Writing down what you eat is a great way to hold yourself accountable. I know it works for me – there’s just something about seeing it on paper that really makes me realize just what it is I’m putting in my body each day. Today, a new study from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research shows dieters who kept food journals lost almost twice the amount of weight as those who didn’t use a food diary.
Researchers looked at how well various behavioral weight-loss interventions worked in more than 1,500 overweight and obese adults.
After five months, participants lost an average of almost 13 pounds. But those who used a food diary more than five days a week lost almost double the amount. And – even better – they kept the weight off.
Why does it work so well? It’s a great way to hold you accountable. Check out this story I did on writing down what you eat. (there’s also a video)
How about you – ever food-journaled?
I know that when I follow weight watchers with the journal, it works, without the journal, I cheat…even when I try not to do so.
great post. thanks.
I did way long ago and definitely need to start doing it again. It’s amazing how much more aware I can be when I have to write down everything I eat!
I’ve been tracking my food for almost a month now on SparkPeople. I can see how it would be really helpful for a lot of people, but with me, I’ve been keeping track of my food intake in my head now for years — tracking it online this past month has mainly just shown me that I’m eating too much of the same foods (which I already knew).
But yes, I agree that accountability is the key to success!
I always find that I won’t eat too much of something – like an extra piece of chocolate – because I know I have to write it down!
I’m all about the food journaling. I lost 60 something pounds over the past 4 years. And it was definitely tracking food that made the huge difference. Running my butt off helped too, of course!
I sing the praises of keeping a Food Diary and stress the importance of it to my clients, especially those that want to lose weight, but people are very resistent to the idea. I really think it’s one of the most important tools for weight loss.
I totally agree! Whenever I go on Jenny Craig, which is 2-3 times a year and extremely successful for me, I jot down the food I eat in their chart. It really helps and let’s you pace yourself throughout the day. For example, if I’m running around doing errands on the weekend, I may skip the required snacks so I may have them later after dinner. As long as you eat all of their food throughout the day, it really doesn’t matter when you eat it. Keeping a record is also good when you’re not on a diet. Then you can see when you’re nearing your limit for the day!
When I don’t keep a food journal, I seem to conveniently forget half the food I ate. Keeping a jounal keeps me accountable and from eating a 4th snack because I forgot about the first 3.