(© Reader’s Digest/Best Health. By Bonnie Schiedel. Originally published in Best Health, January/February 2009). 

The secret to shedding pounds, and keeping them off, may be as simple as writing down what you eat and drink. A recent study of nearly 1,700 overweight men and women who were involved in a six-month weight loss program that asked them to exercise for 30 minutes a day and eat lots of fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products found those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records. “It’s one of the most powerful weight management tools. It works!” says Jack Hollis of the Portland, Ore.-based Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research and lead author of the study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. Participants were subsequently followed for an additional 30 months, in one of the largest and longest-running weight-loss maintenance trials ever conducted. 

Why it works
“A lot of us want food to ‘not count’—because we’re on vacation, because we’re in a rush, because we’re just finishing off the broken cookies in the bag,” says Colleen Cannon, a clinical psychologist in Calgary, who specializes in helping people deal with the emotional side of eating. “The act of writing down what we eat helps to raise awareness about what we’re doing and what we’re eating.” It can also be a tool to get a real understanding of portion size. “Our study helped people learn how to estimate food quantities because they were measuring their food and writing down the measurements,” says Hollis. “When starting out, people tend to underestimate, so it’s best to measure the portion sizes carefully. The accuracy of people’s estimates improves quickly.” He adds that for many people keeping a food journal is a lifelong tool, while others stop once they reach their target weight, and start again if they notice their weight creeping back up.

Make it work for you
The point of food journals is not to obsess about how many almonds you had, says Cannon. “Food is supposed to be fun, to be natural, to be practical. If you’re the type to get overly concerned about what you’re eating, use caution if you try this approach.” And, to keep yourself accurate, write down what you eat right away, rather than at the end of the day. Choose a method that fits into your life, whether it’s scribbling it down on an index card in your wallet, tracking it online, texting or emailing yourself, or using your favourite pen and an elegant notebook. 

Supercharge your food journal
To make your food journal more effective, include details like your emotions, location and whom you were with. “I think noting your thoughts and feelings is even more important than noting the actual food,” says Cannon. “It helps you see a pattern.” Maybe you overeat at your weekly—and stressful—Sunday brunch with your mom, munch on chips during a solo car trip or snack while you’re making dinner. Becoming aware of negative thoughts or emotions that affect your eating can be uncomfortable, so if noting these moments is making you distressed make sure you talk to a loved one, family physician or registered counselor, advises Cannon.