Find an online diet buddy
Link up with a friend who can keep you accountable with texts or emails – and talk you out of scoffing that piece of cake when you feel tempted. The key is finding a buddy who is readily available.
“Most people put their effort into finding the right diet or exercise program but don’t put any energy into creating a support and accountability system, and too often, that’s where the devil lies,” says Adam Shafran, exercise physiologist and author of You Can’t Lose Weight Alone: The Partner Power Weight Loss Program.
Try: Websites such as weightlossbuddy.com or getaweightlossbuddy.tumblr.com.
Take a picture
Use your smartphone to keep a photo diary of what you eat. US researchers found people who kept a record of everything they ate lost about 6kg in a six-month period.
“The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost. Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records,” says Dr Jack Hollis from Kaiser Permanente’s Centre for Health Research.
Try: The Easy Diet Diary app.
Body Fat Scales
High-tech bathroom scales work by sending a low electrical current through your body via your feet. The current passes through muscle quickly but fat is more resistant so the scales measure the amount of resistance and calculate your body fat percentage.
As you see the numbers on the scales gradually decrease, this can serve as encouragement to stick with your weight-loss efforts.
Try: The EatSmart Precision GetFit Digital Body Fat Scale, the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale, or the Soehnle Contour F3 Body Analysis Scales.
Wristband Revolution
Activity trackers such as a Fitbit, Up by Jawbone and Nike+ FuelBand SE remind you to keep moving and burning kilojoules.
Worn on your wrist, they count the number of steps you take and can be set up to give you a little buzz to prompt you to get up and move around. For weight loss, they work best when combined with professional dietary and exercise advice, shows recent research.
Handy Apps
The Sugar Smart app by Change4Life uses your smartphone to scan barcodes on food packaging and shows how much sugar is in each item. The That Sugar App shows the amount of sugar in supermarket foods and takeaway dishes.
Traffic Light Food Tracker compares packaged food products by assessing the amounts of salt, fats and sugar per 100g. The food is given a red, amber or green traffic light – with green meaning it’s a healthier choice for weight loss.
My Fitness Pal figures out how many kilojoules you’ve eaten using a database of five million foods. It also works out the amount of fats, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals in your diet.
Calorie Counter Pro by MyNetDiary has a barcode scanner that gives you the nutritional information of more than 416,000 foods. You can also record what you eat and keep track of your weight-loss goals.
Consult your trusted GP before making changes to your diet and exercise regime.
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