The Benefits of Keeping a Food Journal for Weight Loss

Many studies show that one of the best ways to achieve success with easy weight loss programs is by keeping a food journal. Weight loss is very dependent on the reduction of your daily caloric intake, so keeping a record is the first step in lowering it. The physicians at our weight loss clinics also find it very helpful as it gives them a quick way to check your progress and see which habits are blocking your success. They can provide insight and information on what you can do to be healthier and see how the foods you eat are impacting your health in other ways.

Even when you’re getting help from FDA approved medical weight loss pills or the like, it’s important to eat healthy. Beyond monitoring the number of servings you eat, a food journal provides a direct link to knowing what you should eat and what you are eating. Writing down what you eat every day makes your grow more aware of your food choices, identify your overeating triggers and recognize when you are eating too much or too little.

Whether you’re trying out one of our easy weight loss programs or simply trying to maintain results, recording your intake provides a way to evaluate the connection between what you eat and how you feel, not to mention the fact that researchers from Kaiser have concluded that keeping a food diary can actually double your weight loss. Why is this so?

Food journaling gives you a chance to examine what emotions and circumstances trigger overeating and lets you see the reality of how much you eat. Once you can identify the causes of the triggers that make you overeat, you can do something about them. If you share these factors with a doctor from one of our weight loss clinics, they can give you suggestions of other ways to reduce those factors without heading straight to the refrigerator or pantry—or even worse, the fast food restaurant around the corner.

To make the most out of your food journal, make sure to record everything you eat and drink immediately after consuming it. If you wait too long, you may forget exactly what you had. Be sure to include condiments and any other little extras, as they can quickly add up and derail the success of even the premiere quick weight loss plans.

Make sure to record your portion sizes and how the meal was prepared. It helps to write the time of day at which you eat each meal or snack. It’s also helpful to include your daily water intake—many people simply don’t drink enough water to facilitate weight loss. Water intake is especially important if you’re using FDA approved medical weight loss pills.

Whether you’re enrolled in one of our quick weight loss programs or if you think you may be heading down the road to weight gain, remember that keeping a food journal is one of the most effective tools for losing weight. Each time you make an entry in your food diary, it reinforces your commitment to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. The thought that you are going to write down everything you ate will help you control the urge to binge and remind you that you need to incorporate healthy foods in your diet every single day.

Find a weight loss clinic near you at the American Weight Loss Center.