Should you track what you eat?

We’ve gone over the three macronutrients and a little bit about how calories work. Now that you understand them, should you track them?

There are many different ways you can track what you eat. You can track Macros, you can track calories, you can track portions, you can weigh your food, etc.

But should you? And, if you should does it matter what method you use?

That’s something you have to answer for yourself, as everyones situation is different. Here are a few reasons you might want to track your food.

If you’re trying to lose weight.

It is a fact that if you’re trying to improve something, if you track it, it will improve more than if you don’t track it. You’ll eat less if you track it. Even if you don’t use a complex plan for losing weight, just tracking your food will make you more mindful of what you’re eating. For weight loss you can either track macros or track calories or track servings per day. Whatever works for you.

If you’re trying to build muscle.

Building muscle is another complex process. You’ll have to eat enough protein, and total calories to add weight. Tracking will definitely help you do that. For this, you are likely going to want to track macros. You can either track macros using a food tracking app or you can just track servings per day.

If you aren’t worried about weight and you’re trying to improve fruit, vegetable, or protein intake.

Really the only way to know you are eating more, is to measure. If you’re wanting to eat more of a certain food, track how much you’re eating. In this instance it’s likely you may just want to track the servings per day.

If you are maintaining.

If you are maintaining, it is likely you don’t need to track your food. However, some people like to track their food while they’re maintaining. By doing so, they will notice trends that they can correct before losing or gaining weight. And maybe it helps them eat enough of the healthy foods they want to maintain their health.

Ways to track:

One of the best ways to track is by using a tracking app on your phone. These apps often have a barcode scanner you can easily use to track foods as you eat them. This will give you the ability to track calories and/or macros, or you can track the foods and focus on portions instead of calories. If you track portions, you will look at certain foods and count them as a portion of either protein, carbs, fat, fruits, or vegetables. For example: for breakfast I had 3 eggs, a bowl of oatmeal, and an apple. I will track that in the app and count my portions from that meal as 1 protein, 1 carb, and 1 fruit. The goal would be to have a certain number of portions of each. Here are the pros and cons of each tracking method:

Tracking Calories/Macros:

Pros: The most detailed tracking; can yield the best results if done correctly

Cons: Requires an above average understanding of portions to track accurately; tracking errors; might require weighing or measuring food to be accurate; most time consuming and mentally taxing

Tracking Portions:

Pros: Ease and simplicity; fairly detailed and can yield great results; easier to track a variety of foods

Cons: Requires an understanding of portion sizes; only slightly time consuming and mentally taxing; can be confusing if two foods fall under multiple categories

Why not track your food?

One reason is you might just not need to track your food to reach a goal right now. It’s not a good idea to add work and complexity if it isn’t needed. You may be able to generally track a few things in your head (like servings of fruit and vegetables or servings of protein) without spending the time meticulously tracking them.

Another big reason not to track food is because it causes you anxiety. Some people become anxious and obsessive when tracking food, which can harm your mental health. In the end, harming your mental health will offset any potential health benefits from tracking food.

If you want a quick explanation of how to start tracking your food, sign up for a free 15 minute call with me below:

I’m glad to have you on this journey with me!

Have an awesome week!