A new study was release that found people who keep a food
diary lost twice the amount of weight than those who didn’t write it down.
Kaiser Permanente had nearly 1700 study participants who agreed to adopt a
healthy diet with regular exercise. Those who kept a food diary had much
greater results. Victor Stevens at Kaiser’s Center for Health Research in
Portland, Ore., and co-author of the study said, “There is a myth in this
country now that weight loss is almost impossible and very few can lose
weight.” The study also showed he said that, “But we showed that with a simple,
straightforward approach, nearly 70 percent of participants were able to lose
enough weight to make significant improvements in their health.” Julie Satterwhite, 46, of Portland Ore. who participated in the study was able to lose 30 pounds, which she credits to the food diary. Even after the study she continued to lose weight, shed another 25 pounds and met her target weight of 150. She stated, “It had a very big impact.” Satterwhite also commented that, “If I was walking through the kitchen and wanted to grab a cookie or brownie, I would think twice because I knew I had to write it down.” Stevens noted that it was a common experience throughout the study and noted that participants said, “I thought about eating a second helping of chocolate cake, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to see it in my food diary.”
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website offers a free food diary and menu planner, which calculates calories in common foods. Stevens recommends using a calorie guide, which is available online and in bookstores for the first month to determine consumption. New studies are beginning to see what the best approach is for keeping a food diary. They are looking at Internet programs, personal digital recording devices and paper and pencil to see which ones people find the easiest.
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