Those of you who have been following the column will know that we have been covering diet and nutrition issues recently.

I have explained why dieting is unhealthy, particularly some of the fad diets that are on the market. I have outlined how to use the Food Guide Pyramid as an eating guide and I have discussed the importance of eating the correct serving sizes.

Hopefully, you have been using this information to make small improvements in the way you eat, with the ultimate goal of changing your lifestyle for the better. Today I'm going to suggest one more tool that you can use to help you in your efforts to live a healthier more balanced life.

Most weight loss experts agree on one thing: Self-monitoring is the single most important aspect of effective weight control. Self-monitoring is the careful observation and recording of behaviour that you wish to change, so for our purposes today, it involves the observation and recording of eating and exercise behaviours. In other words, the experts recommend keeping a food and activity journal.

Now I realise that many of you are probably thinking that you don't have time or that it would be a nuisance to keep a journal, but consider the following research evidence of the benefits of self-monitoring, taken from Daniel Kirschenbaum's The Nine Truths about Weight Loss. Among weight controllers in a twelve-week programme, those who self-monitored consistently lost 64 percent more weight than the inconsistent self-monitors; the consistent self-monitors also maintained this superior weight loss three months later.

Out of ten changes in eating habits that were measured, only self-monitoring was clearly related to successful weight loss when evaluated almost two years after the programme began. Two studies showed that even weight controllers who generally self-monitored very consistently discontinued monitoring for a day or more sometimes. During the weeks that they self-monitored inconsistently, however, they lost much less weight than usual for them. More specifically, when these generally consistent self-monitors kept track of virtually everything they ate and all of their exercise, they lost between one and two pounds per week; during their least consistent weeks of self-monitoring they lost only half as much weight.

Weight controllers who self-monitored very consistently in the first few weeks of several professional treatment programmes maintained much greater weight losses, compared to inconsistent self-monitors, when evaluated one to two years after treatment began.

The research speaks for itself!

So how do you go about keeping a food and activity journal? Keeping track of your activity is simple - obviously, you just need to record the exercise you do each day. For example: Warm-up: 15 minutes on bike; strength training: chest, shoulders, triceps; cardio: 30 minutes on StairMaster; flexibility: ten minutes full-body. You could go into even more detail by listing the actual exercises, sets and repetitions for your strength training programme; that way you can keep track of your progress. Also, you can track your heart rate during and after your cardiovascular exercise, the difficulty level if using a piece of equipment, the mileage covered if outside, etc. The extent of detail included is up to you.

Most people find keeping a food diary the hardest part to get used to! The detail you use when recording your food is also up to you - you are better off keeping a very basic food diary than none at all! Important information when keeping a food diary includes, the time of day the meal is eaten, the quantity of food eaten, the number of calories, and the number of fat grams.

You can also include how you were feeling at the time of eating, what you were doing while eating and where you ate. This latter information would be useful in determining and improving your behaviour: you may realise that you always eat junk food when under stress, or that you always eat a snack while watching television in the evening, for example. Knowledge is the first step to changing your lifestyle. I know some of you will now be thinking: "You expect me to measure everything I put in my mouth!? " The answer is yes, but it doesn't have to be too complicated. I have taken to pouring my cereal into a one cup measuring cup, then doing the same with my milk, rinsing the cup and then measuring out my orange juice every morning with breakfast; it takes maybe 30 seconds longer in the morning.

I also dish up pasta, rice, meat sauces, vegetables etc. with a measuring cup (of varying sizes) instead of a serving spoon; they're just as easy to use and that way you know exactly what you're putting on your plate. And with some things, like chicken breasts for example, you only have to weigh a few times before you can accurately eyeball the size of your portion.

Initially, you may simply want to record what and when you eat, without worrying about measuring your food or keeping track of the calories. However, recording and totalling calories, fat grams and other nutrients consumed will provide you with more useful information. You can then determine whether you are consuming too many or too few calories, ensure that your fat intake is no more than 25 to 30 percent of your daily intake and also be sure you are eating the right proportions of carbohydrates and protein.

There are some good resources available to help you figure out how healthy your diet is. The Complete Book of Food Counts by Corinne T. Netzer provides a comprehensive list of nutrients contained in the foods we eat and is available for less than $10 on www.amazon.com, or you can go to www.n twrks.com/~ mikev/~mikev1.htm for a similar online reference. Remember to use the Food Guide Pyramid and serving size information from the last two articles to be sure you are consuming the right number of calories, and the proper amounts from each food group. For a more thorough method of monitoring your nutrient intake there are a number of good software programmes available. Check out the following sites for some of the better nutrition tracking software programmes: www.provariant.com and www.dietpower.com.

Personally, I use a programme called Protrak 2002, which is available free if you buy membership to Global Health & Fitness (an excellent health and fitness website) on www.global-fitness.com.

Or you can buy it from www.dakotafit.com.

Using nutrition tracking software is a great way to keep yourself on track and learn how to make modifications to your diet in order to ensure that you eat a healthy, balanced diet.

Here are a few other reasons to start self-monitoring. Consistent self-monitoring improves weight control by increasing your ability to use goals, improving your commitment to change, increasing your feeling of control, improving your understanding of eating and exercise patterns, improving your information about, and focus on, the details promoting a more positive mood.

I strongly recommend that you start using this basic tool today to help you start improving your eating habits! Although it may seem to be a nuisance at times, and it will certainly take some getting used to, you will benefit in the long run! The most important thing when monitoring your diet is to record everything you put in your mouth!! Everything counts! Self-monitoring is one of the most effective tools you can use on your journey to becoming BodyWise!