Write the Pounds Away - Food Journals Help

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If there is anything I struggle with, it's keeping weight off. For the past ten years or so, I have pulled off the pounds only to gain them back.

Some months ago, after listening to Dr. Ian Smith on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, I decided to join State Farm's 50 Million Pound Challenge and have made some real progress. And thanks to a recent medical study, I've got new weight loss tools in my arsenal: a pen and paper.

I have committed to writing down every single thing I eat for the next 4 weeks. And I am not doing it on some whim, or just because I like to write. ...

Nope. A new medical study has concluded that folks who keep a detailed food diary lose more weight. And for black people who are particularly susceptible to the worst complications from obesity; maintaining a low body fat percentage can be a matter of life and death.

11 High-Calorie Foods

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    By Jennifer Fields

    Naan Bread

    An Indian food staple, naan is a baked flatbread made with a whole lot of butter. Depending on size and how it's prepared, a serving can contain more than If you're going to indulge, keep servings small and please share.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Chicken Potpie

    Chicken mixed with vegetables in a baked dish -- even one that's covered in a flaky pastry -- doesn't seem like it could possibly be that bad for you. But typically chicken potpie, whether it's homemade, fast-food, or store-bought?has upwards of 600 calories and nearly a day's worth of fat. The culprit? That buttery crust. Stouffer's Chicken Pot Pie has 660 calories and 37 fat grams, and KFC's version has 770 calories with 40 fat grams. Dining on baked chicken won't hurt your diet, but avoid the pie form.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Heavy Sauces

    The main ingredients in alfredo sauce are heavy cream and cheese, which can add up to more than 500 calories in one dish. If you think you're better off choosing something like pesto as a topping for your pasta, consider this: That nutty mixture is loaded with oil and packs around 250 calories or more and nearly 30 grams of fat. When it comes to pasta sauces, marinara is a smart swap.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Fried Onion Appetizer

    That onion appetizer may be layer upon layer of crispy deliciousness, but the breaded and deep-fried dish can cost you upwards of 2,000 calories at most restaurants (the Awesome Blossom at Chili's packs 2,710), and that's before your real meal. Even if you halved it, you'd be consuming more than a day's fat in one sitting.

    Image Credit: Jupiter Images

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Giant Cinnamon Rolls

    It's difficult to resist the smell of the freshly-baked cinnamon roll as it wafts past you in the mall, but you should and here's why: One of those big bakery delights typically has more than 700 calories (a classic Cinnabon has 730 calories and 24 grams of fat. There are healthier fast-food options.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Funyuns

    These crispy, salty, airy rings maybe seem like a smarter choice than potato chips and certainly less sinful than their deep-fried cousins, but just one ounce of Funyuns, about 13 pieces, has 140 calories and 7 grams of fat. And because you know you won't stop at 13 (they're so small!), opening that bag can turn into a 500-calorie snack. The worst part? They have 270 milligrams of sodium per one-ounce serving, which means you get bloating as an added bonus.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Cheese Sauce

    Bright orange cheese that comes in a jar is already a little questionable, but it certainly provides a convenient, no-fuss topping for chips and veggies. But look at the label closely and you'll find that there are 45 calories in just one tablespoons. Now consider that you probably use at least 5 tablespoons (225 calories) to cover a small plate of chips, and you see how quickly those calories add up -- and that's not including the calories in whatever you're putting it on.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Peanut Butter Smoothie

    Sure, getting peanut butter in your smoothie sounds like you're adding a small treat that offers good taste, a bit of protein and a small amount of healthy fat. In reality, a peanut butter smoothie tends to include way more than a serving of the creamy stuff. The 24-ounce Peanut Butter Moo'd smoothie at Jamba Juice has 840 calories. They have a variety of shakes and juices that are better bets, so check their nutrition info before your oder.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Mooncakes

    You probably didn't think that those yummy traditional Chinese mooncakes were good for you, but did you know they contain a whopping 700 calories? Each one is filled with heavy lotus-seed paste and contains whole egg-yolks. Your best bet? Find a less caloric treat.

  • 11 High-Calorie Foods

    Poultry Skin

    When it comes to poultry, some 40 percent of the fat is in the skin. So going skinless with your chicken or turkey isn't just empty advice, it really will significantly lower the amount of fat in your food. Worried about losing the flavor in your dish? Try this trick: Leave the skin on until you're finished cooking, so it retains moisture.



Here's an excerpt from the Weight Loss Maintenance (WLM) that was carried out by investigators from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research, and is to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.:

US researchers working on a study comparing approaches to weight loss, found that keeping a food diary can double weight loss as part of a managed programme; they said that the more food records they kept, the more weight the participants lost.

The study was carried out by investigators from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research, and is to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The study is one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, wrote the researchers in a press statement, and is also unique in that a large number of participants (44 per cent) were African Americans who are known to have higher risks for diseases that are made worse by being overweight, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Those who kept regular and frequent food records tended to lose more weight, said lead author Dr Jack Hollis, a researcher at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, adding that:

"Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records. It seems that the simple act of writing down what you eat encourages people to consume fewer calories."

I went to the 99 Cent store and bought a cute little notebook for the occasion. Of course anything will do, you could even keep track of your calories using your mobile phone, writing everything in the daily appointments calendar.

See you on the slim side!

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