Here come the holidays, which means here come the cookies, cakes, and all other things decadently dangerous.  If you are worried about putting on extra pounds this season you may want to check out a new study recently published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. 

The new research has proven that people who keep diaries describing their daily food intake lost more weight than those who did not.  The study followed almost 1,700 overweight and obese adult men and women throughout the country.  All of the subjects were encouraged to limit their caloric intake, take part in weekly group sessions, exercise, and keep a food journal. 

The senior investigator of the study, Victor Stevens was recently featured in a Time Magazine article about the study.  He reported, “Hands down, the most successful weight-loss measure was keeping a record of what you eat.”

The study, which spanned a six-month period, showed that participants who kept a food diary between 6 and 7 days a week lost on average 18 pounds.  This was double what non-diary keepers lost.

The concept of losing more weight by keeping track of exactly what you ingest all day makes sense.  It can really make a person think about the amount of food they eat and whether most of it is actually good for them.  It can also make a person more conscious of the labels on the back of the package detailing the fat and cholesterol count.  And, at the end of the day you are well aware that you will have to face the truth staring back at you in that journal.  Stevens talks about how a person may think about eating that extra cookie “but you didn’t want it to show up on the diary at the end of the day.”

What do you think about keeping a food journal as a way to stay healthy?

Is this something you might consider trying to keep the extra holiday weight off?