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Many of us find it hard to keep track of how much we eat exactly, especially if most of our meals are eaten on the run or in front of a screen. New research suggests this can make you overweight and that keeping a record could be the answer to dropping stubborn kilograms. A study conducted this year by Kaiser Permanente's Centre for Health Research in Portland, Oregon in the US found that over a six-month period dieters lost twice as much weight when they recorded their food intake compared with those who didn't. They concluded that keeping a food diary encouraged people to consume fewer kilojoules. A food diary helps you to see what your general eating plan is and when and how often you eat certain foods. It also gives you an idea of what foods don't agree with you and, if you're recording the emotional elements as well, how often you might be eating for reasons other than hunger. Being conscious of these things will help you to make healthy changes to your diet. Here are 10 good reasons why a food diary might benefit you: You'll Find out How Much You're Really Eating Many people underestimate how much they eat. We usually don't give a second thought to that biscuit at tea time or the cool drink we had on the drive home. But when you're writing everything down, it gives you a clear view of how much you're consuming on a daily basis. This is why it's important to be completely honest when recording your diary. Sometimes you might not want to write down absolutely everything you've eaten because you're embarrassed, but you have to remember this isn't a test, it's a starting point. And How Many Kilojoules you're Drinking You need to record your soft drinks as well. A lot of kilojoules and potentially harmful ingredients are present in cool drinks such as sodas, milk shakes and yoghurt drinks. You might be wondering why you can't lose weight when you're not eating that much, without considering the unhealthy and fattening beverages you're consuming every day. A food diary will help you keep track of the kilojoules you drink as well. You'll be more Aware of your Boozing Alcohol should also be recorded, as it contributes to weight gain. The problem is that sometimes you might consume enough to forget how much you've had. If you can't be bothered to take out your pen along with your wallet when you're topping up, the next best thing is to record your consumption the following day. And if it's a struggle to remember everything you had the night before, you might be more careful about how much you consume the next time you go out. It will show you which Emotions Trigger Overeating Many of us use food as a form of comfort or celebration. Although this isn't a bad thing in itself, you should be concerned about how much you consume for these reasons. Eating a catering packet of potato chips because you're upset with your boss is a bit excessive, but having a slice of chocolate cake because you need a pick-me-up isn't going to do much harm. There is a strong link between our emotions and eating, and if you're using food for emotional reasons, it might be time to look a little deeper into why you're doing that. A food diary will help you to pinpoint these emotions and see which emotions trigger cravings for certain foods. You might eat to fill an ‘emptiness’ inside you because you mistake it for hunger. But that will only make you feel worse because the emptiness is still there afterwards, and you also have the binge guilt and a bloated tummy to deal with. You can Pinpoint the Impact Certain Foods have on you You'll also notice how some foods affect the way you feel. We all have certain foods that don't agree with us and make us feel tired and lethargic, even to the point of becoming depressed. If you feel particularly low or sick, report it and go back in your food diary to check your recent meals for any possible connections. Then review your diary once a week to see if you can find health or emotional patterns linked to certain foods. It will Help you watch your Portion Size When you have to write down how much of something you ate, you're forced to quantify it. The response is usually, 'Wow, did I actually eat 100g of chocolate?' When recording your portions, write down whether you had a large, medium or small portion, and then record how you felt afterwards. If you feel overfull after a big one, you know it's time to start cutting down. It's important not to let these initial recordings depress you, but rather alert you to how much you're eating of certain things and help you to make more conscious decisions about what, and how much, you eat in the future. You Can See where you need to Make Changes Once you have an idea of your basic eating trends, such as on which days you tend to eat more or skip breakfast, you can start to target each area that needs to be addressed. The best way to do this is to focus on one change at a time, perhaps one every two weeks, or you'll become overwhelmed. It will be easier to stick to the changes this way. Pacing yourself is much more effective than going on a strict diet. You'll Learn to make Time for Food A food diary will also help you to see how many 'mindful meals' you have. We often eat while reading or watching TV, or in front of our computers, and by recording this information in a food diary you will be able to see just how many times you do it. The ideal goal is to have dedicated eating times, where all you do is focus on the food you eat. This way you're more likely to be conscious of your ‘hungry’ and ‘full’ signals. Focusing on the taste may also make you feel satisfied more quickly so you'll be less likely to overeat. You can Spot Easy Diet Changes We're often not aware of exactly how much we snack, and don't think a slab of chocolate now and then is all that much. But if you go back over your food diary and realize you're actually eating a whole slab almost every day, it will get you thinking about what other, healthier foods you could be eating instead. You can then come up with a plan to slot some more fruit, vegetables or nuts into your daily routine. You don't need to eliminate unhealthy foods completely to attain a healthy weight - this may make you feel deprived and lead to bingeing - but small changes are easy to find when you look for them. You can Learn to Tune into your Body A food diary forces you to face reality, whether your taste buds want to or not. When you have to record everything, you start to see just how much you might be snacking in between meals, and after about a month it will be impossible to ignore your problem areas. But be careful of becoming obsessive about your diary and using it to become too strict with your diet, or criticizing yourself for bad days. This is not how the diary should be used. It should rather be seen as an aid to listen to your body and figure out where your diet is failing you. Sandra Prior runs her own bodybuilding website at http://bodybuild.rr.nu.
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