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If you were told that keeping a list of what you ate and drank would help you lose weight faster, would you do it?

An extensive study conducted by Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research revealed that keeping a food diary helped study participants drop pounds at twice the rate of those who did not log dietary intake. And the more detailed the food diary, the more the pounds disappeared. The two-year study followed 1,685 men and women. In the first six months, those who logged their eating lost between 13 and 20 pounds. Participants who kept no food diaries lost only about 9 pounds.

Why is this effective? 

“We tend to forget what we eat, so the awareness of writing it down and figuring calories is helpful. You don’t always realize where extra calories are coming from,” said Stevens, an investigator at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in north Portland.
“Second, a lot of people set a calorie goal for the day. When they hit their personal target, it’s time to stop eating. You can try to stretch it out over the day, which is why we recommend eating smaller amounts more frequently,” Stevens said.
“Third, when you write it down, you’re being accountable to yourself. We had them hand in their food records to us and we often shared them at meetings. When other people know, that changes what you eat,” Stevens said in a phone interview.  Which is why at Fitness Together, you have the accountability of your trainer looking at your journal, and the helpfulness of their feedback.

Don't give it a try.  Give it a commitment.