Keep a Food Journal to Accelerate Weight

There are many proven ways to go about losing weight. Exercising an extreme amount works. Eating a ridiculously low-calorie diet works. The Keto Diet works, as does Weight Watchers. Some of these are easy and some of these are hard to do and maintain after you lose weight. But what if I told you there’s an easier way?

That’s right, losing weight doesn’t have to be made more difficult by adhering to some complicated diet or program. Sometimes just being mindful of what you’re doing, no matter if it’s related to losing weight or if it’s a relationship, can improve the situation on its own. Simply just spending a little more time thinking about what you’re doing will change your habits.

Keeping a Food Journal

Just think about things you do for other areas of your life to make things easier. Do you keep a task list to make sure you don’t forget things? Do you set reminders on your phone’s calendar to remind you of things you need to do? I notice that when I write things down or log things I need to do, I tend not to forget them, often without needing to look at my notes.

The same thing goes for keeping a food journal. There are many benefits to a food journal.

#1- It makes you more aware of what you’re eating.

If you’re like me it’s very easy to mindlessly eat without knowing exactly how much or even close to how much you’re eating. Sitting on the couch watching TV with a back of chips can result in eating an entire bag without even realizing it. By keeping a food journal you are less likely to mindlessly eat because you’re logging EVERYTHING you eat.

#2- It can help identify food intolerances.

I have Celiac disease and had no idea that gluten was causing me a problem. Had I been keeping a journal I may have spotted it earlier by connecting the foods, time that I ate them, and the symptoms I was having. In fact, if you go to a gastroenterologist about stomach issues they may recommend you keep a journal just for this purpose.

#3-It forms a positive habit around eating.

One way to make losing weight easier is forming good habits. If logging food in your journal becomes a habit then you’ll consistently be putting thought into what your eating. If you pair a food journal with also tracking your daily activities then you’ll have a leg up on long-term success by forming habits around the two most important aspects of weight loss.

If these reasons aren’t a good enough reason to start logging food, here’s another: It’s proven to work. In this study people that consistently tracked their food intake lost nearly 2.5 times as much weight as those who didn’t track. The subjects of the study were given training in proper nutrition and exercise but one group tracked food and the other didn’t. Quite a striking difference in results!

In another study, involving 1685 subjects, the average weight loss was 13 pounds over a six-month period while tracking food intake! Yet another study shows the effectiveness of tacking food. For reference, 13 pounds is roughly the same amount the average member of Weight Watchers and other diets lose over that same time frame.

That’s right, simply making an effort to make better nutrition choices and logging food every day can help you lose weight just as well as any particular diet.

Tracking food is also extremely cost-effective. There are free apps, you can use a notebook or even buy a nutrition logbook, all for free or less than $10. A typical weight loss program will cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Logging food may be the most economical and effective weight loss tool you can add to your health and fitness regime.