Should I track my food?

This has always been a question on my mind. At times I have had clients track either their calories, macros, their carb intake or sugars. I would be the first to admit, they all work. To a point and only for a small number of people. This is either for a competition, a special event or holiday, something like that. What bothers me is that with this way of thinking it puts people in a ‘short term’ mindset. Like dieting should really be done for a reason (excluding athletes) rather than trying to make yourself as healthy and disease and pain free as much and as long as possible.

I’d like us to break away from diet culture and focus more on a wellbeing culture. I would be the first to admit that this is an uphill struggle. With the food industry pumping out products for you to eat and become addicted to and the “health and fitness” industry more concerned with selling you pills, powders, shakes, bars  and diet plans. We can break this cycle, or even mold it to benefit us rather than a nameless corporation and dishonest people out there in the world.

Tracking could really help people to understand how much food they need, though it isn’t for everyone. Though I feel this builds potentially build negative behaviors and ways of thinking about their lifestyle. A person can become obsessive about it. They could almost feel alienated from social events. I’m more concerned about the mental impact this has on a person and the negative outcome that could follow. 

Let’s be honest this wouldn’t be right for everyone. Over the years I have tried to encourage others to really listen to their bodies. Not to make the excuse of “I’ve been ‘good’ all week” or “I’m craving this so I’ll have it” Yes there will be moments where we would stray and that’s ok. For years I had helped dozens of people every month to rethink how they viewed their food and diets without having to count or track a single thing. Again it just came back to behavior. As an example: There was a group of people I was helping to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes. These people were and aged 40+. When a woman from the group, cleary a little agitated about the thought of all the foods she “couldn’t” eat and the thought of making so many changes, told me she had done all the most popular weight loss programs out there but her weight came back and she always found it hard and then felt guilty when ever she strayed. This brings on the “fuck it” mentality right. She loved chocolate, and seemed even more frustrated as she spoke. When she finished, I asked her how many days there are in the year. She looked very confused, then answered me. I responded with “Who cares if even 65 days of your year you don’t eat well, there are 300 days where you did. Over time that’s a good ratio” At that moment things clicked. I went on to explain how we seem to be so short sighted when it comes to our weight loss and lose sight of the bigger picture.

Personally I’ve tried tracking my calories a few times, like many others I thought this is what you did to lose weight. It didn’t last long, I got really bored of it pretty quickly every time. It wasn’t until I read books on habits and a few biochemistry books (I’m a fun guy) and got more qualifications did I change my approach and attitude towards it all. One thing I’m enjoying right now, I’ve been doing some research into bronze age strongmen and bodybuilders diets. None of these men appear to have tracked anything. Obviously information is limited to their own books or someone writing one about them. One thing seems clear to me, is that their sweet foods were limited and clearly no processed foods entered their diets. The more whole foods we eat the need to count or track becomes pointless, right!

If you’re a professional athlete and your coach tracks/monitors everything with you, keep going with it. If you’re looking to be healthy, lose or gain muscle I wouldn’t bother even if you’re exercising. Listen to your body more. Take your time when eating, drink more water and reduce processed food. I’m not one to put labels on things but the industry would call this “flexible dieting” and/or “intermittent fasting” even writing this I was rolling my eyes.

In the end as long as you’re safe and doing things as healthily as you can you should be good. Take your time, try not to think in short terms and you’ll go far and stay fit and healthy for the long haul.