Washington: One of the best predictors of success to losing weight is monitoring and recording calorie and fat intake throughout the day. However dietary self-monitoring is widely viewed as so unpleasant and time-consuming, many would-be weight-losers can’t muster the will power to do it. A new research, to be published in the March issue of Obesity suggests that the reality of dietary self-monitoring may be far less disagreeable than the perception.
The study found that after six months of monitoring their dietary intake, the most successful participants in an online behavioural weight-loss programme spent an average of just 14.6 minutes per day on the activity. Programme participants recorded the calories and fat for all foods and beverages they consumed, as well as the portion sizes and the preparation methods.
Conducted by researchers at the University of Vermont and the University of South Carolina, the study is the first to quantify the amount of time that dietary self-monitoring actually takes for those who successfully shed those extra kilos. Lead author of the study Jean Harvey said, “People hate it; they think it’s onerous and awful, but the question we had was: How much time does dietary self-monitoring really take?” adding, “The answer is, not very much”
