The Easieast Way To Double Your Weight Loss!

A study, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, found that one simple item can DOUBLE a person’s weight loss.*

It's one of the most powerful tools I’ve seen AND is one of the easiest & cheapest to use in helping you lose weight. It can't get any better than that!

It will literally change the way you eat, drink, and think about your health & weight loss.

It’s also one of the first things I have my clients get working on. Any guesses?

It’s a food journal (also sometimes referred to as a food diary or food log). It is basically a detailed account of what you eat - and drink.

A food journal is one of the best and most effective ways to get a true picture of your eating habits. It helps keep tabs on your consumption and may even help you eat less.

Once people see, in black and white, exactly what, how much, how often, and why they are consuming food (or drinks) they often stop kidding themselves and start to get serious about what they put into their mouths.

When working with clients, the first assignment I give them is to keep a food journal. It is a major part of my client assessment and treatment planning. Not only do I see how much food they consume, but I also see what vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are missing from their diet.

It also gives me insight into how the food they are eating impacts their health in other ways than just those extra pounds.

In addition to assisting me in making recommendations specific to my client's needs, a food journal also helps THEM see where they need to improve. And it can do the same for YOU.

Here are some of the benefits of keeping a food journal:

1) It gives you a REALITY CHECK. Most of us don't notice how much we really eat throughout the day. Many of us snack, munch, and nibble on food in addition to eating at mealtimes. A journal helps in acknowledging the reality of just how much you eat.

2) Encourages you to focus on your FOOD. A big reason many people overeat is that they are doing some other activity while eating. They’re reading the newspaper, talking on the phone, watching tv, or even driving in the car. Writing it down forces you to focus on what else you are doing.

Once you see that, you can then start making adjustments and start to see FOOD as the main focus and not some other activity.

3) Improves self-control. If you’re honest and write down everything you eat, you’re less likely to go for the pint of ice cream just knowing you’ll need to write it down later. This can be a great motivation for many people and you start to be in control of what you eat.

4) Helps keep track of those “occasional nibbles”. We all have days when we say to ourselves, “I’ll just have a bite of this” or “just a small handful of that”. But often these “little” bites can really add up on calories. Writing down every single morsel you put into your mouth can be a real eye-opener.

5) Keeps you aware of WHY you are eating. By writing your daily food intake down you can start to see if you're an emotional eater. Are you eating because you’re really hungry or are you just bored, stressed or upset? Or maybe you graze all day long?

With a food journal these triggers start to become noticeable and you can see where you can make some changes.

6) Allows you to track your progress. It can be very motivational looking back a few weeks or months to see the improvements you’ve made. Maybe you’ve cut down on desserts or you now snack less often. Seeing your improvements can give you the boost you need to continue on track.

A food journal, if used correctly, can be a very powerful tool. Even I use them time to time.

When I start to feel sluggish too often or when my pants start to get a bit snug, the FIRST thing I do is start a food journal (hey, even I need something to keep me on track at times!).

I'll find I'm eating for reasons other than hunger, or that I'm missing key nutrients in my diet so I make the adjustments needed. Within a few weeks I'm feeling better and my pants are starting to fit a lot better too.

So think about starting your own food journal - it's cheap, easy, and just make help double your weight loss!

* Keeping a food diary can double a person's weight loss, according to a study from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research (and Funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health). The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

© Dinneen Diette, 2008

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