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Between our busy lives and hectic schedules, many of us eat on the go or while multitasking. By the end of the day we have no idea exactly how many calories we’ve eaten and don’t have a chance to succeed at weight loss.  Research has shown that dieters who keep a food journal are more likely to lose weight. Generally speaking they lose 6 pounds more on average than dieters who do not keep a record of food intake.

Food journals work because they make you aware of what, how much, when and why you are eating. You can easily see which foods you are consuming and those foods which you aren’t getting enough of. Dieters who use their food journals properly become aware of portion control and mindless snacking. By keeping a journal you are forcing yourself to acknowledge everything which passes your lips and chances are you’ll begin healthier eating habits.

Realize What You Are Eating

By writing it down, you can easily calculate the daily caloric intake and control your portion sizes.

Reduce Between Meal Snacking

Accountability is difficult when you don’t pay attention to what you are eating. With a food journal you’re fully focused on your nutrition and will find yourself less inclined to eat that tempting snack because it’s not really worth the calories in the end.

Identify Where Your Diet is Unbalanced

As you see your food listed on the page over a week you’ll be able to see where you’re not eating enough from certain food groups. Perhaps you think you are consuming the appropriate amount of dairy or vegetables a day but you won’t know for certain until you keep track.

Find Triggers

Seeing the hard facts of your eating patterns may bring to light the things which trigger you to eat. Uncovering emotional eating patterns allows you to put other coping mechanisms in place and raise your chances of weight lose success.

Get Results Quickly

As long as you are brutally honest within your food diary you will begin to see changes. Where you didn’t eat enough vegetables in the beginning you’ll see that you’ve increased the amounts, improving your digestive function and eating less calorie-rich foods. Your food journal will show you what you ate during a time when you lost weight so you can repeat this, knowing that your body responds well to those foods. On the other hand it will show when you’ve eaten foods which slowed weight loss and allow you to modify your diet appropriately.