November 10, 2009

Here at Graphite, we have a firm belief in the power of Tracking.  By Tracking, we mean the act of recording meals and exercise activity as way to manage your weight and fitness.  Our enthusiasm for tracking is based on the personal experiences of our Graphite team members as well as the hundreds of users who test drove our beta application, iTrakOnline.com. The idea is a simple one. By recording what you eat, you are creating a level of awareness of your eating habits that is simply not possible unless you 'track' what you eat. It's really that simple. Studies have shown that people who track their meals lose up to twice as much weight as those who don't.

The most significant study was published in July, 2008 by Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.  Funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, the study is one of the largest and longest weight-loss maintenance trials ever conducted.  “The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost,” says Jack Hollis PhD, a researcher at KPCHR and lead author of the study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.  “Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records.  It seems that the simple act of writing down what you eat encourages people to consume fewer calories.” You can read the original  news release by clicking here. 

Of course, the process of recording your meals can be very difficult and time consuming.  That's where Graphite comes in. We have created what we believe is the easiest-to-use calorie tracking solution available.  We have spent literally hundreds of hours honing our application design to make meal tracking as easy as it can be. This isn't to say that meal tracking in Graphite is effortless, but we think it's the best solution available and we hope you feel the same way.

As a final thought, there is one aspect of tracking that I wish would have been mentioned in the study.  From our experience, the most important benefit of tracking is lifestyle flexibility.  Flexibility is what allows you to stick with this over the long-term.  Commercial diet programs tend to be inflexible and rigid. Tracking is about 'batting for average' and getting it right most of the time.  Let's face it, there will always be the upcoming cookout, birthday or cocktail party. No one wants to approach these kinds of events being bound by a bunch of rules regarding what you can and cannot eat and drink.  Tracking allows you to plan for these types of events, allowing you the freedom to enjoy yourself without going off the rails completely. That is nearly impossible with other weight loss programs. Graphite is about positive and permanent lifestyle change, not rules, restrictions and being deprived.

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