How to Keep a Food Diary for Faster Weight Loss
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 2:43PM 
A food diary is one of the most powerful proven aids for weight control. Research shows keeping a food diary is one of the most important determinants in whether lost weight will be kept off. Many studies show that persons who keep a food diary not only lose more weight than those who do not keep one, but they also keep the weight off longer. The results of one study of thirty-eight participants who had been following a weight loss program showed the following patterns:
Those who were most consistent about keeping a food diary lost an average of seven pounds more than what they had already lost before the study. Those who were not as watchful about their record keeping gained back an average of three pounds.
You learn to identify your personal vulnerable situations and emotions that may trigger overeating, such as loneliness, boredom, stress or even the mere sight or smell of a particular food. A food diary also helps you identify your personal food weaknesses or "trigger foods."
You transform previously unconscious behaviors into conscious choices. Usually when we eat, it is a mindless, unconscious, conditioned response to a vast mixture of cues, hardly any of which have to do with true biological hunger. For example, until you write it down, perhaps you didn't realize that you unconsciously eat a half a bag of cookies while you watch TV several nights a week. By writing down everything you eat, you transform unconscious behaviors into full awareness. Then, the next time you go for the cookies, you can make a better, more conscious decision about whether you will have them and how many you will have.
You can better evaluate the nutritional balance in your diet. Perhaps before starting to keep a food diary, you honestly felt that you included a good number of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Then, after reviewing a week of entries, you realize you took in only 2 servings of fruits and vegetables per day on average. Now, you know to make corrections that add better balance the nutritional adequacy of your diet.
You will naturally attain greater self-discipline with your food choices. Are you really going to have that second scoop of ice cream if you have to write it down later and face it point blank?
A food diary allows you to keep track of your exercise and activity (or lack thereof) and re-examine your fitness goals.
You become more in tune with your body's cues and signals of biological hunger. You can also differentiate whether you eat because of hunger, because of emotions, or because of your appetite.
You create personal territory for 100% non-judgmental exploration of feelings. A food diary is one of the few places where you can really be alone with yourself and make previously unknown personal discoveries. You can use it as a place to explore feelings and thoughts you usually keep hidden.
When you journal, you can really delve into your deeper emotions and things you may not be fully aware of on a conscious level. Writing out your feelings is an effective tool to identifying the emotional reasons behind overeating, as well as coping with the emotions that drive us to overeat in the first place.
Reader Comments (3)
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Good post. I admit I'm a bit lazy and keeping a journal ranks up there with trying to calculate points at each meal!
The diet solution program by Isabel works better for me personally - and I'm getting results even though I'm only about 80% compliant!
Russell