To Journal Food or Not to Journal Food???

Ok, Journaling food. Should someone trying to lose weight do it or not do it? I think the definite answer would be YES! Now, I know what you are thinking. Here I am, doing my best to lose weight (and feel great!) but I have not journaled yet! One thing at a time is what I say! I am trying to hard to just focus on what I am supposed to eat this week! And of course starting this blog. I can only tackle so many things at once!

Ok, besides me who else recommends that you keep track of what you eat?? I mean, you don't have to take my word for it! Here are the other organizations/people that recommend you keep a record of what you eat!

American Diabetes Association:
"Start by seeing how much you eat. Find out by writing down everything you eat each day. Be sure to write down what you eat and how much. Do this for at least three days. You can use our Food & Activity Tracker or just keep a list on a piece of paper. Many people find that they eat more than they thought!"

OregonLive.com: (very interesting)
Double your weight loss: Keep a food diary
by Don Colburn, The Oregonian
Wednesday July 09, 2008, 1:00 AM

"Dieting starts with plenty of chances to fail: denial, taste buds, desk jobs, snacks, wishful thinking, appetite, misleading diet promoters, potato chips, ice cream, fill in the blank.
But one of the largest weight-loss studies ever done has pinpointed two tactics that usually help dieters succeed: Showing up. And keeping track.The study, conducted partly in Portland, found that dieters who kept a daily food "diary" and wrote down what they ate lost twice as much weight as those who didn't. Those who attended weekly educational meetings and shared results with fellow dieters also did better."

WebMd:
Keeping Food Diary Helps Lose Weight
It's All About Accountability and Awareness, Weight Loss Expert Says
By Miranda HittiWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

"July 8, 2008 -- Keeping a food diary may be a key to losing extra weight, a new study shows.
The study, published in the August edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, included 1,685 overweight or obese U.S. adults aged 25 and older.For six months, they kept food diaries and were encouraged to eat a healthy diet and be physically active. They also met weekly in groups to share their food diaries and brush up on skills like how to judge portion size.
After six months, participants had shed almost 13 pounds, on average. The most powerful predictor of their weight loss was how many days per week they kept their food diary, says Victor Stevens, PhD, senior investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore.

Those who kept food records six days a week -- jotting down everything they ate and drank on those days -- lost about twice as much weight as those who kept food records one day a week or less, Stevens tells WebMD.

Why Food Diaries Work

"I think the most powerful part is accountability and the next most powerful part is increasing awareness of where those extra calories are coming from," says Stevens.

Showing your food diary to someone else is even better, in terms of accountability; that's what participants in Stevens' study did. "You're accountable to yourself when you're writing it down and you're accountable to other people who are looking at your food record," says Stevens.

Food diaries can also help target areas for improvement. For instance, Stevens says a food diary might make someone realize that he or she is eating 1,000 calories at lunch and set a goal to trim lunches."

There are tons of articles if you just search online, telling of the benefits of keeping a food diary! So, starting on Monday (starting my second week) I will begin a diary of everything that I eat. I will keep a notepad with me during the day to write it down and then in the evenings I will post what I have eaten for the day. I am excited to start doing this! It is another way for me to be accountable for what I eat! I will be completely honest! NO SECRETS! If I splurge, then you will read about it!

Well, I gotta run and get the laundry done.. fun.. and then go get the kids from school! This evening I will blog about the need to exercise (which sadly, I have not started either)!

God Bless
Heather