Weight loss tip: cease the calorie counting to fight the flab with a food diary

Weight loss tip: cease the calorie counting to fight the flab with a food and feelings diary...

Although counting calories may seem like a sensible solution to shaping a slender silhouette, this simple action can sabotage more than just our sanity.

In fact, dedicating every ounce of energy to a diet that's defined by strategic sums and scales can not only diminish our determination to drop a dress size - we start to loathe the lacklustre lifestyle that leaves us psychologically preoccupied with pin pointing precise portions as our constant calorie counting becomes an unsustainable chore - but drive us to develop a detrimental eating disorder - our overwhelming obsession with sums and scales starts to spiral into self-starvation as we convince ourselves that counting and cutting (more) calories is the only answer to ousting an accumulation of additional weight.

Instead of increasing the incidence of igniting a fear of food by counting every calorie that you consume, focus on fighting the flab with a daily food and feelings diary. Although this simple swap may see you struggling to estimate your exact caloric consumption, grabbing a pen before your plate will allow you to:

• see which super sized portions need to be slashed
• pin point problematic eating patterns such as skipped snacks and meals, using sugary sweet treats to soothe stress and/or finding comfort in calories
• determine which dishes and desserts are aggravating an existing digestive disorder - think caffeine and/or fried and fatty foods (irritable bowel syndrome)  
• highlight the weight loss weaknesses that will hinder your health and healthier habits
• estimate if you're under or over eating, and if any mandatory nutrients are missing from your daily diet - think an inadequate intake of the vital vitamins and minerals found in food sources such as fruit and vegetables.

Once you have determined your dietary demons, you can then work on replacing an unrealistic regime - a regime that resembles religiously weighing out petite portions of rabbit food - with the simple, sensible, satisfying and substantial food swaps that will allow you to successfully shape a slender silhouette, without the worry of developing a distorted relationship with food, and your figure.

Final thought: with many dieters underestimating their overall caloric consumption by up to 50%, a daily food and feelings diary will prove to be an invaluable weight loss weapon for those who are prone to painting an inaccurate picture of their abnormal actions - be it because they've become blinkered to their bad behaviour, or because they're not ready to create change. By physically penning your eating patterns, portions and problems, you're not only much more likely to register the reality of your actions, but acknowledge (and accept) where you're going wrong when it comes to weight loss.

www.twitter.com/BunsandGunsUK
www.bunsandguns.co.uk