Time to Develop Self-Monitoring Skills?

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If you are tired of fad diets where you quickly regain the weight you worked so hard to lose, it may be time to develop self-monitoring skills to achieve a healthy weight that you can maintain for the rest of your life. Based on a body of scientific evidence, the use of behavior and lifestyle modifications can result in sustainable weight loss for healthy living. Through nutrition education and expert support you can enjoy permanent weight loss.

Self-monitoring of your food choices and engagement in daily physical activities can help you develop a sense of accountability, which is the cornerstone of successful weight management. By utilizing self-monitoring skills, dieters are better equipped when trying to lose weight and keep it off for the long term. With good behaviors in place, you will be able to reach your goals in a safe and effective manner.

Self-Monitor Your Progress for Optimal Results

Studies published by the National Institute of Health found that a high frequency and high consistency of dietary self-monitoring of energy intake and expenditure improves long-term success. Listed below are four benefits of tracking your food, weight and daily exercise:

Triggers Mindful Behaviors – Self-monitoring helps to trigger more mindful behaviors for changing eating and exercise habits and is considered by medical experts to be the cornerstone of behavioral weight loss treatment.

Better Understanding of Your Habits – In addition to helping you be more mindful about your decisions, tracking can help you monitor calorie intake and burn as well as achieve your nutritional goals for living healthy.

Reduces Chances of Weight Regain – Studies suggest that participants who were highly committed to self-monitoring developed self-regulatory behavior that may be critical to long-term weight control.

Helps You Reach Your Goals – Higher frequency of self-monitoring is associated with reaching weight loss goals in individuals who self-monitor consistently, but had little impact on weight change for those who did not self-monitor.

Technology Works Better with Human Support

The advantage of technology lies in removing the previous hassle of self-monitoring results. Nonetheless, the use of the latest self-monitoring technology alone (without the addition of human support) is highly unlikely to produce meaningful changes in weight over the long term. Adult participants in a recent weight loss study had better long-term adherence to weight management behaviors after making lifestyle interventions when they also received human support in addition to the latest self-monitoring tools and technologies. The success of digital tools appears to come from tapping into a dieter’s competitiveness by providing visual cues that indicate how successful intervention strategies are in real time.

For anyone who struggles with weight control, Metabolic Research Center focuses on personalizing lifestyle interventions and also provides tons of human support to ensure you are following strategies that meet your specific needs.