One study has shown that you can lose belly fat or at least increase the rate of “burning” abdominal fat – if you walk about 2 miles per hour for 20 minutes three times a week.

That is nice to know, but when it comes to losing your gut, perhaps the details do not matter.

People who keep a basic food journal lose as much weight as those who record every single bite, report University of Pittsburgh researchers.

In the recent study, scientists found that dieters who simply wrote down the size of each meal (small, medium, large, XL) were just as successful at losing weight as those who tracked the specific foods, calories, and fat they ate.

“The process of simply keeping a food diary may be more important than the information you record,” says study author Diane Helsel, R.D. “It may serve as a reminder of how much you’re eating over the course of a day.” [source: Men’s Health]