Contents:
- Medical Video: Mayo Clinic Minute: Lose weight with a food diary
- What is a food diary?
- How can a food diary reduce my weight?
- How do you make a food diary?
Medical Video: Mayo Clinic Minute: Lose weight with a food diary
Are you on a diet and losing weight? Maybe you have tried various ways, from holding your appetite and reducing your portion of food, but in the end you fail and give in to the temptation of all the delicious food that is in front of you. If you want to lose weight, try to make a food diary. Why can this food diary make you lose weight? How to make?
What is a food diary?
Having a food diary can be one effort that is considered able to make your meal portion decrease slowly, so that your weight will also decrease. Actually there have been many studies that prove that having diaries or notes about food can make weight loss. One of the studies published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine involved 1,685 obese and overweight adults.
For 6 months, all participants were asked to record all the food they ate. The notes consist of the type of food or drink consumed, how much is the portion, and how many times the food is eaten. All participants were also invited to hold meetings every week and were asked to share stories about food that had been eaten for a week.
Then, after 6 months passed on average the participants were known to experience a weight loss of around 5-6 kg. Even in the study showed that people who recorded their food continuously for about one month experienced a greater weight loss than those who only had food records within a week.
How can a food diary reduce my weight?
The researchers believe people who have a record of food and drinks that have been consumed will be more able to control what they eat. The food diary that each participant has increases their awareness of what they eat.
For example, at night, you record a breakfast menu to your dinner, from portions to types. Then, you do it in the next few days. Then when you read it again, you will remember that "oh I have eaten too much today" or "today I eat unhealthy food," so you will slowly reduce your calorie intake. Therefore, making a food diary can be a powerful way to lose weight.
How do you make a food diary?
You only need books and stationery or gadget to make your own food note. Here's how to make a daily food note:
- Prepare a recording device, whether it's a book with stationery, or gadget You, no matter what the most important media can be used to take notes.
- Begin noting the foods and drinks you consume. You can record all the food you eat at night before going to bed. Or if you are afraid to forget, any food or drink that you eat at that time, you should immediately note it. Don't forget to give hours and dates per day.
- Don't forget to record the portion of food or drink you consume. You can record it in household portion sizes, for example, one glass of star fruit, one cup of rice, or one tablespoon.
- Whatever goes into your stomach must be noted, whether it's just a small cup of tea or a few tablespoons of rice. Because, all of them have calorie content, except water that does not contain calories at all.
- Make it a habit to reread your daily food record every night, so you realize how much food has entered your stomach.
- Do not forget to also weigh your weight every day, so you know whether there is a change in body weight with your diet at that time. If the weight scale does not change or decrease, then look again at the notes in your food diary, how much you ate that day and previous days.
