Does keeping a food diary help you lose weight?

Many different eating habits and trends for weight loss are circulating. However, nutrition experts believe there is only one common formula: balancing energy intake and expenditure, combined with a healthy lifestyle.

Eating while watching TV can lead to overweight and obesity - Illustration image

Nutrition is very important for weight loss.

According to Dr. Nguyen Trong Hung - National Institute of Nutrition, to successfully lose weight, you need a scientific eating plan, an active lifestyle, compliance and it needs to be individualized.

According to Dr. Hung, all weight loss diet programs have one thing in common, which is the need to reduce energy input compared to energy output over time.

Because if you do not reduce calories, overweight and obese people will not be able to lose weight. However, if you reduce calories too much, it can make you feel dissatisfied and affect your daily activities, as well as your work and study performance.

This leads to cravings and an inability to control food intake, especially when there are delicious foods, resulting in more "violent" weight gain than before.

Therefore, to limit this condition, it is necessary to reduce energy gradually, avoid reducing daily calories by more than 500 Kcal/day or depending on the commitment of the person who wants to lose weight.

"There is no perfect energy number because each individual has different calorie needs for weight loss based on weight, height, medical history, activity level and other factors.

Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the amount of calories intake over time to get safe and sustainable results," said Dr. Hung.

How to plan a diet for weight loss

One is to determine your calorie needs and determine how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fat in the appropriate proportions in your daily diet. From there, determine how many main meals and snacks you should have per day.

Second, write down what you want to eat. Take some time to make a list of your meals and snacks.

Thirdly , one should not force oneself to eat; meals should be prepared in sufficient quantities. Avoid forcing yourself to finish all the prepared food out of tiếc of wasting effort, or leaving leftovers for the next meal, which compromises hygiene and food safety.

Fourth, keep a record of what you eat. In fact, sometimes you may eat more than you think and eat very little.

When you keep a food diary, you will be able to control what you ate, how much you ate, whether you overate any foods, and whether you varied your dishes and foods.

Doing so can make your life easier. Plus, you'll know you like the food and you won't have to think too hard about what to eat for dinner next time.

Five is to stock your refrigerator properly. Avoid overstocking it.

Before storing food in the refrigerator, divide it into small packages suitable for each meal, note the name of the food and the date and time to start storing it in the freezer for timely use.

Limiting the amount of food you like to eat in the refrigerator is one way to limit overweight and obesity.

Is it easy to follow a diet to lose weight?

Dr. Hung says following a meal plan to lose weight may not be as easy as you think.

So you need to plan, prepare in advance and keep a food diary to help reduce daily stress and make you feel more satisfied and have a better quality of life.

For adults, if your goal is to lose a few pounds, a balanced meal plan with simple recipes is essential to maintaining that goal.

For children in the growing age, planning to lose weight or slow down the weight gain process needs to be very careful and should have the opinion of nutrition experts. The reason is that the child's body is still developing and growing, so if the weight loss is extreme, it will seriously affect the physical development of the child.

Meal planning can help keep you on track, no matter what your nutritional goals are. Prepping, planning, and keeping a food journal don't have to be time-consuming or complicated.

"Finding the weight loss formula that best suits your body and lifestyle is not easy. With a little time, planning, preparation, and careful food journaling, following a nutritional diet to lose weight will become easier.

We realize that meal plans and food diaries for weight loss may not be suitable for everyone, especially those with irregular eating habits," Dr. Hung shared.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ghi-nhat-ky-an-uong-co-giup-giam-can-20250218123954222.htm