If you want to considerably improve your chances of weight loss success, then you may want to start considering looking into some of the top online food diaries and what they can do for you. In fact, some recent research has suggested that you can as much as double your chances of losing more body fat by using one of these tools.
Food diaries are among the most commonly recommended resources for achieving weight loss. After seeing how helpful they can be, there’s no mystery why. Research has shown that when people maintain a record of what they eat and drink every day, as well as how active they have been, this process of self-monitoring improves their weight management success.
In fact, a recent Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study on daily food diaries examined the progress of almost 1,700 overweight adults over a period of six months. During that time, the participants adhered to a healthy eating and activity program and were asked to record the number of calories they consumed each day. By the end of the study, the average weight loss was 13 pounds. That said, the research also found that the people who recorded more about their daily food and activity were more likely to have lost additional weight.
Those who recorded nothing at all lost an average of about 9 pounds. That said, the participants who kept up their records six times or more per week lost an average of 20 pounds. This shows that the participants who kept a careful record of their eating and exercise habits lost over double what those who weren’t tracking had lost.
This type of practice makes a person accountable for his or her eating and activity levels. It also makes eating a more mindful process. Instead of eating based on cravings or convenience, tracking helps to encourage people to make more careful choices. Moreover, it can also help people to identify eating trends, such as excessive snacking in the afternoon or overeating at night. It can even help to point out days of the week when you’re more likely to eat whatever you can get your hands on instead of what you should be eating.
Fortunately, there are online nutrition diaries readily available and many can be used for free. Diet and fitness trackers such as ShareFit let dieters set goals, choose strategies and record their food intake, calorie count, macronutrient intake and balance, and overall fitness as well as recording fat loss progress.
