With any weight loss or healthy eating plan, it is extremely important to journal the foods you ingest. This keeps track of what you ate and how much. It also gives your weight loss coach an overview of what you eat every day. Several years ago, I noticed that our weight loss clients would arrive at the office and frantically fill out their food diaries in the reception area so that they could have something to present to their coach.

While this might have kept them out of hot water with the coach, the tool was not being utilized properly to help them achieve the optimal benefit toward their goals. The whole point of the diary was to keep them focused exactly on what they were eating, and what they should  be eating.

After making this realization, we started encouraging clients to write down what they were going to eat before they ate it. This tactic worked great for those who embraced the procedure. This kept them from falling off the wagon and they were better able to hold themselves accountable for what they should be eating. These dieters were eating more consciously! They were able to say, “I shouldn’t eat this!” and they made wiser choices. Those who didn’t embrace this were more likely to cheat. They would typically eat something that was not within the ITG Diet protocol and when they entered it into their diary they would tell themselves, “maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that.” It’s hard to unswallow food! Once the dieter made that first cheat, the dieter is more likely to cheat again and again.

Entering food into the food diary before each meal adds accountability for the dieter that the coach can follow up with each week. Dieters who are doing this typically increase their success rates and lose weight even faster! Because of this we encourage all of our weight loss clients to journal before they eat.

Dr. Cliff Bost