Techno joy.

   In the spirits of skynet becoming sentient and self aware today I thought it only fitting that I talk about electronic aids in watching your weight.

   One of the most affective things you can do to help continue and maintain weight loss is food tracking or journaling. It's surmised that just by having to write down what you've eaten  encourages you to eat less calories. Journaling helps you become aware of serving sizes and the accumulation of small snacks, letting you adjust your eating habit more affectively.

    The one problem with food journaling is that it one works if you do it. It's in this area that technology can help. Most smart phone and even some portable game systems have food journaling options. I have recently started using one on my ipod touch called MyDietDiary, it's a free app that track your food, exercises and water consumed in a day. It also takes into account your resting BMR, which is the calories your body burns while doing everyday activities like breathing. This means that at the end of the day you can see if you have a surplus or deficit of calorie, and with 3500 calories equaling 1 lb means you only need to see a calories deficit of 500 calories a day to loose 1 lb a week.

   A nice little added bonus is that the my diet dairy app is free, extremely portable, and removes the hassle of having to look up the calories in my food online. I'll give you a verdict in about a month on if this is still working for me or not.

Tara