Lose weight with a food diary

Weight loss professionals, researchers and doctors have found that people who keep a food journal or diary are much more likely to be successful in losing weight, and keeping it off. Interestingly, one such study conducted over six months showed that those who write everything into their diary are twice as successful as those who don’t keep one at all.
 
How does writing down what you eat and drink in a food diary make any difference?
Firstly, it instantly increases your awareness of what, how much, and when you eat. Mindless munching is a big problem for those of us who are overweight; particularly when distracted by the telly.
 
As you’ll discover when you start to keep a diary, patterns emerge over the course of a week or so that make it easy to see how you react to certain events. It helps you identify areas where you can make changes to lose weight.
 
Unveiling these kind of overeating patterns also identifies the triggers to avoid-not eating breakfast is invariably a major culprit, as is starving all day until you’re hungry enough to eat your own leg by dinnertime; then totally stuffing your face.
 
Alcohol is another big trigger; it makes people overeat, particularly high- fat and high- salt foods. You know those burger places you won’t dream of going to whilst sober? Yet you’ll queue up at 3am after a few drinks? There you go.
 
SureSlim encourages you to record every bite. There is no point in lying to your diary; in fact complete disclosure has the effect of deterring you from eating something because you don’t want to write it down and see it in glaring back at you.
 
Here are some tips on how to make a food diary work for you.
 
Why are you doing it? What kind of knowledge so you need to gain? Is it to become aware of hidden food triggers, notice problematic eating patterns, or just make sure you’re eating a healthy diet?
 
It’s not easy hold up the mirror that is a food diary; lots of us feel a bit hopeless or embarrassed. We feel bad if we slip up. Stick with it; you’re not alone and it’s an important tool for your permanent weight loss.
 
What do you need to make note of? The most important elements to note would be exact foods and drinks, times, portion size and reasons/events. The location of the meal is also of interest in helping pinpoint problem areas-it’s tough to meet friends surrounded by pints and chips when you’re starting out.
 
These details help reveal trigger situations for poor food choices. Keeping track of the components of the meal-carbs, fat etc, is helpful for insulin and leptin resistant people; if you’re heading towards Type 2 diabetes, meals high in carbs or saturated fat may cause you trouble. On the other hand, high-fibre meals will improve your blood sugar levels.
 
Decide when to update it-every day. If you leave it go too long, you’ll just fill in the blanks. The most successful diaries get filled out after every meal; it’s the most accurate and will encourage you to record everything. EVERYTHING. Even the condiments you use-because they can make a huge difference to your carefully balanced program. Don’t get lax about the diary.
 
Accuracy about portion sizes is very important, as the SureSlim program designed for your particular metabolism works with specific amounts of food at specific times of the day.
 
They will also give you the amount of each food you should be having, so you need to have a true concept of portion size if you’re out somewhere and away form your trusty food-weighing scale.
 
Review it honestly; it’s the reflection on your own daily patterns that is key in unlocking the secret to your own weight loss.