Food Logs are the Bomb!

Welcome Weight Loss Challengers!  Thanks for signing on for this journey to weight/fat loss and better health through good nutrition and exercise.  We have a motivated group.

Our first task at hand is to log what we eat and drink every day for the next two weeks.  Every morsel...we often are blind to a few hundred calories of food that we pop in our mouths out of habit.  If you are one that picks his way through a party, or is the vulture that cleans everyone's plate with a hand-to-mouth motion - FIND AN ALTERNATIVE ACTION and stick to it.  Gum can be a great weight loss friend!

Here's something to consider from a study published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine.  It included 1,685 overweight or obese U.S. adults aged 25 and older in a six month program.
 "The most powerful predictor of their weight loss was how many days per week they kept their food diary, says Victor Stevens, PhD, senior investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore.  "Those who kept food records six days a week -- jotting down everything they ate and drank on those days -- lost about twice as much weight as those who kept food records one day a week or less, Stevens tells WebMD."

Did you see that?!?  Food logging can help us lose twice as much weight!!!!!  Is this the magic pill?

Here are some logging tips:

• Use any diary method that works for you.
• Share your diary...studies show it makes you more accountable (you can share yours with Beth, Pam and Lauran via email)
• Document as you go...don't wait until the end of the day
• Keep track of portion size (look to see what 1/2 cup of rice looks like, 8 oz of milk, etc)
• Don't skip indulgences, write 'em down - Its not to shame you, it's to provide you info on triggers and habits that might be continually sabotaging your efforts.

What's working for you?  What's not?  Share your comments...the more vested you are, the more success you'll have.