Want to lose weight? Before you change anything, follow these tips

It sounds far too simple. But science clearly proves that losing weight is actually quite easy. With a few simple steps, you can get more out of your diet.

For many people, even the thought of constantly counting calories, carbohydrates, proteins and fats when losing weight is torture. They would love to run screaming to the nearest all-you-can-eat buffet to drown their displeasure in tons of rice, noodles, sweet and sour chicken and a huge chocolate fountain.

There is no need to panic. We have a simpler idea that doesn't require such short-sighted reactions in the first place. Just don't change anything at first - but write down everything you eat. Honestly, it's that simple! Don't limit your calorie intake, just pay attention to what you eat at every meal and record it - every day.

Whether you use an app, your notebook or old-school pen and paper is entirely up to you. Just do it. It sounds too easy, doesn't it? Here are some reasons why you should put a little faith in it.

1 - Science says it works

A comparative study published by the Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute's Weight Management Initiative looked at the influence of a regularly kept food diary on weight loss. Over 1,700 women and men were examined.

As the scientists found out, no particular detail emerged as an outstanding success factor. Except for the fact of how frequently and conscientiously the test subjects wrote down their eating habits. Those who wrote down their daily diet every day lost twice as much weight as the test subjects who did not keep a food diary.

2 - It helps you to pay more attention to your portion size

The difference between a small piece of cake and a medium-sized piece of cake may not be that big at the table. All too often when we eat, we don't think about portion size or whether we should have more or less seconds. However, this decision, which we often make in a split second, has huge consequences for your diet.

But if you write down your eating habits, you will be forced to deal with these differences. Even if you don't know how a small portion and a large portion differ in terms of calories, you will automatically realize that you are eating more than would be good for your goal.

It's a conscious decision - it doesn't just happen to you. The longer you stick with it, the quicker you will get used to it. As if by magic, at some point you will ask yourself with every extra bite whether you really need it. This little pause for thought will help you stay on track with your weight loss in the long term.

3 - You can uncover gaps in your diet

All too often, it's the little things in life that make the difference between success and failure. Why should it be any different with dieting? If you consistently record your diet, you will be forced to deal with exactly those little things that represent a gap in your diet plan.

What about the extra portion of sugar in your morning coffee, the naturally non-sugar-free cola, a glass of wine in the evening or a cookie in between at the office? All these little things add up and have a decisive influence on weight loss. Just one glass of wine can easily add up to 100 kilocalories.

Even an innocuous-looking cookie can easily add 150 calories to your calorie balance. Even if you don't know how many calories are in every drink and snack you reach for, you'll still realize they're extra calories. Keeping a food diary will help you spot all these little crooks in your eating routine.

The best way to record your diet

To create a food diary that is as accurate as possible, you should not only write down all the foods you eat, but also all portion sizes and every single bite you take. Just start with one day and try to stick to it for a week. You'll see how quickly even a month goes by.

But don't forget to enter all drinks in your food diary too. You can design your food diary however you like. Use a notepad, a classic bound diary or your notebook. There are now also numerous apps in the app stores that make keeping a food diary even easier.

What you should not do: Do not plan your diet in advance without writing down the actual bites. Even if planning ahead seems much more efficient at first glance, this is not the case in practice. After all, planning ahead does not mean that you will stick to it. We humans are creatures of habit.

The conclusion is brief: Before you do anything else or start strange experiments to lose weight, you should simply give the food diary a chance.