Food Tracking Is A Tool, Not A Necessity

Food tracking is a tool that some people find greatly useful to help them manage their energy intake or hit a macronutrient target. It allows food intake to be quantified and many people benefit from the tangibility provided to their food intake. Other people find it doesn’t work for them and they prefer to eat manage food intake as they go.

I view food tracking as being like managing a budget. There are some people who set spending limits for different categories and then track all of their spendings in an app. While it takes them some time to do this, they find it empowering to be in control of their finances.

Other people have some general financial principles that they employ and if they stick to these, they are able to manage their budget without any tracking. Both approaches require discipline and can be the right method to help someone manage their food intake.

Often these two approaches to food are presented as opposites — you either track food or you don’t — but the reality is they are at opposite ends of the same scale. When I am working with clients to improve their nutrition, my aim is to help them develop their own nutrition principles that they can implement for the next twenty years. However, we don’t jusy start with the principles and go and put them into play, we will begin by making some small changes and…