Keeping a food diary to aid in weight loss

Most of us have been there at one point or another -- struggling to shed a few pounds and wondering why it's not working. One of the best ways to keep your diet in check is by keeping a record of everything you eat or drink. These simple guidelines will help you get started.

Cutting calories will not only help you fit back into your skinny jeans, it may also curb the aging process. Significantly reducing calorie intake has been shown to increase lifespan, at least in lab animals. As for the human research, studies show that people on calorie-restricted diets have substantially lower levels of inflammatory proteins in the blood. Why is that important? Inflammation plays a key role in virtually every human health condition, from Alzheimer's to heart disease to arthritis. The more inflammatory substances circulating in your bloodstream, the more quickly your body will deteriorate.

Yes! Jotting down everything you eat keeps you honest and makes you think twice before overindulging. Most people don't have a clue what they really eat every day. For instance, studies show that dieters tend to underestimate their calorie intake by as much as 50 percent. Keeping a food diary can solve the problem.

It doesn't have to be fancy; any notebook will do. Just write down every morsel you put in your mouth while you're trying to lose weight (and whenever the number on the scale begins to climb). Then use a calorie-counter book, website or phone app to estimate how many calories each item contains, total up your daily calories and tease out your diet saboteurs.

• Is an afternoon candy bar habit putting you over your calorie max?
• Are you drinking more calories than you realized with each caramel latte?
• Are you pouring yourself too much cereal in the morning? Experts claim that food diaries can help dieters slash 500 to 1,000 calories a day by uncovering food traps like high-sugar soft drinks and juices.

In fact, keeping a food diary is one of four key behaviours consistently used by people in an ongoing study of dieters who maintained a weight loss of 13.6 kilograms (30 pounds) or more for at least one year.

A good food diary is more than just a list of foods and quantities. Recording where you were, whom you were with, how hungry you were and how you felt before and after you ate can also help you spot influential patterns. (Does work stress make you gobble up snacks at the office? Do you eat less when your husband is away?)

Don't want to look up calorie counts for every piece of food you pop in your mouth? No problem. Seeing what you've eaten in black and white, even without the numbers, is likely to make you think twice before heading back to the table for a second slice of pecan pie. Keeping a food diary is perhaps the most important strategy for weight-loss success.

Add a zero to your weight in pounds to get your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, the amount of energy you expend at rest. Multiply your BMR by one of the numbers below, based on your physical activity level, to find the total number of calories necessary to maintain your current weight.

• Sedentary = 1.2
• Low activity = 1.5
• Active = 1.75
• Very active = 2.2

If you weigh 63.5 kilograms (140 pounds), your BMR is 1,400. If you're sedentary, multiply 1,400 by 1.2 to you find that the number of calories you need each day to maintain your weight is 1,680.

Want to lose half a kilogram (about a pound) a week? Slash 500 calories from that number each day for a daily intake of 1,180 calories.

These simple guidelines will help you stay on track to achieve your dietary and fitness goals.