If you're looking to shed a few pounds, diligently count calories, or merely, increase awareness of what food you ingest, then consider keeping a food journal. For those of you who immediately think that a food journal is a tedious and time-consuming endeavor then stop rolling your eyes and take the time to re-evaluate the positive effects that this can have on your life and your body. In fact, the act of keeping a food journal can be as nonchalant as jotting down in your iphone a list of foods consumed. Recent studies even found that food journals (even the informal ones) can double a person's weight loss. Interested, yet?

Food Journal = Weight Loss?

Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research conducted one the largest and longest weight lost maintenance trials to study the effect maintaing a food journal has on weight loss. For six months, close to 1,700 people, 44% who were overweight African Americans predisposed to diabetes and heart disease, recorded what they ate on a daily basis. In addition to keeping a detailed daily food journal, study participants attended weekly group meetings, exercised, and ate a heart-healthy diet. After six months, lo and behold, the participants shed almost 13 pounds, on average. What is most astounding about this study is that those that recorded everything they ate and drank six days a week lost about twice as much weight as those who only jotted down their consumption habits one day a week or less. According to Jack Hollis Ph.D, the lead researcher at the Portland-based Center, "The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost. It seems that the simple act of writing down what you eat encourages people to consume fewer calories."

Tips for Keeping a Food Journal

Write as you go: 

This means stop procrastinating and jot down what you eat and drink immediately afterwards. Make it a habit of not waiting until bedtime to write down your daily intake because chances are that you'll forget, leave something out, and decrease your motivation for keeping that journal.

Use whatever type of journal works for you:

Post-its, iphone, voice memos, scrap paper, or shooting an email to yourself are all appropriate ways to track what you eat. A food journal doesn't have to be a formal composition notebook, but rather, the idea is to make recording your food and drink intake a habit, which will ultimately make you more accountable and aware about what you consume.

Record everyday:

Just because you ate two pieces of chocolate cake doesn't mean that you should cheat and skip out on updating your journal that day. We all know that some days include more ice cream, cake, and other unhealthy foods, but be honest with yourself because in the long run this will make you more aware of where those extra calories are coming from. 

The Takeaway

On the most basic level, keeping a food journal will help you understand what you are ingesting into your body, where your calories are coming from, and what type of portions you consume on a daily basis. Food journaling provides the means to become more aware of your diet and accountable to yourself. The recent study at Portland's Kaiser Center further confirms that in addition to promoting awareness and accountability, food journaling can help with weight loss. It is clear that when it comes to cutting those calories, keeping a food journal is just as important as proper support, diet, and exercise.