Writing It Down Works!

Yes! A recent study by the health folks at Kaiser Permanente reveals that keeping a food diary helps people lose weight. The study, reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, states that of those surveyed, participants keeping a list of what they ate every day lost twice as much weight as those who did not.

It's not enough to just remember what you've eaten all day. It does make a difference to actually see it written down. That way there is no relying on your memory, and there is no 'fudging' on the information. We tend to allow ourselves too much leeway sometimes if we're not looking at it in black and white.

Organizers say two-thirds of the study subjects lost an average of 9 pounds in 6 months. But those who kept up with the food they ate by writing it down every day, lost up to 20 pounds! I know the idea of writing down every morsel we put in our mouths is a turn off. It feels obsessive. And the idea of our friends and families 'finding out' we have to do this in order to lose weight feels somehow weak-willed or something. I understand that. But it's such a simple thing! And it actually gets results. Who cares what others think about your methods if your clothes fit better, you feel better and are, in fact, healthier for it? Why not give it a try?

What Shape Is Your Diet In Now?

Third Entry: The shape you are in now is how your body is shaped by the kind and the amount of food you are eating. Before you do anything, before you start any diet of any kind, take one full day and write down everything you eat. And I mean everything. Don't forget to include drinks if you're doing anything besides water. Milk, regular sugary soft drinks, and alcoholic drinks, all have calories. Don't bother with calculating how many calories everything has yet, though. Just get down your list of foods for one full day.

What goes on a "food list?" If you have a boiled egg for breakfast, write it down. If you have a burger and fries and chocolate malt for lunch, write that down. And nothing is too small to add to the list. A stick of gum has 5 calories, coffee with cream, and I don't mean cream with a little coffee splashed in, is about 20 calories. Now take a good hard look at it. Can you do better? Are there better choices you could be making? Are you in a food rut, eating the same thing day in, day out? Is the list out of balance as in: too many sweets, too many carbs, or too many high fat foods?

Some experts say keeping a food diary of what you eat is, on its own, enough to encourage weight loss. It makes you visualize what you're putting into your mouth, (and therefore your body) and helps keep it in check. This many years after my weight loss, I'm still keeping a daily food diary for the purpose of maintenance. It really does let me see what shape my diet is in!