http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080708/hl_nm/diet_diary_dc

I just read about this new study that came out of Washington. They said that people who kept a food journal with their calorie counts tend to lose about twice as much weight as people who don't! It feels so good to know that I'm doing something that has been documented to be ideal! I know people say they refuse to count calories and I admit that I used to be in that group. I wanted weight loss to be easy, but I also never knew if I was doing the right thing or not. Now I know! The only difference is I keep track of my calories in my head. Does a head journal count?

I'd write it down. Use an on-line program. Fitday and Daily Plate seem to be popular around here. What the written word offers is unreal. You'll see patterns. You know how it is when that dang scale sticks. You go back and look at your foods for the past weeks or months and you'll see patterns. Weight goes up when fish is in, or weight goes down when salads are the major fare.

You won't remember what you did three months ago, and the point of calorie counting is getting the history straight as well as the daily news.

You're absolutely right, but my problem is that I'm a technology-phobe. I have gone on these sites and have not been able to GET how to go about things. But, I will. I'm going to ask my hubby...who thank goodness can figure anything out, to help me out.

I hear ya. It sucks but really get good at it. It's worth the effort. And then you'll be ADDICTED!!!

I use computers for my job, but I log by hand (go figure!). I don't do any historical analysis or count anything except calories and it still works!

You're absolutely right, but my problem is that I'm a technology-phobe. I have gone on these sites and have not been able to GET how to go about things. But, I will. I'm going to ask my hubby...who thank goodness can figure anything out, to help me out.

I guess I did something right!!!

I always lose more when I do some kind of food journaling. Even when I wrote down what I ate without the calories worked better than not writing it down. I use fitday now and have had good success with this. I heard about the food study on the news today. All I could say was, "YES!"

Actually, according to that little blurb, keeping it in your head might be enough... at the end of the article one of the expert said: "Keeping a food diary doesn't have to be a formal thing. Just the act of scribbling down what you eat on a Post-It note, sending yourself e-mails tallying each meal or sending yourself a text message will suffice"

Kind of implies a lack of permanance, and that maybe just keeping track is enough. Hard to tell from the article... and the researcher in me wonders if everything ELSE was the same in the two groups... but now I'm just getting nerdy.

All I know is that I feel more in control when I write everything down!

I lie to myself when I try to do it in my head..but I've never been considered "normal"

Fitday is easy once you get used to it.

I lie to myself in my head, I don't count handfuls of junk here and there, same with fit day. Writing it down on paper is the best for me because I can't lie about anything. It really helps, I feel more in control and don't feel the need to cheat or binge.

Yeah, I lie to myself in my head too. (That sentence makes no sense out of context!)

I hate to do math in my head. Seriously, just hate it. I also am not fond of doing math on paper, even with a calculator (and I tend to make a lot mistakes, even with a calculator). So I use an online program because it's just so much easier to have it do the math for me.

Before I found 3FC and the journal here, I was keeping mine with pen and paper in a bound journal from a bookstore.

I try to keep track of my food, my exercise and how I felt for the day because I like to look back and see...99% of the days I felt bad were the days I didn't drink enough water, didn't eat right, or didn't get any exercise in.

The 1% not attributed to those (so far) are due to Aunt Flo.

I have always done better logging my food on paper..With ww,you have to for points..I started calorie counting,so now I log it on the daily plate..and let me tell you it is so much easier