Texas Lap Band Surgeons Talk With You

I know we’ve written an awful lot about journaling and recording your intake.  But a weeny itty-bitty reminder can always be helpful, so here goes

Recently, I sent a friend a picture of a chocolate cake that I had made for a barbecue we were having in our backyard.  She mentioned to me that she had a friend that took lots of “food pics” and when I later met him, I asked him why he photographed his meals.  Was it for an art project? For posterity?  No, it turns out he was helping a friend of his who was having a hard time losing weight and journaling, so he decided to journal with her for support.  He told me he took a picture (with his phone) of everything he ate since September 2008 and has lost more than 50 lbs in the process. 

Journaling with a phone is easy – you take a quick picture of everything you’re about to eat and then later that day, at your convenience, you can write down all the calories and nutritional information based on the picture.  Photo journaling helps teach you about portions and keeps you more honest than journaling by memory (i.e. trying to remember back to what you ate during the course of the day. I can’t remember what socks I put on this morning without looking at my feet so I guarantee no-one who tries to journal that way can perfectly -0r even adequately- recall everything they put in their mouth.) 

Jornaling with pictures also makes you pause and reflect, even if for just a second, prior to eating something.  You have a moment while the camera application is opening to think to yourself, ” do I really want this?  Is it worth facing the wrath of Hekier/Keilin if the scale doesn’t budge?”  Sometimes that pause is all you need to break a binge or halt a non-nutritious snack before it even starts.

I’ll see if my new friend will write a guest post for us and share some of his tips and insights.