First, let me make this clear by saying I’m not advising you to consume paper by eating it. Sure, it might cause you to lose weight, but I’m not sure it would be all that healthy of a thing to do. No, instead I’m referring to consuming paper by using it the traditional way, writing on it.
That’s right, a recent study found that participants who kept a food diary DOUBLED their weight loss when compared to those who didn’t.
Why? The reason is most likely because it’s just about impossible to know how much food you’re eating if you don’t keep track of it. Knowing how many calories you need and how many you’re actually consuming can be the difference between succeeding or failing in your weight control adventure.
How can you get started? First find out how many calories you need. There are a number of online calorie calculators to help you get a good estimate.
Next, find a way to keep track of what you eat. This can be as simple as the pencil and paper mentioned above, or as complicated as using an online food tracking web site. FitDay.com is a pretty good one, if you choose to go the online route. If you go with the pencil and paper it’s helpful to have a food diary template to fill in, and quite necessary to have a calorie counter book so you can look up the nutritional value of foods that don’t have labels.
It may take a bit of work to get used to tracking your food, but wouldn’t you agree that doubling your weight loss would make it worth the while?