Measuring Is An Important Scientific Tool: Weigh Yourself And Measure Your Food Everyday

After a week or two of recording what I have eaten, I was shocked by how much I was eating. It wasn't just the sheer number of calories I was consuming a day. It was the actual amounts of food that I was scarfing down. I thought I was eating healthy and appropriate portions of food. I was not. How did this happen to me?

I had forgotten a very important lesson that I learned in science class: senses alone will not always give precise information. Measurement transforms subjective gut-instinct feelings into quantitative information. Failing to measure means that you are not following scientific principles.

As I was gaining weight the past year, I kept on asking myself, "Why am I getting heavier? What am I doing wrong?" I had forgotten to measure. I failed to weigh myself everyday. I failed to measure and record the food that I was eating.

In fact, in a study in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that self-monitoring strategies may be important in maintaining weight loss. People who reported planning meals, tracking calories, tracking fat, and measuring food (as well as exercising 30+ minutes daily) were more successful in losing weight. Also, successful weight losers were more likely to weigh themselves daily, report lifting weights or cooking/baking for fun.

Simply trying to count calories, eat smaller portions, eat fewer fatty foods, and consuming reduced-fat/fat-free products without measuring and tracking are not behaviors that successful weight losers follow.

In light of this scientific evidence, I will present the Scientific Dieting and Exercise's Blog Dieting plan in my next post!