Weight loss tip #113 – Take pictures of your meals before eating!

For anyone trying to knock off those extra kilos, the biggest challenge is having a healthier diet that consists of little or no fried foods and plenty of green vegetables. The temptation of biting into a burger, hot vada pav or having french fries as snacks can seem overwhelming and many of us aren’t able to resist it. However, don’t worry or feel overly guilty about your indulgences because scientists have found an effective way for you to consciously make a shift to a healthier diet for good – maintain a photo journal. You need not get pictures of your meal printed out and stuck on an actual journal but instead, use Instagram to take a picture of your meals before you start eating. And just how will that help in restricting your calories intake? Here’s how many calories this activity burns.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison conducted a study where they asked 43 people to take pictures of what they ate for a duration of one week. After maintaining this photo journal or album, they observed that when these participants were asked about their diet, the exercise appeared to be effective at encouraging them to change their eating habits and have more healthy alternatives instead of junk food. Here’s why drinking diet soda doesn’t help in restricting your calories intake.

The researchers, Prof Lydia Zepeda and David Deal, concluded that the photographs made them more aware of their binge eating habits and were more effective than a food journal. This is because one tends to write into a food journal several hours after their meals and were not as effective in making an individual aware about just how much food they consumed at a time. This study was published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies in 2008.

This is why you shouldn’t hesitate about starting a separate Instagram account just to keep track of the exact portions of food consumed during what time of the day so you are able to consciously change your diet and reduce your junk food intake. However, here’s why weight loss is not only about counting calories.

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Disclaimer text TheHealthSite.com does not guarantee any weight loss through this method as the results may vary from person to person. We recommend you consult your nutritionist and physician before following any of the tips suggested here.

Reference

[1] Zepeda, L. and Deal, D. (2008), Think before you eat: photographic food diaries as intervention tools to change dietary decision making and attitudes. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 32: 692–698. doi: 10.1111/j.1470-6431.2008.00725.x

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