A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine suggests that keeping a food diary may be a powerful tool in helping dieters to lose weight. The six month study involving 1,685 middle aged men and women from several US cities showed that those who kept a detailed account of what they ate and drank lost about twice as much as those who did not. The average weight loss was around 13lbs but those who kept food diaries six or seven days a week lost about 18lbs compared to those who did not.

Those taking part in the study were also asked to eat less fat and more vegetables, fruit and wholegrains. They were also asked to exercise for three hours a week, mostly brisk walking and attend support group meetings. The research reveals that simply writing down everything you eat can be a powerful technique because it helps you see where the extra calories are coming from and armed with this information you can then develop strategies to deal with these situations.

I often urge my patients who need to lose weight to keep a food diary. It doesn’t have to be anything formal; just noting down what you ate in a notepad or sending yourself an e-mail or text is enough.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 3:20 am and is filed under In the News, Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.