve done my fair share of giving my 110% in school, in the water and wherever else it was necessary, but if there’s one place that allows for some leeway, it’s food for me. My goal is to get my lifetime stats to 80% and maintain that average. As you can tell, I still have a ways to go but I’m getting there slowly but surely improving by a small amount weekly. The steps to eating better is truly a journey.
