Los Angeles- There are many tools that are successful in treating weight loss, but one of the easiest and most effective may be simply the old pen and paper.
Keeping an accurate food diary or journal is apparently one of the most effective tools that a dieter can use in making their efforts effective.
Research that is being published in the current issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine focuses on the success and effectiveness of different types of weight loss and behavior intervention for more than 1,500 different adults that are overweight.
The participants were given support, education and follow up, including assistance in lifestyle interventions, weekly group sessions, opportunities at regular exercise, a health heart diet, and food diary use.
The participants were all Kaiser Permanente of Los Angeles patients, and those that kept food diaries for at least 5 of 7 days a week lost nearly 2 times as much as people who didn’t write down what they ate.
The average weight loss was 13 pound over 5 months, but the people who kept a written food journal or diet journal averaged 27 pounds of weight loss over the same 5 months.