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Tracking everything you eat and drink can be a hassle, especially when you're trying to lose weight.
However, a new study suggests that you don't have to be perfect at it to lose a significant amount of weight.
Let's find out more about it.
Researchers followed 153 people in a weight loss program for six months.
These participants used a digital weight loss program where they recorded what they ate.
The researchers wanted to figure out how much tracking was needed to predict weight loss.
The study found that you don't have to track everything every day.
Participants who tracked their food on about 30% of the days still lost more than 3% of their weight.
If they tracked on about 40% of the days, they could lose more than 5% of their weight, and tracking on almost 70% of the days helped them lose more than 10% of their weight.
In simpler terms, you can miss a few days of tracking and still achieve significant weight loss.
The study also revealed different tracking patterns.
Some people tracked diligently and lost around 10% of their weight.
Others started tracking regularly but decreased over time and still lost about 5% of their weight.
Then, there were those who tracked less and only lost 2% of their weight.
This research can help design better weight loss programs tailored to how people track their food.
So, even if you miss a few entries, you can still make progress in your weight loss journey.