Snap judgment

If you want to lose weight, try grabbing your camera.

Over the past few years, the tried-and-true technique of food journaling has expanded online with Web sites that let you upload photos of your meal which you snap with a cell phone or digital camera to keep an eye on potential portion distortion.

While these camera diets can be helpful, like any other weight-loss method, success depends on individual effort.

Registered dietitian Sue Roberts of Washington has her own Web site, www.youronlinenutritionist.com

She s found it s easier for some of her clients to take a picture of their meal than write it all down (although some camera-diet sites also have the option of typing in your meals).

Everybody has got their cell phone with them; just take it out, click and you re done. It s so super easy, Roberts says.

Since a photo can jog our memory of an experience, taking a picture can really bring up a lot of what s going on with a person in (terms of) making food choices, she says.

She s able to look at her clients photos and often sends feedback in an e-mail, such as, It looks great you re sticking with the plan, or she might wait to discuss it during their videoconferencing meetings.

Food journaling of any kind helps increase awareness of what you re eating and how much, she says.

It also makes a person stop before they eat and think that moment is often enough to break the chain involved with compulsive overeating, Roberts says.

Plus, clients have told her that knowing she will see their food photos positively influences their meal choices.

MyFoodPhone users can count calories with tools based on the government s food pyramid, she says. They can look at a picture of a 3-ounce portion of steak, for example, and use an online ruler to measure the food in their photos.

Kandi Dawson, a registered dietitian at Dupont Hospital, urges caution when using a camera-diet site.

I think we have to be aware of the fact that a photo doesn t always tell us everything about what is on that plate, partially because it s hard to judge portion size, she says.

Weight management and weight loss is very individualized. It s about whatever works for that person.

She also warns consumers about using any diet- or health-related Web site that doesn t offer input from medical professionals, in some way.

There s a lot out there, and not all of it is totally safe, she says. You just have to scrutinize who s doing this and why are they selling this product.

One site Dawson recommends, which allows a free nutritional-analysis search, even if you don t buy the product, is the Nutrition Analysis Tools and System at nat.crgq.com .

You can determine if you re getting the calories you want, the fat grams, the right kinds of fat, she says, adding that the site s data is based on USDA food tables.

Studies show that food journaling leads to successful weight loss and weight maintenance. It has to do with the fact that you re holding yourself accountable, she says.

Of course, there s always the old-fashioned method: a notebook and pen.

No matter how you do it, a good food journal will include not only what you ate, at what time, and how much, Dawson says, but also a record of how you felt when you were eating.

Were you stressed, rushed, tired?

These types of notes can help you notice trends and habits, such as if you often eat when stressed, or consume dinner in front of the TV every night.

Setting small goals, even one a month, can be helpful when trying to change old habits. And give yourself a non-food reward for achieving them, she suggests.

Since food is only half the picture, she reminds dieters to increase physical activity as well.

Food journaling is an exceptionally important thing for long-term success. It forces us to think about why we re eating, Dawson says.

sscarlett@jg.net

To guide people reasonable nutrition, the Food and Nutrition Institute proposed guidelines, and the image known as the 10 l nutrition pyramid.

10 1 refers to a daily meal packages should be

Grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, milk and dairy products , poultry, meat, fish, eggs, four categories of food to these four categories of food as a basis for an appropriate increase in the salt, oil, sugar, .

Pyramid The first layer is the most important food grains, which constitute Fataki, in the diet should be accounted for a large proportion. Grain legumes daily food intake was 400-500 grams of grain and beans ratio of 10:1.

Pyramid is the second layer of vegetables and fruit, in the pyramid occupy a considerable position. Daily intake of vegetables and 300-400 grams of fruit, vegetables and fruits ratio of 8:1.

Pyramid of the third layer is milk and dairy products, to complement high-quality protein and calcium. For the daily intake of 200 to 300 grams.

Pyramid for the fourth layer of animal food, mainly provides protein, fat, vitamins B and inorganic salts. Poultry, meat, fish, eggs and other animal products for daily intake of 100-200 grams.

Tip for the appropriate amount of oil, salt and sugar.

The four basic components plus tip superimposed together like pyramid.

It is well known ancient Egyptian pyramid is the world s miracles, is the crystallization of wisdom and science, is the most stable form of the structure of the firm. The same nutrition pyramid is the best diet structure, in accordance with the principle of balanced nutrition tower needs to adjust diet, a reasonable nutrition, health promotion and effective method.

Please 4 10 1 nutrition pyramid as a guide to our food.

We recommend to the World Health Organization reasonable diet structure can be used pyramid -to show, divided into four levels.

Sugar and salt oil 10%

Fish Roudannai 20%

Fruits and vegetables 30%

40% of rice pasta

Additional information :

From www.journalgazette.net:
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