The Most Underestimated Weight Loss Tool

As a personal trainer for over 20 years, I have seen clients lose weight and become successful with their program, and gain weight and make no results at all with their program. So what separates those from getting great results from those that get no results at all? It is, which in my opinion, is the most important weight loss tool, and that is the food journal.

So what is a food journal, and why is it so important? As I've mentioned in previous articles, probably the most important aspect in regards to losing weight, is calories in vs. calories out. In other words, you need to be burning more calories than you take in, in order to lose weight. However, in my experience, most clients who are looking to lose weight have no idea how many calories they're taking in. They may think they know, they may have an idea, but without a food journal they can't be sure. A food journal is basically writing down everything you've eaten and drank throughout the day and tallying the calories.

So why is this so important? The reason why it is so important to keep a food diary or a food journal is because that way you can get an assessment as accurate as possible in regards to the amount of calories that you take it in. Therefore each day when your gain or lose weight you can take a look at that food journal and your caloric intake and get an idea why you have gained or lost weight. Also, with a food journal, you can see throughout the day how many calories you have taken in versus how many calories you need to burn. You can get an idea of how many more calories you have in regards to intake, and therefore you can prevent going into a caloric surplus.

So as you can see, by adding this tool of a food journal to your arsenal in losing weight, you are much more likely to accomplish your goals. I have seen it time and time again the clients who are the most diligent and meticulous when it comes to their diet and their food journal tend to get the best results and lose the most weight. Hopefully this advice helps and as always if you have any questions feel free to contact us at Every body's personal trainer.