The Diet Strategy That Really Works
The trick is recording everything you eat daily. Researchers at the University of Vermont and the University of South Carolina recognized that people don’t like to do this. “People think its onerous and awful,” wrote study leader Jean Harvey of the University of Vermont. Her team set out to investigate how long it actually takes to track daily food intake by observing the self-monitoring habits of 142 participants in an online weight control study. When the dieters recorded their food intake online, they left behind a record of the time involved. The researchers found that the most successful dieters lost 10 percent of their weight. On the first month of the program these participants spent an average of 23.2 minutes a day recording their food intake but 6 months later, the time involved had dropped to 14.6 minutes. “Those who self-monitored three or more times per day and were consistent day after day, were the most successful,” Dr. Harvey said. “It seems to be the act of self-monitoring itself that makes the difference – not the time spent, or the details included.”
Source:
Jean Harvey et al “Log Often, Lose More: Electronic Dietary Self‐Monitoring for Weight Loss” Obesity, February 25, 2019, doi.org/10.1002/oby.2238 2
Also in this week’s bulletin:
- Fast Food Follies
- What Is The Healthiest Country?
- This week’s recipe: Shaved Asparagus & Arugula Salad
