Have You Ever Kept a Food Journal?

by SodaHead Living Posted 2012/07/14 20:39:24

Related Topics: Food Journal, Diary, Weight Loss, Women, Middle-Age, Regular Meals, Diet, Calories, Restaurants, Takeout, Eating In, Reading Labels, Measuring Portions

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	Yes	159 votes	42%
	No	217 votes	58%

According to a recent study of 123 overweight and obese middle-aged women, methodically keeping a food journal is a very effective weight-loss strategy. Over the course of the year-long study by the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, women who kept journals lost an average of 4% more body weight than women who did not.

“Knowing what you are eating and knowing how much you are eating seem to be the key," said Anne McTiernan, the director of the Hutchinson Center's Prevention Center that conducted the study. "For individuals who are trying to lose weight, the No. 1 piece of advice based on these study results would be to keep a food journal to help meet daily calorie goals."

Unsurprisingly, reading labels, measuring portions, and accurately recording everything you eat increases awareness of the types of foods and the number of calories you are consuming. Other strategies recommended by the study included eating regular meals and avoiding restaurants and takeout at lunchtime. Interestingly, the scientists discovered that skipping meals often backfires and leads to weight gain. They also found that women who never ate restaurant lunches lost an average of 3% more body weight than those who did so at least once a week.

So, what about you SodaHeads? Have you ever kept a food journal?

+15

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mike 2012/07/15 02:28:41

Yes

+5
that is how i lost 110 LBS in a year by doing that
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mike 2012/07/15 02:28:41

Yes

+5
that is how i lost 110 LBS in a year by doing that

reply
DianaXo... to mike 2012/07/15 18:48:11

Wow congratulations! I hope I can lose the 20 pound I want doing that. I've lost 6 lb in the last 3 weeks with the food journal

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mike to DianaXo... 2012/07/15 20:38:25

+1
that is a good start congrats to you to and keeping a food journal is probably the best and cheapest way to lose weight cause most diet companies that send you food are like almost keeping the log of what you eat daily cause they portion it for you and thats what your paying for to and if you do it yourself then you save yourself alot of money from those programs. When you stick with the journal i guarantee that you will lose that 20 LBS. If you check out www.myapex.com which is where i purchased a bodybugg that measured my calories, then you can go in there and dont have to pay and you can say im a female im this age and i weigh this much and tell it how much of a activity level you do throughout the day and it will esitmate for you about how many calories you burn throughout the day and people even write in there telling things they do to that helps them

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shadow76 to mike 2012/07/15 21:04:15

Wow! Congratulations!

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spencerc143 2012/07/15 02:26:16

No

That would be a no.

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jacob crim 2012/07/15 02:16:45

Yes

Some times it is more detailed, sometimes it is very simple. I always make a list of what I am going to eat for the week and I always add on crap I eat throughout the day.

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Sybil 2012/07/15 02:09:10

Yes

For a day and then I got bored.

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SlaveWaterNymph 2012/07/15 02:00:10

Yes

I've done it a couple of times, but then got tired of it. Um now a days, usually Daddy makes me tell Him what i have eaten, as i still struggle with my eating problems.

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Xitlalilolly 2012/07/15 01:15:41

Yes

but never kept up with itt...

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Persephone 2012/07/15 00:22:09

Yes

+2
I'm a member at CalorieCount.com. I found CC on a Firefox newsletter this January and decided to give a try. I can honestly say that I've had better results losing weight this past six months where I kept an on-line log of everything than when I as paying nutritionists to help me.

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Huntclan to Persephone 2012/07/15 03:27:20

+1
Wow, looks like a great site. Is it any different from myfitnesspal.com?

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Persephone to Huntclan 2012/07/15 14:07:30

+1
CC was the first site of the sort I tried, so I can't really say. In my opinion, it's an awesome site. I've already recommended CC to friends and family and they also loved it.

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Quiet-is-feared 2012/07/15 00:03:42

Yes

+1
I had to keep one for nutrition class, a whole week of everything I ate. It was kind of pointless I found, as I eat pretty healthy anyways so it didn't do anything for me.

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TKramar 2012/07/15 00:01:50

No

Never felt the need. In no sense am I too heavy, I could stand to gain some weight, actually.

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Skye 2012/07/14 23:40:52

No

Though, my big sister has sense she's overweight.

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Nameless 2012/07/14 23:27:59

Yes

+2
I've lost 20 lbs so far.

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mr echo 2012/07/14 23:23:38

No

F ing radiculas
Have some will power that's all
Or think of people who starve

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woodnymph to mr echo 2012/07/15 07:24:24

+2
People don't just do it to lose weight, but often to ensure they're getting the nutrients they need or if they have an eating disorder to name a few.

