TRY IT: Get All of Your Vitamins and Minerals

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Sometimes focusing on a secondary objective makes losing weight SEEM a lot easier.

One thing that has worked for me is to focus on what I am eating, rather than what I’m trying not to eat.

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Get Your Nutrients

So, the first step is obviously to track your nutrients.

Most food tracking sites actually do not do this. The two that I’ve found that do are FitDay – which I personally use – and the USDA’s mypyramid site, which I guess isn’t really a pyramid anymore.

Then you put your food in there.

Do this for a few days with your normal diet and you will quickly see which nutrients you are not getting.

Tweak your diet to add more foods with those nutrients. I will wager a wild guess that you need to eat more vegetables.

Nutrients from vitamin supplements do NOT count and you shouldn’t be taking them unless prescribed for a deficiency, since you will be getting all you need from food.

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Don’t Freak Out

You don’t need to hit 100% on every single one, every day.

First, Vitamins A, D and E are fat soluble so they stick around a while. You don’t need to obsess over the daily amounts, but try to get enough long term (on your months charts).

Next, the recommended nutrient levels are an average that gives at least the minimum needed, for most people. So, if you are really active or a big person, you probably need a bit more than smaller, slower-living people.

Just try to get most of your nutrients most of the time.

Work on adding foods to your diet that hit multiple dietary needs.

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Then Eat What You Want

It’s actually pretty hard to get the nutrients that you need and you will wind up eating quite a bit of healthy food.

If you want to eat a little trash on top of that, go for it.

So that’s it. Looking at your food for it’s nutritional content will hopefully distract you from worrying about the calories and portion sizes.

Oh, and you’re supposed to be doing it anyway.

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Do you track your vitamin and mineral intake? What method do you use to keep tabs? What are your favorite nutrient-dense foods? What nutrients did you find you were missing and what foods provide them? Share your tips in the comments!

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