Double Your Weight Loss By Using a Food Diary

Happy New Year! I kicked off another great year of YouTips4U this week with a video that will absolutely help you achieve your weight loss goals if that is your resolution this year.  How Changing One Habit Can Double Your Weight Loss

Experts have studied the benefits of keeping a food diary or food journal wherein you record all the foods and beverages you eat and drink daily.  They're studies have found that the act of recording what you eat leads to greater awareness of what, how much, and why you are eating and having that knowledge can result in greater weight loss when compared with people who did not record what they ate.  Keeping a food diary can also help you identify pitfalls in your eating habits or patterns of overeating or binge eating, so it's very important to record how you feel physically and emotionally prior to eating, and post eating foods.  For example, feeling bloated or nauseous or having diarrhea may indicate food intolerances. It can be a very important tool for identifying food allergies or that you are consuming too much processed foods or fast foods rather than nutrient-dense healthier foods.  Keeping a food journal can also help you if you have a disease such as diabetes or hypertension by helping you avoid certain foods that cause problems for your condition and helping you stick to your special eating plan.  You can also use a food diary as a tool to improve your diet using it as a reminder to make sure you are getting a variety of foods from all the major food groups. Choose the format you prefer and that's most comfortable for you: either use an app that you download onto your phone or book format. Both will be excellent.  See my YouTube video link above for recommendation and more information on this.



It's very important that you review your journal daily and weekly to see how you're reacting to your emotions, hunger, cravings, etc. by the choices and quantities of foods you eat. And don't forget about beverages! Much of our excess caloric intake comes from beverages like lattes, sodas, sports drinks, and alcoholic beverages. You can track your consumption of beverages to help cut down on consuming these empty calories which are many times packed with sugars and excess carbohydrates,  or in the case of water, drinking more of it.

It's a proven fact that writing things down in a diary helps people make major changes in their lives.  Give it a try and see. It worked for me and I think it will work for you too!

Let me know how your doing with your diary!

- Linda
YouTips4U

How to Gain Weight

Hi, I have two babies and during both pregnancies I lost so much weight. Now I would love to gain more weight. I would like to have a really small waist and big booty and legs, but I just don't know what to do. I know I have to eat to gain weight for my butt, and eat right for my waist and stomach. Right now I weigh 115 lbs. I would like to weigh 140. Can you help me?

YouTips4U Ans.: Trying to gain weight can take time just like losing weight can because you want to gain weight with healthy foods not junk foods that are high in saturated fats, trans fats, and refined sugar. I recommend adding more healthy fats and proteins to your diet like lean meats, fish, poultry, olive oil, peanut butter or other nut butters, nuts, seeds, avocados, things that will be more calorie dense. You'll also want to add healthy carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Whenever you have an apple, add some peanut butter. Eat these calorie dense meals more frequently and you will gain weight. Eat five or six smaller balanced meals throughout the day rather than eating three large meals. This is also helpful if you are not used to eating a lot at one sitting.

You will want to focus your exercise more on resistance exercises such as lifting weights. This will help you firm and tone your body and is a better choice for gaining weight than aerobic/cardio exercises. Cardio exercise such as running, jogging, and cycling is better for fat loss. Excessive aerobic training may cause you to lose more weight. You can do resistance exercises at home with sit ups, push ups, and dumbbells, or in a gym with weight equipment. Please visit my YouTube Channel as I have many exercise videos uploaded that you can do right at home to help you have a toned shapely figure.

See you on YouTube,
-YouTips4U