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According to one study, you could double your weight loss results by recording what you eat with a food journal or diary.
Dr Victor J. Stevens who works with the Kaiser Permanente Center as an investigator, points out that a study places increased importance on how to shed fat by the regular use of food journals. Dr Victor says that the concept of food journals just works even if it appears time-consuming.
The findings of the study have been reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The study covered 1,700 overweight men and women having an average weight of 212 pounds. These 1,700 participants were asked to participate in 20 weekly meetings in a group. The objective of the meetings was encouraging individuals to eat less than 500 calories per day. The additional incentives to this were – Spending 30 minutes daily in intense physical activity and following a low-fat dietary plan comprising of fruits and vegetables.
Please note: It is not recommended that you consume less that the recommended daily allowance of both calories and nutrients provided by the American Dietetic Association.
The average loss of weight was reported at 13 pounds at the end of the 20 weekly meetings. Meager start initially, but analysts predicted that this recording habit of food intake by participants would be a major hit.
Dr Stevens points out to the correlation between food records and weight loss. Keeping more records lead to losing more weight. Stevens pointed out individuals who kept food records for 6 weeks lost about 18 pounds. Compare this fact with individuals with no food journals losing 9 pounds and you would know the difference.
Stevens feels that a food journal keeps you accountable for your food habits. Stevens believes that none of the food journals that had resulted in some individuals showing the amazing 18 pound loss were manipulated. “Faking when you are on the scale is just not possible” – points out Stevens to hand credibility to the food journals’ exercise.
Identify the source of the extra calorie by mentioning your intake yields. Participants across all sectors felt that this exercise was difficult to start with but got easier as time progressed. Identifying the intake yields did help immensely to most participants in helping them lose their weight.