Your food diary is a vital tool on your journey to lose weight. Technological advances have made journaling so much easier and convenient. Have you downloaded our free mobile app? It tracks your food & fitness as well as water & weight loss progress! Don’t have a smart phone? Good old fashioned pen and paper work just fine too. Some people claim that journaling is time-consuming and cumbersome. The facts are that people who keep daily food diaries are much more successful with weight loss than those who don’t document.
Keeping a generic diary to record feelings and events can help with expressing emotions, aid in self-growth, and appreciating success and mistakes. Use a food/drink journal to increase awareness of your emotions in addition to what you’re putting in your mouth. Here’s our top 5 reasons to keep a food diary:
- Helps to identify areas where changes need to be made
- Makes you cognizant of stressful, mindless eating
- Helps to pinpoint patterns of over-eating
- Provides an understanding of the source of calories
- Reveals where the surplus or deficit (protein or carbs) is
Dr. Clark and the counselors at the Center for Weight Loss Success especially want our patients to document protein, carbohydrates, and calories. We’re better able to provide support and assistance if we know exactly what you’re ingesting.
Don’t let the amount of calories you consume and where they’re coming from be a big mystery. Knowledge is power, and hiding from the truth isn’t going to bring you any closer to your ideal weight. A recent study revealed people who kept a food journal six days a week lost almost twice as much as those who only recorded one day or less. This information is very impactful and advantageous. If you’re walking through the kitchen and feel like reaching for a cookie, you might think again if you have to record it!
Be accurate and honest when recording in your food diary. If it goes in your mouth, it must be recorded. All the “extras” add up. For example, we recently had a medical client who was faithfully recording everything he ate daily, or so we thought. It turned out, he had neglected to write down the dried cranberries he was sprinkling on his salad every day. Those additional 25 grams of carbs and 20 grams of sugar made a big difference with his weight loss. Once discovered, the scale started moving again!
Tracking your intake may seem a bit time-consuming but pays big dividends and becomes easier with each passing day. Take charge of your health!
Download the CFWLS free mobile app for iPhone at the App Store or for Androids at the Marketplace.
Cat Keller has a wealth of experience in marketing, e-marketing, advertising and customer service and manages our Weight Loss Nutritional Store. She is always planning something fun and exciting. special events, discounts, giveaways – it’s never a dull moment. She is happy to help you with questions you may have regarding our products or services. Cat is a graduate of William & Mary, where she studied Government/Pre-Law and minored in Marketing.