Keeping A Food Diary Does Work
A study done by Kaiser Permanente has shown that keeping a food diary does help with weight loss and maintenance.
"The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost," said lead author Jack Hollis Ph.D., a researcher at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore. "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 1,700 participants were asked to turn in their food diary each week and follow a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat or non-fat dairy products and exercise at moderate levels for 30 minutes a day. After 6 months the average weight loss was 13 pounds!
Keeping a food diary does not have to be anything formal. I usually recommend getting a tiny notebook from the drugstore that costs about $1.00 so you have a way to look at a week or month of eating. What is most important is that you find the best way that works for you to write down what you eat during the day.
Let us know how keeping a food diary has worked for you in your weight loss journey.
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Posted by: Dana | Jul 16, 2008 7:49:04 AM
I have also seen great results with clients who use a food diary. Even as a Dietitian I keep one! It keeps me in check especially during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Years.
Posted by: Mike | Jul 15, 2008 12:01:22 PM
Food diaries are great. I'm already at my ideal weight, but I keep a food diary to make sure I stay there. I use NutriMirror.com, which is great because it tracks not just calories, but all the other important nutrition information.
Posted by: Stephen Cabral | Jul 14, 2008 7:54:17 PM
Great post - I completely agree and have seen the best results from my clients who log everything they eat for at least the first 21 days.
Thanks for the study!
Posted by: Jenni | Jul 14, 2008 11:45:42 AM
I lost about 30 lbs some years ago and I was a strict calorie counter. I also logged my exercise.
I let stuff go for years and now I'm back to tracking food & activity and have lost 46.4 lbs in 6 1/2 months. It really works for me.
When I reach goal, I plan to keep tracking to maintain.
