Best Way to Lose Weight is Keeping a Food Journal

Participants from a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reveals that dieters who kept a food journal lost twice as much weight compared to those in a control group who did not keep a record of their food intake. The successful participants in the study also followed a low-fat, low-calorie diet and attended a weekly support group for weight loss and exercised regularly.

Doing these things is the best way to lose weight according to research and the best way to help you lose weight and keep it off.

Once you've bought a notebook or some kind of diary, make four columns. In the first column, you're going to write exactly what you've eaten. So mark one column "food." Make sure to leave room to note nutritional information like calories and carbohydrates. You may also want to keep track of protein. It really depends on what type of diet you're on. For example, if you're on Weight Watchers, you'll probably keep track of the points.

The next column is for when you were eating. If you ate lunch at 1:00 PM, you would simply write the time.

The next column in your food diary is for where you were eating. For example, maybe you were eating lunch at your desk at work or maybe you went out with co-workers for lunch at a restaurant. The main point is to be as specific as possible.

The fourth column is for your feelings. Be at detailed as possible, and make sure to leave enough room in your journal to elaborate about your feelings. For example, were you feeling happy, content, angry, frustrated, tired, lonely, jealous or fearful? List as many feelings as possible. Next you'll want to elaborate about the specific feeling or feelings. If you were angry, write down the reason. For instance, you may have been angry during lunch because you boss gave you the work for someone else in your office and you're already behind on your own work. It's not the first time she's done this, and you're angry that you keep having to compensate because other workers are lazy.

Notice Patterns in Your Eating

Soon after starting a food diary, you'll notice patterns. For instance, you may find that you have a tendency to overeat when you're angry with your boss and you feel you're enabling other workers. Since you feel powerless because you need your job, food kind of makes you feel better temporarily. Now, that you've noticed these feelings that make you eat more than you really need, you can find other healthy behaviors to replace the negative behavior of overeating.

You may decide to take a walk instead of overeating or call a friend and discuss your feelings. You could also have a separate notebook to write about your feelings. You could also choose to have a calm discussion with your boss. It doesn't matter what her reaction is. The important thing is that you've stated your feelings and taken care of yourself.

Food Diary

By keeping a food diary and analyzing your eating habits, you'll soon find that you're more aware of what triggers the types of foods you eat, and you'll learn what generally leads you to binge eat. You'll soon find that more and more, your thinking patterns and attitudes towards food will change for the better.

Keep in mind that to lose weight and keep it off, research shows that people who are successful keep a food diary, follow a healthy diet, get support from others and exercise regularly. All of these things may seem overwhelming at first. It can be very difficult and challenging to change unhealthy behaviors; however, once you start changing your behaviors, it doesn't take too long for them to become permanent lifestyle changes that will help you not only lose weight, but also help you feel better emotionally and physically.

Date: June 24, 2011

Time: 1:00 PM

Where: Desk at work

Nutrition: 15 Weight Watchers Points

Feelings: Today when I ate lunch I was feeling very angry and vulnerable because my boss once again asked me to take on the responsibilities of another worker. I wanted to yell and scream about constantly being a doormat, but I need this job to pay the rent and put food on the table for my children.

So instead of going out to eat a nice quiet lunch like I had planned, I rushed through my lunch hour and ate some extra food I had stashed that was not recommended for my diet. I also ate and worked at the same time and really didn't even enjoy my lunch.

This is not the first time I've felt this way. It seems like I'm always taking on the responsibilities of others. When I was a child, I had to help my single mother do household chores and help my younger brother and sister get ready for school each day. I felt no one appreciated all the extra work I did. I put off my homework to clean the house and as a result my grades suffered.

Moreover, I never voice my opinion about my feelings. I feel fearful about standing up for myself and setting boundaries or limits with others. Instead, I'd rather drown myself in a bucket of ice cream. Food is the only thing that makes me feel better. It's always there for me and never bosses me around.

Perhaps next time my boss asks me to do work that's is the responsibility of someone else, I can calmly state I'm really behind on my own work and ask her which project is more important. I should try to avoid complaining about my co-worker and just let my boss decide what has a higher priority. By doing this I'll make my boss responsible for her own choices and decisions.

Besides keeping a diary, keep in mind there are other ways for the best way to lose weight. Research shows that people should also exercise regularly, join a weight loss support group, weigh themselves frequently and regularly and follow a low fat, low calorie diet. If you follow these weight loss tips, you are practically guaranteed to lose weight and keep it off.