Weight Loss Journals

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Forget Calorie Amnesia...Use a Food and Exercise

Diary!

Delany

(From CalorieKing.com, Article Archives)

The food and exercise diary - a proven diet aid

Research has shown time and time again that dieters

who keep track of their calories are many more times

likely to lose weight and keep it off than those who

don’t.

Read on to find out why keeping a food and exercise

diary works so well.

Did you know you can lose weight online, and access

the CalorieKing.com University (13 weeks of practical

information on all aspects of weight control)? Learn

more

Take a bag of M & Ms...

A food and exercise diary is one of the most powerful

proven aids for dieting and weight control. If you

really want to lose weight and keep it off, writing

down your calorie ins and outs is essential. Research

shows that dieters who maintain a food and exercise

diary not only lose more weight – they keep it off

too.

Take a bag of M & Ms, for example. If you put it in your

desk drawer at work, or on the kitchen bench at home,

and snack on a handful now and then throughout the

day, you hardly notice you’re eating them, do you? But

if you take that bag, read the nutritional information

(a 3 oz bag has about 450 calories), write down the

calorie and fat content, and then sit in front of the

mirror and eat the whole thing without stopping, it

feels a bit different, doesn’t it?

A look in the mirror

Think of your diary as a kind of mirror. A mirror

gives you a way in which to see yourself that you

could otherwise only guess at. Of course, you probably

don’t always like what you see in the mirror (and most

of us would be much happier without one) but it is a

useful tool. A food and exercise diary works in the

same way as a mirror, providing you with a visual

portrayal of what you’ve eaten. Instead of

" guesstimating " how many calories you’ve packed in and

burned off during the day (and let’s face it, when you

do that it’s never a very accurate guess) you get to

see the real calorie cost. That bag of M & Ms becomes

450 calories, instead of just an “insignificant”

snack.

Recording your food and exercise habits jolts you into

realizing how much you actually eat and drink each day

and whether you are exercising enough. If you’re

keeping to your recommended daily calories, seeing

proof of that in your diary is encouraging. Most

diaries will also provide you with a place to record

body measurements, and it’s great to see these

changing for the better as you follow your meal plans

and exercise goals. If you’re slipping into old habits

that are certain to pack the pounds on, seeing it in

writing really hits home and should motivate you to

get back on track. The diary also helps you develop

greater self-discipline. You think twice about

over-indulging when you have to record it – especially

if you arrange for someone to check your diary

regularly.

Keeping a food and exercise diary can also help you to

spot patterns of behavior or habits that lead to

excessive eating, and to identify the moods,

situations, events, and people that trigger

overeating. For some, this awareness is enough to

encourage habit changes that lead to weight loss.

And finally, using a food and exercise diary not only

helps you, it helps those who are helping you. Your

physician, dietitian or counselor can use what you

have recorded to assess your progress and make

recommendations.

" But I hate writing things down! "

Electronic food and exercise diaries for palm and PC

are available from CalorieKing.com

If you are one of those people who just doesn’t click

with a paper and pen then you should try an electronic

food and exercise diary. These are available for PCs

and handheld computers, as well as on line. There are

plenty of advantages to having an electronic version

of a diary, including a food database with food counts

ready listed, personal profiling, regular check-ins,

and diary printing. Electronic food and exercise

diaries also display visual graphs and charts that

track your daily, weekly and monthly progress in terms

of weight, exercise, and nutritional targets. Check

out the CalorieKing.com Food & Exercise Diary for

Palm, Pocket PC and Windows.

However, a paper diary can be just as effective,

particularly if you are already in the habit of

writing things down in notebooks and calendars. A

diary provides a way to organize it all in one place.

Look for a diary that has a “start anytime” format

with columns for fats, calories, carbs and exercise

calories, as well as weekly summary pages and a place

to record weight and waist changes. Allan Borushek’s

ten week Pocket Food and Exercise Diary is highly

recommended by many dietitians and doctors.

Top tips for optimizing results

A food and exercise diary works by recording all

calories in (food) and all calories out (exercise) and

then subtracting the outs from the ins. This gives you

your daily total calories, or net calorie intake. But

you can also record other nutritional targets such as

fat, carbs, fiber, protein and water intake, as well

as type and duration of exercise. Recording things in

detail will help you see which areas of your diet and

exercise routines need more attention.

Other helpful pointers for using the diary:

* Try recording what you eat before you eat it.

This helps you stick to your meal plans and not

overeat. If it’s written down, consider it done!

* Be sure to take into account the quantity of

food you are eating and to factor this into your

calorie count. This is easy when you use an electronic

diary, but if you are using a paper version, keep a

careful eye out for foods that list nutritional

information for two (or more) servings in one package;

if you have eaten the whole thing, remember to double

the calorie count.

* One way to ensure accurate quantity records is

to weigh your food before you eat it. After you have

done this for a while, you can start to estimate

weights with reasonable accuracy.

* Don’t forget to record all drinks and snacks!

They add up, so don’t ignore them.

* Try arranging for somebody to read your diary on

a regular basis. Being accountable to someone else

helps you to stick to your food and exercise goals.

Choose someone who will encourage you.

* Use your diary to observe connections between

high calorie and high fat foods and certain times of

the day, week and month. Notice similar connections

with exercise patterns, and prepare yourself in

advance for those times.

" You can deprive the body, but the soul needs chocolate " - From the

wrapper of a Dagoba Organic Chocolate Bar

-Sapphyre

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Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate

in the Answers Food & Drink Q & A.

http://answers./dir/?link=list & sid=396545367