Dear diary: I lost weight, again!

With my many years of experience in the fitness industry I have found one of the most powerful tools is keeping a food log. I'm pleased to say this has now been confirmed by a recent study.

Researchers found that keeping a food diary -- a detailed account of what you eat and drink -- is an extremely powerful tool in helping people lose weight.

The study tracked 1,685 middle-aged men and women over six months. It found that the people who kept such a diary lost about twice as much weight as those who did not.

"For those who are working on weight loss, just writing down everything you eat and drink is a powerful technique," said Victor Stevens of Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore. "It helps the participants see where the extra calories are coming from and then develop more specific plans to deal with those situations."

Average weight loss for the study period was about 13 pounds for those who kept a food log (six or seven days a week) compared with 9 pounds for those who did not.

My observation over the years shows that writing a regular diary makes people accountable to themselves. The log doesn't have to be a formal thing. Just scribbling it down on a daily basis works jut fine. Emailing their eating and workouts works great too.

Also note that this technique can work for those wishing to gain weight/muscle. My clients who are body building benefit from writing a food diary.