The amazing benefits of keeping a weight loss diary

December 30. 2021

Let’s face it – we’ve all fought that weight loss battle at some point in our lives. It’s almost fascinating how we’re now more than ever surrounded by countless solutions for weight loss, but the numbers of obese individuals still continue to rise. However, with the number of solutions comes the inevitable confusion among people who feel like they’ve tried everything and still don’t seem to reach their weight goal. If you’re determined to put an end to gaining extra pounds and compromising your health – it’s time you give up switching between fad diets and binge eating and go back to the basics. You’ll be surprised to find out how much you can accomplish by putting your pen on paper and creating a weight loss diary!

What is a weight loss diary?

A weight loss diary can be anything you like – a notebook, a journal, an agenda, or even an app – which serves as a tool for keeping your food and/or exercise log. The options are virtually limitless; you can get those premade diaries or have fun making your own—the more personalized – the better. Such a diary gives you fascinating insights into your food choices, exercise schedules, and genuinely specific habits and patterns in your life that led you to excess weight. Thankfully, by gaining such insights, you’ll be able to take the matter into your own hands and start changing your behavior to work in favor of your weight loss.

Weight loss diaries are suitable for everyone – whether you’re simply changing a few dietary habits, following a diet, or participating in a weight loss program. Numerous research has shown that those who write down their dietary habits tend to be more successful in reaching their weight goal. In fact, one study has shown that those who kept a weight loss diary doubled the number of pounds lost compared to those who didn’t. We believe you can already sense the power of keeping a weight loss journal. 

How to write your weight loss diary

As mentioned previously, there’s no rule as to how your weight loss journal should look. The more you customize it and make it your own – the better. Still, we know how challenging it can be to start and make that first step, so we’ll briefly go through everything that should be included in your diary:

• • Your food intake: When it comes to food, you can write down what you had for each meal, the number of calories it contained, keep track of your macronutrients, save grocery lists and recipes. This is highly beneficial for those following a strict calorie plan, such as the 2200 calorie meal plan. 
  • Your water intake: We can’t stress enough about the importance of proper hydration. It’s common for us to ignore the feelings of thirst, but ticking off each glass of water you have throughout the day can help you establish this healthy habit.
  • Physical activity records: Writing down the duration and type of your workouts can help you calculate your calories in-calories out ratio. Additionally, seeing how much you’ve accomplished regarding physical activity can help strengthen your willpower and keep you motivated.
  • How you feel: Your food choices are highly influenced by your emotions. Writing them down helps you confront them and prevent their impact on you around food. This habit can prevent emotional eating, one of the leading causes of weight gain in the modern era.
  • Your weight loss goals and rewards: By writing down your goals and rewards, you can prevent certain outcomes, such as rewarding yourself with a cheat day after completing a single cardio workout.

What you can use as a weight loss diary

Now that you know all the components of your weight loss journal, here are some examples of different tools you can use as a diary:

• Notebooks or Diaries: These are excellent solutions for anyone who’s into writing, creative, or likes to keep things simple. Your options are virtually endless – you can get those premade weight loss diaries or take a regular notebook and make it your customized personal assistant. 
• Bullet journals: Bujos have become extremely popular due to a specific system of tracking down your obligations, goals, accomplishments, etc. They offer a lot of space for creative expression. 
• Computer spreadsheets: Some people find it convenient to establish a spreadsheet on their computer and fill out the cells with valuable data.
• Apps: You can also find numerous mobile apps to track your eating habits. However, many don’t leave much space for creative expression and personalization.  

What are the amazing benefits of keeping a weight loss diary?

In addition to a successful weight loss that’s almost guaranteed, all the fun you would have while personalizing your diary, and the powerful insights into your eating patterns, there are several other benefits of keeping your weight loss journal. Here are the main ones:

It increases awareness and accountability

By tracking your eating habits using a diary, your awareness of your food intake is bound to increase. As a result, you’ll never get yourself in a situation where you simply forget you had just snacked on a bag of chips 20 minutes ago. A diary will allow you to establish a clear meal schedule, and you will finally be accountable for the outcomes of your actions around food. 

