Article by Jim Brackin

Assuming that you want to lose weight without avoiding your favourite foods or dramatically changing your eating patterns then to start you must consider keeping a Food Journal. It is a simple archive of what you have eaten and drunk over a specific period of time which gives you an accurate log of what you have actually eaten rather than what you think you might have. Often there is a big difference, which is why most diet experts feel that keeping a diet journal is crucial to successful dieting success.

The no diet, diet focus is on the attitudes, feelings and psychology of weight loss and the first step is to keep a food diary so that you become fully aware of your individual food intake and consuming patterns. Only when you understand these patterns and what motivated you to choose them can you start to replace those old motivations with new ones. A no diet, weight loss program addresses the cause of overeating to enable you to regain control of your weight.

Here are some effective guidelines for keeping a diet diary. The first and most obvious is not to try to keep a diet log on scraps of paper, but to get a proper diet journal on which to archive your eating patterns. A good no diet, diet diary will contain headings that will help you to set small achievable goals.

No diet, diets are successful because they train you to just change one small, little thing about your eating habits on a regular basis. It is the accumulation of these little things that over time amount to big and dramatic changes in your weight. So your diet journal must have space for the area that you wish to change. Typically these will fall into one of the following four areas.

Portion Size.Supposing that your problem is portions: log the amount you eat and how much you could reduce it without feeling restricted.

A Healthier DietYou will already know the foods you eat that you should avoid. So assuming that you need to focus on a healthier food record the food types you eat and more importantly what you could easily replace them with to lose weight.

Habit EatingDo you sometimes eat just because it is time to eat, irrespective of weather you are hungry or not? If so your problem is habit consuming. Then record in your diet diary the time of day, where you are, with whom, and any activity that triggers the habit.

Emotional Consuming.We all eat to make ourselves feel better, but for some this emotional high takes over. If your eating is emotional start to record your moods, emotions and feelings and how they connect to your eating patterns.

Also your diet diary ought to track the foods that you eat, rather than the calories that they contain. What you are looking for is an overall pattern of eating rather than a detailed record of the calories that you consume. Remember that when you want to lose weight, water is your best friend. Not only does it not contain any calories but it also hydrates the body aiding losing weight and may keep you from feeling hungry.

About the Author

Would you like a free copy of my No Diet Weight Loss food journal? Then click the link or visit jimbrackin.com the talking treatment self help therapy website

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