"Knowledge is the compound interest of curiosity." — James Clear
If you haven't noticed, the online nutrition space loves to be polarizing. And one topic that you'll see extreme opinions on is food tracking. One camp will tell you that any kind of food tracking is disordered or unhealthy behavior. While the other will insist that weighing and measuring every last calorie is the one and only way to ever reach your healthy weight goals. And then there's me, somewhere in the messy middle (which may not come as a surprise to you 😜). My unsexy answer to most nutritional quandaries is, "It depends" and it's no different with food tracking — It is simply a tool that can either be helpful OR harmful...depending on your mindset. Think about this, tracking your income and expenses is pretty common, right? It's a responsible way to manage your finances and very few people would consider that unhealthy. So, why should it be any different when it comes to food? The real issue here isn't the THING that is being tracked, but rather the way you THINK about the thing being tracked. And when you are in a habit of thinking of food (and your food choices) as "good" or "bad", food tracking will not be a healthy behavior for you to engage in. But when you approach food tracking from a neutral place, it can be a valuable tool that will empower you in your journey toward improved health and well being. And the best way to take a more neutral approach to tracking is to STOP using it as a way to hold yourself accountable to some impossible standard or to keep score of how "good" or "bad" you are, and to START using it as a way to collect data so that you can make informed decisions that will move you closer to your goals. And boy do I loooooove me some data collection. Case in point, this puppy tracking spreadsheet.
Last week my husband found a stray dog wandering nearby our house. He had no collar or chip so we turned him in to animal control where he sat, unclaimed, for a week. Instead of letting the warden take him to a local shelter, we decided to adopt him.
Meet Simón!
Simón is not fully house trained yet, so my husband and I have been using a Google spreadsheet to track his daily habits – pee and poo times, meal schedule, naps, playtimes, walks, sleep patterns, etc.
But here's the thing: when he has an accident in the house (which is going to happen!), we don't go into a blame game or shame-fest, with ourselves OR with him.
We simply record that data.
Why? Because we're on a mission to identify patterns of behavior that will help us make better decisions for our new fur baby.
And that's precisely the mindset you need to adopt when it comes to tracking your food.
By approaching tracking from a place of genuine curiosity, rather than judgement,
You will be armed with the data you need to better predict and plan for obstacles, so that you can reach your goals faster and with less frustration.
And if you take a look at that spreadsheet you'll see that it isn't very fancy or complicated.
Sometimes we forget to enter things in and we don't always get the timing of his potty breaks, meal times, or walks "right". We aren't perfect.
But, we ARE making improvements everyday because we are able to draw from what we've learned by reviewing the data we have.
So, should YOU track your food?
It depends. 😉
BUT, if the thought of doing so brings up feelings of unease or anxiety,
Then you should consider taking deliberate steps to change the way you THINK ABOUT food.
Because having a neutral mindset towards food is not only incredibly empowering, it is also necessary for reaching and sustaining a healthy weight.
And if you'd like some guidance on how to simultaneously improve your relationship with food WHILE ALSO implementing strategies (like tracking) to reach your weight loss goals,
Then book in a call HERE to see if my Empowered Eating Blueprint program is the right fit for you.
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