Tracking how much we eat and drink has been repeatedly shown in research studies to improve weight loss success. However, it seems that most of us are not willing to keep track of our calorie intake to lose weight. Keeping a record of our calorie intake to lose weight in the past has required that we carry around paper and pencil to write everything we eat and drink down.
While we can wait until we get home to record this information, we often forget some of the items we consumed during the day. This makes our record keeping inaccurate and the whole process less effective. Small-sized food diaries have made it more convenient to track our calorie intake to lose weight, but even these require carrying extra items around in our pockets or bags.
The rapid improvement in technology has resulted in the development of applications (apps) for our smart phones and PDAs. However, it is unclear (1) if we use them any more than we typically use a paper food diary to track our calorie intake to lose weight and (2) if they are any more effective at supporting weight loss success.
A new weight loss research study compared the effectiveness of a PDA food diary app to the effectiveness of a traditional paper food diary for tracking calorie intake to lose weight[1]. Volunteers were assigned to use a paper food diary or a PDA app to record their food and calorie consumption for 6 months. Adherence to the food diary, changes in body weight, and changes in eating habits were assessed after 6 months. Both groups had similar, successful reductions in body weight, calorie consumption, percent calories from total fat, and percent calories from saturated fats. Recording calorie intake to lose weight with the PDA app substantially increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and reduced consumption of refined grains. Additionally, self-monitoring was linked to changes in dietary fat intake such that individuals using a paper food diary had to be stricter about keeping their food diary than PDA users in order to improve their diet quality. Overall, this study reported that use of a PDA app designed to help track calorie intake to lose weight enhanced weight loss success and improved overall diet quality.
With the wide spread use of PDAs and smart phones and the development of effective weight loss applications, it has apparently become easier for us to record our calorie intake to lose weight. Since many of us already carry around these devices, they become a more convenient weight loss record keeping tool compared to carrying around a traditional paper food diary. No matter how you choose to track your calorie intake to lose weight, a food diary remains one of the most effective tools for achieving weight loss success.
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