Food Diaries Double Weight Loss!

shedinches

Paper and pen are mighty weapons in the fight against obesity—participants in a 6-month weight loss study found that those who kept daily records of their food intake and calorie counts lost more than twice as much weight as those who kept no records at all.

etron

I believe it! This is a very rewarding method to track progress in dieting and exercise. I don't think I would be able to stick to a diet without seeing numbers in front of me so that I could know I am doing well.

MysticMaiden22

That's right! The only way I ever had any "true" success was with a food diary!

Sparklewolfie

Agree! I like using MFP because it will warn me when I am too far under, too. Plus, support forums! In high school when I just kept a secret food diary, I became mildly anorexic because I wanted to eat less than the previous day and ended up eating 300cal/day

CARNAT22

I've only been here a week and it's been an eye opener.

By actually seeing what I am putting into my body on a daily basis I am able to make substitutions for healthier alternatives.

The first day I logged I was 200+ cals over my allowance (all the food was pretty healthy there was just too much of it)

I find it very uselful to track what I eat (and also it helps me plan in advance too!)

janesmith1

Completely agree. And then I've turned into a calorie nazi now lol. But for me, that's a GOOD THING!

dawnslaughter

i have lots of note pads full of my food and calorie intake for the last 6 years, this is so much easier because we are creatures of habit and eat the same things, at the click of a button i can add my calories instead of leafing back through my books to see what the calorie value of a particular meal is, or sitting with my calculator working out what the portion value is.. who ever invented this site deserves a medal in my opinion

Ally_Clare

Too true. Note to self: record EVERYTHING i eat not only on good days

shedinches

Yes ladies record everything, I restarted again yesterday!!!

wolfchild59

I find this really easy to believe. After many, many months of "watching what I was eating" I'd barely lost 10 pounds. As soon as I joined MFP and started actively tracking (and I track EVERYTHING every single day, there was no in between for me) the pounds started dropping off on a regular basis every weigh-in. It was so satisfying after so many months (and years) of frustration.

Admittedly, I've become a bit OCD over tracking and calories, but I also actually have a lot of fun mapping and planning things out in advance. And I really love taking something I loved before, a recipe I find or something I see on TV and figuring out a new way to do it. The recipe builder was absolutely the best update to the app ever, since I did all by hand before then. lol

markymarrkk

Completely agree. And then I've turned into a calorie nazi now lol. But for me, that's a GOOD THING!

Calorie Nazi! LMAO...I know what u mean, my unsupportive wife thinks I'm taking it too serious