SubscribeThe Cell Phone Diet
Cell phones can do just about anything these days from searching the internet to downloading music and now cell phones may be used to help people achieve their weight loss goals.
An innovative new program is being tested in Japan where participants can use their cell phones to take pictures of there daily meals and send them to a nutritionist for feedback.
Dr. Kimura, one of the program's developers found that when patients filled out daily food journals, they would either forget to write down all the foods they were eating or they had a tendency to misjudge their portion sizes.
Now participants can take pictures of exactly what they are eating and send it to a nutrition expert, who can analyze the meals and give them healthier recommendations. All this for less than 40 bucks a month.
This program is one attempt by the Japanese government to deal with a growing obesity problem as more and more Japanese people abandon their native diets and eat diets that consist of "larger portions of both fried foods and meats."
Better than a food journal?
Personally, I have found that when people have to fill out a food diary, they are normally able to write down what they eat, but often they seem to have a hard time estimating their portion sizes, especially when dining out. Maybe using their cell phone camera is the answer?
We'll see…
Note: There is a similar service in the US called MyFoodPhone.
That's an interesting idea, but I wonder how effective it can be without personal accountability?
There are also text messaging diet services, that send texts to remind people to eat healthily, and ones that send reminders of the ill-effects of overeating
ReplyI agree with Talia, there needs to be personal accountability. I always recommend that someone who wants to lose weight buddy up with someone who they can be accountable to.
Brian
ReplyYou can take a picture of the food and skip the dessert and bread basket...
ReplyI could so see people trying to take pictures in a way that makes it look smaller. People cheat when they feel bad and know someone else is going to see-- at least, most the people I know would or would at least be tempted.
But no step is perfect, and kudos.
I measure my foods... and try to avoid eating out. But when I eat out, I get the "Weight Watchers" choices and stuff like that-- of course, imagine my irritation when I got my meal last night and the broccolli was positively swimming in butter. That is not how the WW meal (I've had it before) is supposed to be prepared. Ugh.
ReplyI guess if you sign up for this service, the idea is that you want someone's help in keeping you honest and helping you accurately assess your portions.
But of course we always think we want accountability until it comes time to fess up--then we cheat a bit anyway, even if we're only lying to ourselves.
Human nature, I guess. Probaby the best idea for consistent cheaters is to build a fudge factor into their daily goals to account for the little white lies along the way. (I don't mean a literal "fudge" factor, which might be tasty but a bit counterproductive).
Reply(And hi Talia!)
I think it's a good idea, and there will definitely be less room to lie about food intake. I know the most difficult part of recalled food intake, is remembering what we've eaten the previous day or week, so for those who really do what weight loss advice, it could be a really great idea!
Reply