Most of us have been on the diet roller coaster more than once in our lives. Diet pills, miracle exercise machines, fat diets; they are all part of our daily lives. While we're all looking for the quick weight loss diet solution to everything, the sad news is that there isn't one.
However, new research shows that those who keep a food diary or journal lose up to twice more the amount of weight than those who don't record their daily intake.
A study done by Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research finds that one of the key parts in losing weight is to write down what you eat.
From the Kaiser Permanente website: “The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost,” says Jack Hollis PhD, a researcher at KPCHR and lead author of the study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. “Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records. It seems that the simple act of writing down what you eat encourages people to consume fewer calories.”
The one good thing about this is that it isn't some quick weight loss diet that will be popular for a few months and die down. This method was used by participants and over 70% of them lost enough weight to lower their health risks.
I've kept a food diary before and it does work, but my problem is that I don't always have a pen or paper around me to write things down. So then I start to remember them in my head and forget by the time I can make it to a place to write.
However, a few tips suggest that you can email yourself, or even text yourself what you eat immediately after you eat it so that you don't forget. If you are at work, use a Post-It note to scribble it down. Anything that you can get your hands on and stuff into your pockets or purse that will remind you later on.
This study gives great information because not only is it healthier eating, you become aware of what you are actually putting in your mouth.
Quick weight loss diet? Those are out. New, cheaper way to lose weight by recording what I eat? I think I may actually give it another shot.
Via: Center for Health Research
