A Reality Check-Your Food Diary

Most of us live by beliefs and perceptions. Generally, the overweight or obese people feel that they hardly eat. Many report eating only one or two breads (rotis) in the entire day. They seem to size up their entire food intake by these numerical counts. Most of us focus on what we do not eat rather than what we eat. There is lot of denial when it comes to acceptance of food intake.

The first step to improve your diet is to increase awareness - what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat. A  Food Diary is a ‘reality check’. Ishi says it is a simple objective tool, which helps you to track exactly what you really eat. Keeping a food diary for three days allows you to record everything you eat and drink. Ishi adds writing details of the ‘eating experience’ makes it even more meaningful as, ‘what you eat’ is often influenced by what is going on inside you and around you. So recording all this information can provide important insight into your eating patterns. In a study, conducted by Harvard Medical School, researchers asked unsuccessful dieters to track what they ate. The dieters then ate exactly what they had listed. This time they all lost weight! A clear indicator of our subjective perceptions about ‘what we eat’. Nutritionist Ishi Khosla recommends a Food diary as it will show you whether you include all the food groups in adequate amounts, the variety of foods you consume, the amount of sugar and undesirable foods; and the frequency of intake. Ishi says one can go a step ahead after completing the food dairy, and can analyze the foods you have listed by comparing them to the five recommendations for healthy eating. Ishi says ‘Don’t be surprised if your food diary reveals that you’re eating too many fats and too few fruits, vegetables, and grains. Remember – the food diary is a tool to help you. Don’t use it to make yourself feel guilty or ashamed about your eating habits.” Ishi clarifies that although, the validity of food diaries and self-reports is questionable. Studies show that keeping a food diary is a better predictor of weight loss than baseline body mass index, exercise, and age. Writing down everything you eat is a powerful technique. It tells you where the calories are coming from and helps to develop specific plans to deal with those situations. In addition, a food diary helps hold dieters accountable for what they are eating. It is not surprising then that a food diary has considerable ‘power as a predictor of success in achieving weight losses. Ishi recommends a food diary in diet related conditions like allergies, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and during pregnancy. They can also be used to identify those at risk of under-nutrition and monitor those on nutritional support. It can be used for nutrition education and for achieving dietary goals for sports persons etc. Ishi says to use the Food Diary as a powerful tool for weight loss is accurate and list everything you eat as soon as you can! If possible, record what you eat as you eat it. Be specific about portion size and foods that contain more than one ingredient. For example, if you eat a sandwich, list the kind of sandwich and the portion size of the bread. Do not forget to mention the butter or mayonnaise or that extra slice of cheese. The longer you wait to record what you eat, the less accurate you‘ll be. However, even if it is not done formally, scribbling down what you are eating can help a great deal. You may also want to consider using your food diary for longer periods to monitor your diet and manage or maintain your weight. It can help you identify problems in your diet, improve it, and reduce risk of diet related conditions. So, next time you resolve to improve your diet, start by reaching out for a pen and a paper. It works like that mirror on the wall!

Source: Theweightmonitor.com- India's First Fully Online Weight Loss Portal