[Lifestyle] This is the reason why writing down everything you eat helps you lose weight

[G h o s t l y.]

Harvard University explains step by step what we must do to fill in our diary and, in this way, know our habits.

 

Adopting healthier eating habits is a goal that many of us share. Losing weight, reducing cholesterol, or even feeling more vital are some of the rewards that we hope to obtain with our efforts. Eating is, without a doubt, one of the basic pillars of good health, along with quality sleep and certain hours of physical exercise a week.

Basing our diet on vegetables, switching to whole grains and consuming unsaturated fats are some of the steps that will lead us to reduce the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease or even cancer. However, social commitments, work schedules and, why not admit it, laziness and a taste for less nutritious foods cause us to fail on this path to nutritional perfection.
 

In any case, it is possible to carry out certain techniques to keep us more motivated and informed. One of them is to keep a food diary. The Harvard University Health publication explains that this notebook can help us identify what we are doing wrong. In fact, the institution provides a hopeful piece of information: people who keep a food diary are capable of losing up to double the weight, according to a study they conducted with 7,100 volunteers.
 

Harvard offers all the relevant data that our journal should contain and, in addition, a series of tips so that we can exploit its benefits to the maximum. The most obvious data that the diary should contain is what you have eaten - explaining how it was cooked and what sauces or garnishes it contained - how much and at what time you did it. Maintaining fixed hours to eat is important for weight loss, as explained in this article in EL ESPAÑOL.

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But, in addition, Harvard has noticed a series of data that we tend to ignore and, in fact, are important to know ourselves better. For example, experts from the prestigious university consider it important to point out the place where we have eaten - it is not the same to eat at a table as while we are walking down the street - what you were doing while you were eating, who you were with and how you felt when do what.

Writing down all this data will not help to draw certain conclusions about our habits. We may always eat with the television on and therefore devoting our attention to it. Francisco Tinahones, president of the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (Seedo), explains in this EL ESPAÑOL article that eating without paying attention to food causes compulsive eating.
 

Analyze your habits

This is all the information you need to get started with your food diary. Harvard also provides a series of tips to make the best of this data collection. Get used to recording your meals once you finish them; If you wait until the end of the day, your notes may not be entirely accurate. Be as precise as you can about drinks and meals. If, for example, you have a coffee "write down the approximate type and size". Of course, you should also record all the alcohol you consume.
 

Once you have filled in a whole week with all the data on your diet, you can start analyzing it. To carry out this task, Harvard experts suggest that you ask yourself the following questions: How healthy is your diet? How many fruits and vegetables have I eaten each day? Do you eat bread or whole grains? How often do you eat Sugary soft drinks? Does my mood affect what I eat? For example, do I have unhealthy snacks when I'm stressed? And finally, how many times do I eat in a hurry?
 

When you have answered all these questions, you should set your goals based on the failures you have observed. Of course, they must be smart targets. Those of Harvard define them as those that are "specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and that are obtained with time". For example, if you have observed that you eat healthy at the beginning of the day and after 3:00 pm you "rob the vending machine", your smart goal should not be "eat healthier snacks", but "take a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts. "

By writing a journal like this, your path to healthy eating habits will be individualized, you will have control over it, and you will be able to know yourself better.