Your Secret Weight Loss Weapon, The Food Journal

Studies show that a food journal doesn't just aid weight loss - it turbo-charges it. When researchers from Kaiser Permanente Center for Wellness Investigation followed much more than 2,000 dieters who were encouraged to record meals and snacks, they discovered that the single very best predictor of whether or not a participant would drop weight was whether or not the individual kept a food diary. It trumped exercise habits, age, and body mass index. The number of pounds men and women lost was directly related to the number of days they wrote in their log.

How your food journal is an important tool to achieving your fitness objectives:

1. Awareness: Instead of mindlessly consuming meals, your diet plan journal will help you grow to be conscious of what you are consuming, how a lot, and how often

2. Reality: When you realize where the majority of calories are coming from, you can make healthier, low calorie adjustments and eliminate excess foods with small nutritional value.

3. Accountability: By writing down all of the foods you eat and calculating the daily calorie and nutritional value for all your meals, you are forced to contemplate how an additional serving of pasta or a dessert will factor into
your diet.

4. Routine: When you commence a diet journal, you establish a routine. This routine helps you to maintain a stable, steady progression towards your goals even if you have a poor day.

How to use your food journal:

Begin by writing down all of the foods and beverages you eat on a daily basis broken down in to Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, & Snacks. It could be a small annoying as you measure out your food for the initial couple of days, but make certain you are paying close attention to portion size. Record the time you eat each and every meal as well as all the items in your meal, such as dressing, condiments, and beverages.

Calculate your nutritional totals for calories, fat , carbohydrates, protein, and fiber (calories are the most necessary). You can acquire the values for the most common food items located on-line (www.calorieking.com), nutrition facts label on the container, or a calorie counting book.

Be as accurate as feasible and try not to miss a day for the 1st three-4 weeks, but don't beat your self up over it if you forget a day or two. The more accurate your food journal the greater your results will be it's that basic. You have to have to see the superior and the poor, everything in moderation. You will not need to keep a food journal indefinitely , but it is an invaluable tool to reaching your initial goals.

Now you don't need to have anything hi-tech to record your entries. A modest notebook will be alot more than sufficient. The smaller the better so you can take it with you. It's ideal to complete your journal entry right after every meal so you don't forget the little issues that might add up to couple of hundred calories by the end of the day. I truly like "The Ultimate Diet Pocket Journal" by Rober Lluch since it is not only a food journal, it also has a nutrient breakdown for many hundred foods in the back of the book. So if you are consuming out you can get a rough guesstimate of what you are consuming.