Lose Weight with a Food Diary

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Sara Broek

A pen and paper is all you need to double your weight loss. A 2008 study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that of its 1,700 participants, those who jotted down what they ate six days a week lost twice as much as those who kept a food diary only one day a week or less.

Losing weight not only decreases your risk for heart disease, it helps ward off risk factors such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The best way for your cardiologist, physician, or dietitian to help you on your journey to a lighter, healthier you is showing them a record of what you eat.

"Food journaling makes you accountable for the foods you put in your mouth," says Julia Zumpano, an R.D. in the department of preventive cardiology at Cleveland Clinic. "It causes you to think twice about eating. It also uncovers eating patterns, such as always eating at a certain time or eating when stressed. This allows you to create a more healthful way to avoid making the mistake of eating."

Try our four easy steps (so easy, in fact, that the first step is to keep doing what you're doing) to start a food diary of your own.