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DianaXo... to mr echo 2012/07/15 18:52:30

+1
It isn't just about losing weight. It's about know how much you eat on a random day. I have a goal to eat more protein than carbs. Sometimes I get really close sometimes I eat way too many carbs to compare and about 3-4 times I actuall accomplish it

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woodnymph 2012/07/14 23:17:10 (edited)

Yes

Always!!! It helps me to make sure I'm getting the right amounts of carbs, protein etc.

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tobe 2012/07/14 23:15:42 (edited)

Yes

oh, not a food journal, just a journal. I'm skinny. If I had one I'd be a food page and it would say "eat more"

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Mina 2012/07/14 23:08:27

Yes

+1
I was horrified by how much unhealthy stuff I ate. Totally changed how I eat now..

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MOMMA THOMAS 2012/07/14 23:02:42

Yes

YES...

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Christopher Kirchen 2012/07/14 22:26:35

Yes

When I was a member of Weight Watchers I did,

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DianaXo... to Christo... 2012/07/15 18:56:15

Were u successful with weight watches bc my mom is on it and the points thing seems a little stupid I mean a tiny bar has 2 points even though it has so much carbs and fat. Not to mention I'm 75% sure their products have MSG.

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Taxman 2012/07/14 22:24:45

Yes

Worked great. I just got lazy and stopped (started gaining weight).

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MlssCue =Go Blue= 2012/07/14 22:05:26

Yes

It's quite helpful when losing weight.

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Twinky 2012/07/14 21:59:13

Yes

It works well... people would be suprised how much they eat without thinking about it.

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Sister Jean 2012/07/14 21:46:37

No

+2
no

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Chloey Hamer 2012/07/14 21:34:28

Yes

+1
I have to for medical conditions.

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Wyveryx 2012/07/14 21:34:24

Yes

I use the BodyBugg system and I log what I eat so I know how many calories I've consumed in a day. It can be quite an eye opener.

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mike to Wyveryx 2012/07/15 02:31:30

+1
i used that for a year and lost 110 LBS and was the easiest thing to do and it wasnt really a diet it was like a change of your eating and not having to make all these expensive meals either

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Wyveryx to mike 2012/07/15 06:24:30

I know, it's awesome. My sister actually gave it to me, not as a "You're fat" thing, but because it worked for her and she thought it would be easy for me.
I've only lost about 6 pounds so far, but I've only been on it for about a month now, well I've just now started using it for real for the last month.

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mike to Wyveryx 2012/07/15 06:47:55

+1
yes it is amazing how good and accurate it calculates your calories and once i got to my weight i wanted to be at then i watched how many calories i burned throughout the day if i did nothing all day then i watched how much i burned if i was busy all day so now i have an idea of how much to eat everyday and have kept it off for 3 years now

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Wyveryx to mike 2012/07/15 07:12:29

Congratulations!

I'm hoping to lose about 60 pounds, and so far by watching what I eat, meaning caloric intake and not some four letter word...DIET.... I'll be able to accomplish that.
The only thing that I am not too happy about is the $10 they charge for web side service and they're menu still seems a little small.
Other than that, it's a great tool and easy to use!

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mike to Wyveryx 2012/07/15 17:16:58

+1
what i did was only used the web thing for the free months they gave me then i used to little watch thing that talked to the bodybugg and it was telling me how many i was burning and in a minute and just watched in throughout the day and after i figured it out i really didnt need the computer and just kept a note of what i ate and wrote down the calories and it was alot cheaper and then to some people they would of gave up and got upset that they werent losing cause after losing i think about 60 LBS then my body started playing with me cause the next week i would gain 2 pounds then the next week i would gain 3 and then the next week i would lose 13 pounds so its like it reflected from all the weeks that it was showing i was gaining and it did that all the way till i got to where i wanted to be. I really forgot how much more energy it gave me when i lost it all cause i didnt have any at all in the beginning and now i cant stay sitting for very long without having to move. So keep up the good work and 60 LBS is a HUGE start and if you know you can lose that much you know you can keep going cause thats what i kept telling myself that i got this far and dont stop now and it just kept motivating me to keep going.

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Kid Neon 2012/07/14 21:33:16

No

no. because i'm not a fat ass and know how to regulate my diet just by habit.

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findthelight2000 2012/07/14 21:22:09

Yes

+1
It is important to follow a diet correctly, like a diabetes diet. It is also important to find out what foods irritate you, or are allergic to.

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Tella6 2012/07/14 21:14:34

Yes

When trying to eat healthy.... Never lasts more than a day. Lol.

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Krissy 2012/07/14 21:11:03

Yes

i have actually.

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