It helps you solve dilemmas

Whenever you witness a dilemma regarding your diet, workout, or pretty much anything else, you can write down a few pros and cons to make more rational and beneficial decisions. You’ll likely find yourself in situations where you’re ready as you’ll ever be to make an impulsive decision and indulge in a not-so-diet-friendly meal. Or, you’ll be looking for reasons to delay your gym appointment. In such cases, having a diary to turn to and write down your goals will surely help you make smarter choices.

It reduces stress levels

There’s something fabulously relieving about writing your thoughts and emotions down. Instead of holding it all in, you’ll be able to confront them in a healthy manner, leading to lower levels of stress regarding your weight loss journey. Keep in mind that reduced stress also means lower chances of emotional eating or giving up on your final goal. 

It helps you process your feelings

We all know how quickly our emotions can influence our food choices. Emotional eating is common among people of all ages, but it’s also an indicator that you should pay more attention to building a healthy relationship with food. Writing it all down gives you an insight into your previous and current emotional state and its effects on your eating habits. 

It builds intentionality

Writing down your goals and reminding yourself of them each day helps build your commitment to them and strengthens your intentionality.

It’s a place for your goal-setting

Instead of having only that one big goal – losing weight – you should aim to set several smaller goals. It’s also beneficial to keep them attainable, measurable, and as specific as possible. You’ll get a chance to win small victories continually by doing so. The feeling of accomplishment will help you move forward.

It helps you identify areas of struggle

Keeping a weight loss diary also helps you detect any areas of struggle or triggers to unhealthy eating. You may not be aware of them now, but analyzing your habits can give you valuable insights into such areas and help you avoid them in the future.

It helps you track your rewards

There’s nothing wrong with rewarding yourself after a success. On the contrary, it can increase your chances of succeeding in the long run and achieving that final big goal. However, how many times have you rewarded yourself a little too much or too soon? Or have you perhaps rewarded yourself for losing weight with an unhealthy cheat meal? Your weight loss rewards should be anything but food-related. Think about scheduling a spa day, a massage, or getting a new pair of jeans you can now easily fit in. Still, it’s important to reward yourself for the actual achievements and keep the rewards proportional to your successes. 

It can be used as valuable documentation for your physician

If you decide to turn to a weight loss clinic to help you shed the extra pounds, your physician will want to find out everything about you that may contribute to your current weight. Instead of trying to remember and categorize all your actions around food, it would be much easier to bring your weight loss diary to an appointment and let your physician analyze your habits to address the potential problems. 

It can help you detect food intolerances

As you probably know, certain foods can contribute to undesirable reactions in your body. Food intolerances often go unnoticed, but they also cause your body to retain water and add extra pounds on the scale. By writing your meals down, you can track how your body reacts to the food you consume and then react accordingly. 

Final thoughts

We hope this article has helped you understand the power of keeping a weight loss journal. As you can see, there’s a suitable option for virtually anyone to start writing, collecting, and analyzing their dietary habits. Additionally, such diaries can be helpful companions for those wondering how to maintain weight loss after hCG diet by helping them keep their consistency. It’s important not to think of writing as an exhausting obligation but rather a stress-free act of saving valuable information and having a weight loss assistant by you at all times. If you’re ready to join a weight loss program and start a weight loss diary to help you along the way, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today to gain additional support. 

Author

Nurse Walton

Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Chanay received her Practical Nurse licensure and went to work in clinical specialties such as Home Health, Assisted Living, Long-Term Care and Dialysis Centers. Through this work, she realized the importance of diet, nutrition and weight loss among her patients. This led her to open A Better Weigh, Inc. Medical Weight Loss Center in 2009.