The Instagram Diet Plan: Can Social Media Help You Lose Weight?

After a summer of trying delicious dessert recipes on Pinterest and a fall of long work hours coupled with less-than-healthy food choices, I am now a few pounds above my preferred weight. 

I am not about to tell you what that weight is, but I will say I am about 8 pounds above the midpoint of the range I like to weigh. The last time I got lazy and let myself pick up a few pounds (which was during a period of long work hours, high stress and little sleep), I lost weight by keeping a food journal. I wrote down everything I ate and kept a calorie count. It worked well because I was really loathe to go over my daily calorie target. However, it was also tedious and not at all enjoyable.

So, the other day I was browsing Instagram and it occurred to me that a photo journal of my food intake might be more interesting and would still include enough accountability to keep me from overindulging. Turns out, I'm not the first one to have that idea. On the "Run Jason" blog, Jason Fredin outlines his concept of the Instagram diet. In short, taking photos of everything you eat (if you are honest about it) is a simple way to track your food intake, stops unhealthy snacking and deters overeating because, as Fredin explains:

"I don’t really want to have a picture over there of an entire bag of cookies, a whole pizza, or a bunch of pictures of candy bars. If I feel like someone is watching (even if that someone is really no-one) I tend to be on my best behaviour." 

I realize the chances of anyone actually caring about my food intake on Instagram are really low, so the only one I'll be answering to is myself. Still, just the thought that someone might look at the photos and think to himself or herself, "She really shouldn't be eating that if she is trying to lose weight!" might just be enough of a deterrent.

I don't know if this diet plan will work or not since there is no calorie counting involved, but I'm willing to give it a try. If you'd like to try it with me, hashtag your Instagram meal photos as #PatchDiet. If you are not an Instagram user and would still like to participate, just click on the "Upload photos and videos" button to add your food photos here. Even if no one else knows your user name, there is still something to be said for being accountable to yourself.

For the purposes of tracking my progress on the Instagram diet, my starting point is "+8" and I'll indicate progress weekly on my Instagram account.

An important note to any fellow dieters: The last time I dieted, it took months to hit my target weight. I don't believe in extreme calorie restriction or near-starvation plans. I slowly cut back on my food intake, primarily in the dessert category. I still have desserts, I just try to have them less often. If you are going to diet, give yourself a chance to succeed and don't expect overnight results. Patience is a virtue.