Daily Diet Log - A Diet and Exercise Log is Key to Weight Loss

A daily diet log, or even better, a diet and exercise log is the winning key to weight loss.

I've known that for a long time and have even tried it once or twice. There's a problem with keeping a manual diet exercise log.

The problem is that it's a real pain in the booty!!! (And pain in a BIG booty is really pain.)

With a manual log you have to spend enormous amounts of time just looking up nutritional information.

That's probably the reason more people don't do it even though it is an excellent tool.

My Computer Daily Diet Log

But hey! I know that's one thing that computers really shine at doing. Computers take the drudge work out of any diet log.

With a quick search I found numerous online logs but at the time I wasn't interested in an online diet log. I wanted something on my computer.

I didn't want my diet and exercise log out there for everyone to see! So no online diet log for me.

With some diligent search I found what I was looking for. It's called Weight By Date. It's very inexpensive and what's better it has a free trial. Now I figure that if they offer a free trial they must have extreme confidence in their program.

I downloaded it immediately!

My First Experience With A Computer Diet Log

Now I have to tell you this was a long time ago. At the time I was 50 pounds overweight.

My intention was to use the program as a starting point for beginning a weight loss program. After all you can't get where you want to go if you don't know where you are right?

I started entering information right away. The first few days I only entered what I was actually eating and the exercise I was getting. (Which was zero.)

My purpose was to let the software show me unhealthy trends in my diet that I could start correcting.

I didn't lie to the software. I entered everything that went into my mouth. After all, lying to the software would be just lying to myself because nobody else was going to see the information.

It was my personal food and exercise confessor.

Those first few days I was truly shocked at the information the software was giving back to me about the food I was eating. I was consuming way more calories than my body needed.

Could this be right?

I was making a lot of estimates about quantities (I didn't think I was lying.) and I figured that must be a part of my problem. I was simply entering in more food than I was actually eating.

So I invested in various measuring devices, including a set of kitchen scales, hoping that accuracy would improve my software feedback. I was shocked again.

The quantities I was entering were actually less than I was eating. My estimates were way off but not in the direction that I thought.

The software made me aware of my total lack of portion control!

I already knew that a lot of the things that I ate were not necessarily good for me. Heck I was 50 pounds over weight. But in retrospect I can't believe the choices I was making. I was eating mindlessly.

Entering the foods I ate in the software made the wheels in my head turn. The software made me more aware of my food choices!

The Exercise Part of the Diet Exercise Log

There was an entry spot in the software that I had just been entering zero. That spot is where you enter your daily physical activity.

My list of priorities in the past did not include physical activity. (Unless you can count clicking buttons on the TV remote.)

I knew that if I wanted to lose weight I had to have something in that physical activity spot so I started a walking program. My first effort was a modest five minutes - but I had started.

The software made me aware of my physical activity!

What My Diet Log Did For Me

During my first month using the software I didn't feel deprived. I ate what I chose to and if I chose not to exercise I didn't. But with the inspiration of the software I actually lost 10 pounds.

10 pounds in one month!

And I wasn't on a diet of any kind. I didn't eliminate entire food groups. I didn't take some kind of magical pill. And yet I lost 10 pounds!

It was just the software.

I can't count the times I ate less of an item or skipped an item all together because I knew I was going to be entering it in the software.

And there were days that I really, really didn't feel like going for a walk, but I hated the thought of entering that zero, so I went.

The software for me was like an angel sitting on my shoulder giving me guidance. Helping me to make better choices. Inspiring me towards my goal of losing weight.

If you would like to have your own personal angel you can get a no cost 15-day trial of the same software I used by clicking the following link: Daily Diet Log

I would suggest that you use the 15 days just to enter information. Don't actually go on a diet unless you're already on one.

If you've never kept a daily diet log or diet and exercise log before you're in for some surprises.