According to Sanjay Gupta, M.D. and a host of other scientists who’ve done studies on dieting success, those dieters who kept a food diary lost twice (yep, that’s “TWICE”) as much weight as those who didn’t. According to the August 4 issue of Time magazine ( www.Time.com ), the latest study to confirm this was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (this August). It tracked close to 1700 overweight or obese adults across the country who were at least 25 years or older. All of the participants were encouraged to eat less, have weekly group sessions and exercise moderately–as well as keep a food log. The most effective method “hands-down” was keeping a record of what was eaten. In 6 months, the food log dieters lost an average of 18 lbs vs. 9 lbs lost by the non-journaling dieting compadres.
Writing down what you eat helps not only track calories and keeps you honest, but it also helps identify some habits that need adjusting.
The Times article shared a useful site: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ that provides a free food log and other helpful tools. Another site for calorie count information is www.nutritionaldata.com and other free sites to log your eats include www.myfooddiary.com, www.dietagenda.com/ , or www.fitday.com/ . Many of these include calorie information as well as log and sharing/motivational communities.
The best part of all of this is that every inch lost from your waist or every pound you lose has positive impacts in so many areas: helping to control high blood pressure, reducing your risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Plus, your joints will thank you and your sleep and energy levels are likely to improve.
And if you need some additional motivation, check out Dara Torres’ pix in this Aug. 4th Times issue. She’s 41 and kickin’ tail!
