Dear Diary

Through the years, I have tried many many diets. Low carb, vegetarian, low fat, high protein, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers... just to name a few. The only thing that saved me and helped me lose the extra 40 pounds I carried around was a food journal.

I would reflect back on the day, wondering why I wasn't losing weight. My thoughts went like this:  "I did well today. I had a yogurt for breakfast, a salad for lunch with my dressing on the side, and fish with vegetables for dinner. I worked out this morning, drank a ton of water...." Then, after further thought:  "Well, there was also that sliver of Kringle that someone left in the lunchroom, that slice of cake that someone brought in for her birthday, a handful of m&ms, a frozen coffee drink this afternoon..." and so on. Here I was consuming an additional 500-600 calories a day that I was conveniently forgetting in my mental tally. One day, I had had enough, broke down, and got acquainted with a small notebook and pen.

Before you can track your calories, you must first figure out how many your body needs. To do this, use a calorie calculator like this one from the Mayo Clinic:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598. This will take your age, height, weight and activity level into consideration when calculating how many calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. I like this calculator because it illustrates how those calorie needs increase or decrease based on your activity level. If you're looking to lose weight, you will have to consumer fewer calories. I would recommend cutting about 300 calories from this for your daily needs, and if you're not exercising, to add daily activity.

Choose a notebook that fits in your purse or man bag, and a pen that clips on to the notebook and carry it with you AT ALL TIMES. Everything you eat, no matter how small, must be written down. If you don't know the caloric content, write the food down with the amount you ate, and when you get home, look it up here:  http://www.calorieking.com/. Pay attention to portion size; if the box of cereal says the serving size is 1/2 C, and you eat 1 C, you will need to make those adjustments. At the end of the day, add everything up; I even like to add it up halfway through the day to see what I've got left. And, as long as you're writing down your food, you might as well note at the top of your page how long you exercised!

If you find that you're going over your daily allowance, think about what you could do differently the next day. Did you have empty calories like soda or overdose on calorie dense foods like nuts? Make changes and keep tweaking until those pounds start melting away. I promise you that if you make yourself accountable for the choices you make, you will make better choices. Be honest with yourself, or it won't work.

Don't wait until Monday - grab that notebook and start NOW!