A weight loss diary is a book or log that you keep to help track
and monitor progress of your exercise and weight loss program. They can
be as simple as how much exercise you do a day, or your weight once a
week, or as detailed as noting every meal you consume during the day
including how many calories each meal consists of. No matter how simple
or detailed your diary is, it will help you significantly when trying to
shed the pounds.
Begin by deciding on how detailed your diary will be. This comes down to personal preference, and how much time you have to dedicate to the diary. If you have 15 minutes a day, make it as detailed as possible. If you dedicate 15 minutes a week, you will make it simple. You don't need a dairy as such to take notes in; even a simple exercise book will work just fine.
The next step is to decide what you will monitor. As a bare minimum, you must monitor your weight progress, that's the whole point of the diary! The next thing I would recommend monitoring is how much exercise you do each day. Not just walking all day at work, but extra exercise you do that you have started as part of your weight loss regimen. Then finally note your food intake. This can also be simple or detailed. You may wish to write down how often you ate a snack between meals and what that was, how often you had take-away during the week etc. Ideally you would want to write down a rough estimate of how many calories each meal consists of and totals for each day.
Once you have begun using the diary, we can look back and start to analyze the results. This is a great way to visually see that when you eat certain foods, and exercise a certain amount, you lose X amount of weight. There is no better motivational tool than keeping a weight loss diary. You may have been extra careful one week with eating, exercised 2 or 3 more days than normal, and when you see you have lost an extra 5 pounds this week, you will be motivated to do it all again next week.
Begin by deciding on how detailed your diary will be. This comes down to personal preference, and how much time you have to dedicate to the diary. If you have 15 minutes a day, make it as detailed as possible. If you dedicate 15 minutes a week, you will make it simple. You don't need a dairy as such to take notes in; even a simple exercise book will work just fine.
The next step is to decide what you will monitor. As a bare minimum, you must monitor your weight progress, that's the whole point of the diary! The next thing I would recommend monitoring is how much exercise you do each day. Not just walking all day at work, but extra exercise you do that you have started as part of your weight loss regimen. Then finally note your food intake. This can also be simple or detailed. You may wish to write down how often you ate a snack between meals and what that was, how often you had take-away during the week etc. Ideally you would want to write down a rough estimate of how many calories each meal consists of and totals for each day.
Once you have begun using the diary, we can look back and start to analyze the results. This is a great way to visually see that when you eat certain foods, and exercise a certain amount, you lose X amount of weight. There is no better motivational tool than keeping a weight loss diary. You may have been extra careful one week with eating, exercised 2 or 3 more days than normal, and when you see you have lost an extra 5 pounds this week, you will be motivated to do it all again next week.
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