It's easy for us to become frustrated when trying to lose or maintain weight. You're choosing whole foods, fruits, and veggies, so why isn't your weight cooperating? One of the most important aspects of weight control is calorie and nutrient balance. It doesn't matter if the foods you are eating are healthy, if you are eating too much (or too little!) it will significantly impact your weight control efforts. So what is a person to do?
Several research trials in the last five years have found that people who track their caloric and nutrient intake daily lose more weight than people who do not track. In one study by Kaiser Permanente in 2008, researchers found that individuals in the study who tracked their food intake daily lost TWICE as much as individuals who did not track [1].
Why would tracking food make such a big difference? Tracking your food intake can help in weight control several ways. Keeping a record of what you eat will make you more accountable; you'll probably think twice about going back for a second piece of cake if you know you're going to have to put it on your food record. More importantly, tracking will help you see what you are actually eating which will make it easier to pinpoint any changes needed to reach your goals.
How can you get started? There are many options for individuals who are wanting to track their daily nutrient intake, some of the easiest include:
Food Journal- simply use a spiral notebook or an excel spread sheet to record what you are eating.
Online Trackers- there are several sites now that are providing free online food tracking. These programs make tracking easy and more informative with calorie, protein, fat, and carbohydrate breakdowns for you daily totals. Two sites I have used (and continue to use) are www.sparkpeople.com and http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/
Both of these sites are Free, easy to use, and provide good resources such as helping you calculate what your nutrient intake goals should be.
If you are serious about losing or maintaining your weight, research shows that tracking what you eat can make a huge impact on your success!
References
1- Hollis JF, Gullion CM, Stevens VJ, Brantley PJ, Appel LJ, Ard JD, Champagne CM, Dalcin A, Erlinger TP, Funk K, Laferriere D, Lin PH, Loria CM, Samuel-Hodge C,Vollmer WM, Svetkey LP; Weight Loss Maintenance Trial Research Group.Weight loss during the intensive intervention phase of the weight-loss maintenance trial. Am J Prev Med. 2008 Aug; 35(2):118-26.
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