A new study says that keeping a journal of what you eat may double your weight loss.

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A recent study found that dieters who kept track of what they ate in a food journal lost twice as much weight compared to those who didn't.

The results of this study by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research suggest that food diaries are an inexpensive and simple method for weight-loss.

I often have my clients with wellness goals fill out a food log for at least a week and bring it back to review together.

Clients say it helps them:
1. Become more mindful of what and when they are choosing to eat, getting them out of automatic pilot
2. Think twice about eating something if they have to write it down and see it later
3. See how much they're actually eating (which may be more or less than they realized)
4. Become aware of how much junk they are consuming, and where they are thwarting their weight loss efforts
5. Notice their snacking habits
6. Tie their energy level, blood sugar, bloating, reflux, etc. to certain foods
7. Better track and increase their water intake
8. Self-correct over time with continued tracking

I can help my clients by:
1. Pointing out meals that likely stimulated the metabolism and ones that likely missed fat-burning or even stimulated fat storage
2. Make suggestions about ways to modify some of the choices to better stimulate the metabolism, using each meal as an opportunity to burn fat
3. Track and congratulate clients on improvements in their choices over time

Sites like Fitday.com, and 2000cal.com offer free online tracking tools to record what you eat and your calorie counts, allowing dieters to monitor both their food intake and exercise, and set goals to lose weight. MyFoodDiary.com offers a similar service for a small monthly fee.

Try it for yourself and see if it helps you with YOUR health goals.