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Weight Loss and Keeping a Food Diary
| Posted on Jul 22, 2011 |
Does Keeping a Food Diary Really Help With Weight Loss?
Is keeping a food diary worth it? It may not be a simple task, but it works! Recent research data shows that keeping track of calories ingested can be very helpful in a successful weight loss program.Dana, a 43 year old mother of 3, is one example. She has lost 15 pounds through improvements in her diet and more regular physical activity, but she wants to lose 10 more pounds. She’s been stuck for months at the same weight and she is frustrated. “I’m eating a healthy diet, exercising more, and still can’t lose weight. What more can I do?”
She’s right, she was doing the right things and it showed - she wasn’t gaining back her weight. However, if she wants to lose weight, she needed to find out where the calories were coming from. The best way for her was a food diary. Although knowing what we eat each day seems straightforward, we tend to have selective memories when it comes to food intake. By diligently keeping track of calorie intake, you can get over the plateau and continue to achieve your goals.
Why Do Food Diaries Help You Lose Weight?
Why would a food diary be the missing link in attaining successful weight loss and long-term weight management? One reason is that writing it down helps prevent mindless eating. We’ve all been there. You eat the last chicken nugget off our child’s plate at lunch or grab a handful of M&Ms off a co-worker’s desk without even thinking about it. Or maybe you’re watching a television show and next thing you know; you’ve eaten the entire bag of chips. Knowing that we will have to write down everything that we eat makes us more mindful of our food intake.Another reason a food diary works is that it makes you more knowledgeable about the calorie content of what you eat. Realizing that the Big Mac and fries you grabbed at lunch is over 1000 calories, can make you look for a healthier alternative.
A food diary also gives you the information you need to make successful changes in your diet. Knowing where the calories come from is very important in helping you decide what dietary changes will be the most beneficial for you.
Our experience of the effectiveness of a food diary was confirmed by a research study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The Weight-Loss Maintenance Trial was a study designed to compare strategies for achieving and maintaining weight loss. The study involved over 1600 overweight and obese adults in an intensive 6 month behavioral intervention. Various weight loss strategies were recommended like calorie restriction, exercise, group sessions and keeping a food diary. Of the interventions used, one of the strongest predictors of weight loss was keeping a food diary. Those that kept a food diary at least 6 days of the week lost twice as much weight (18 pounds or 8 Kg), compared to those that did not.
So, is keeping a food diary worth it? If you already maintain a healthy weight, it may not be. But for Dana and many others like her, a food diary can make the difference in achieving weight loss and healthy life goals.
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All articles on Achieve-Life.com are written by board certified physicians.
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