“I really do not eat that much - I can’t understand why I am not losing weight”. How many of you have ever said this? Most of us are so busy that we don’t  pay detailed attention to what we eat. Our portions may be larger than we think. Or we may eat “unconsciously” at times during the day.  Chances are that you are eating more than you think. Studies have shown that most people vastly underestimate the amount of food they are eating – sometimes by as much as 75%!

Here is an example about how we may forget about the little “extras” we eat. A study showed 5 minutes after leaving an Italian restaurant, 31% of people could not remember how much bread they ate, 12% of bread eaters denied eating any bread.  

The Real Truth Comes Out…
When a client comes into my office, at some point I will ask them what they eat on a typical day. Often times, it doesn’t seem like they are eating that much. My first suggestion will be for them to keep a food record. After a week or so, the real truth comes out!  Several chocolates from co-workers desk, an 8 oz glass of wine (not a 4 oz glass), whole milk in the latte, 4 T. of salad dressing, not 2, or grabbing a piece of cheese before dinner. All these “little things” can add up to over 700 calories.

Food Records = Weight Loss and Improved Nutritional Intake
The single most important behavioral tool for losing weight is keeping a food record. In addition to helping identify sources of calories, food records can also be useful for assessing nutritional quality of the diet (are you getting enough calcium, fruits, veggies, etc.?), energy levels, emotional eating and so on.  And just as importantly, food records can help to identify what foods make you feel good and which foods increase cravings or lead to poor energy levels. So not only can food records help with weight control, they can also help you improve your overall health and well-being.

Analyze Problem Eating Behaviors with Food Records
Studies have correlated success with weight loss with keeping a food log. Whether your goals are weight loss, increased energy,  lowering your cholesterol, etc., a food record can help you identify problem areas. You can then come up with a plan to make changes.  The point of a food record is to learn, not to be perfect. Go ahead and record your afternoon cookie episode. You will use your food records to analyze why it occurred. Was your lunch inadequate in protein? Did you wait too long to eat lunch? Both of these can lead to low blood sugar and carb cravings.  The way to help prevent this from happening in the future is to eat a lunch that contains adequate protein, fat and fiber approximately  4-5 hours after breakfast AND to plan a healthy afternoon snack approximately 3 hours after lunch.

It is time to get out the measuring cups, spoons and food scales. You will probably be surprised at the size of some of your portions. Keeping these journals can be cumbersome – however they are very helpful.

Tips for keeping a food journal:
1. Your best bet would probably be to buy a little notebook so you can carry it with you. You can also record online (try www.fitday.com). Try to record in your journal as soon as you eat.  The longer you wait to record what you ate, the more likely you are to forget something. Ideas as where to keep the journal: on the kitchen table, in your pocketbook, in your day planner, on the refrigerator, etc.

2. Write down everything that you eat and drink. Include:
A. Portion sizes. You will need to weigh and measure some foods to get a good idea as to what your portions are like. This is especially important if the food does not contain a food label. It can be difficult to calculate how many calories a deli bagel or baked potato has if there is no food label. Weighing and measuring can help you to calculate the calories.
- Weigh the following foods: meat, fish, poultry, cheese, baked or boiled   potato, dry pasta, nuts, cereal (can be weighed or measured), baked products (i.e. muffins, bagels, etc.)
- Measure the following foods into a measuring cup: rice, cooked pasta, veggies, juice, milk, mashed potato, ice cream, cottage cheese, etc.
- Measure the following foods with measuring spoons: oils and salad dressings, fat spreads, peanut butter, cream cheese, etc.
B. The time you ate
C. What you were doing when you ate (i.e. watching TV, talking on phone, reading, having lunch with friends, etc.)
D. Your degree of hunger (try rating your hunger on a scale of 1-10 – with 10 being the most hungry)
E. Your moods when you are eating. (i.e. stressed, anxious, bored, etc.). Many of us eat for emotional reasons.
F. Whatever other information that you feel is important. I would suggest you make notes as to how you felt physically a few hours after eating. This will help us to see which foods make you feel better. For example, is an apple a good snack for you or do you feel better after eating nuts.

In the next week or so, I will give you some guidelines as to how many calories you should be consuming a day to maintain your weight or promote weight loss. In addition, I will give tips to improve the nutritional content of your diet.

Start your food records today!

Does anyone have any recommendations - other than fitday.com - for recording food records on line?

Here are two sites that have food record forms that you can print out:
http://www.k-state.edu/lafene/foodrecords.htm  http://www.ccsmdc.org/Dakotah/pdf/FoodRecord.pdf

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