Food journal: an important part of any weight loss program
When I started my weight loss program a few days ago, I tried to watch what I ate.To be honest, I don’t know how much calories I was consuming daily. Was I even creating a calorie deficit in the first place?
A lot of times, we eat more than 2000 calories daily without even knowing it. What this means is that even when you cut down on your food, you’re actually cutting it down to 2000 (the recommended daily calorie requirement).That’s why you’re not losing much weight in spite of all your efforts.This is why you need a calorie calculator to let you know much calorie deficit you need to create to achieve your desired weight loss at a target date.
The next most important thing is a food journal which lets you plan and track how much food you’re eating and whether or not you’re eating a balanced diet. It’s a good idea to have your meals AND snacks for the week planned before hand (with regards to calories). That way, you just don’t eat spontaneously and overshoot your daily calorie limit.
You can print out a food diary or buy a diary and log in your food OR find calorie counters and food diaries online. Some come as apps you can install on your iphone, ipad, blackberry and android phones. Some of these apps are combined (calorie calculator/counter AND food journal) making it easy to have it all in one place.
This is why I’ve just signed up for Calorie count and I now have it installed on my mobile device. According to the app, to reach my target weight by October 1st, I have to consume about 1400 calories daily. The app also lets me log in any exercise I do and calculates my daily calorie deficit. If you eat African food like me, you can substitute with their ‘English’ counterparts. For example, substitute egusi with pumpkin seeds, Ugu or Okazi leaves with spinach. Garri is readily available on most calorie counters/calculators.
If you’ve been trying to lose weight and it’s not been working, start a food journal today: you’ll be shocked at how much food you’re really eating. It will also help guide the changes you need to make to effectively lose weight and keep it off. It does takes discipline to maintain a food diary but if you keep your goal insight, it’ll be easier. And don’t let anyone deter you either. The other day, my mom said to me, “if you keep watching what you eat, you’ll end up not eating anything”. I don’t agree: keeping a food diary has given me freedom: I can now eat what I want as long as it falls within my daily calorie limit.
Will you start a food journal today? Or do you have one already? Is it working?
Dr Fomsky 
Related articles
- Keeping food diary doubles weight loss
- Create and assess your food journal in six easy steps
- Calorie counter (About.com)
- Free Online Diet Journal and Calorie Counter
- My fitness pal free calorie counter
- Free calorie calculator
- Printable weight loss journal
- Printable food diary
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When I started my current weight loss program, my health consultant recommended I start an online food journal/calorie tracker, and it’s been working too.
Hi Myne, it’s so true: now I know when I go past my calorie requirements and I’ve realised it’s so easy to do that! Have a nice day!
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