To Track or Not to Track Calories? Oh the Drama

Due to life circumstances and major life changes, I haven't tracked my calorie or macro intake since late February.

Each year I take a month or 2 break from tracking. This year, it's just been somewhat of a necessity. I don't have the time, mental energy, bandwidth or desire for it.

Now, I eat pretty similarly – broadly speaking – day to day. So I mostly track food just out of habit, not necessity. I think that's a major benefit of spending months or years diligently tracking calories and macros — you train yourself into a rhythm of eating within a certain standard. High protein. Calories appropriate for your goal, whether that's a deficit, maintenance, or surplus (I don't think anyone should be spending a majority of their time in a deficit by the way. Even if weight loss/fat loss is the primary goal, you'd be best served doing 1-3 months in a calorie deficit, alternated with 2-3 months eating around maintenance. Spending most of your time, year after year, in a calorie deficit wreaks havoc on your metabolism, energy, and cortisol levels).

I'm rambling, and I should put the phone down on the living room, pick up my book, and go to bed and read myself to sleep, but I gotta tie this off somehow (edit: as it turns out, it took me a while to "tie it off").

Tracking calories can be an additional stressor. It seems small, but it is enough to be significant. Moving across the country and selling, buying, renovating houses while rebuilding a personal training business is – dare I say – mildly stressful. So not being anal (gross) about my calorie counting and tracking was a no-brainer. It was the first thing I put off to the side, for the time being.

But, I'll probably pick back up tracking – at least in an estimating way – sooner or later. It's second nature to me and I like data (just like I weigh myself every morning even though I never see any major changes day to day….thankfully!). However, every time I take a break from tracking calories and macros, I do feel a little more freedom. Some of that may not be good freedom, mind you. I, for sure, have eaten out at restaurants, gotten delivery, or even drive thru (yikes) more frequently than usual throughout this entire moving process. So holding myself accountable by typing my food intake into Macro Factor (any tracker) has definite benefits.

What I find most important is to track for a while so you get a clear picture. If you never track, I can almost guarantee you're not eating as much protein as you think, your daily calories are way different than you guessed, and you're probably leaving fruits and veggies rotting in the refrigerator (a shame, because fruit is the best. Veggies are cool, too, but in a nerdier, less exciting way).

Use tracking as a way to train yourself into eating a small rotation of meals, so you're automatically eating similar, healthy meals, day to day. Then, you can stop tracking – either for a bit or forever – and be in good shape. For most people, this should be the goal.

Learn to prepare and consume a handful of healthy meals. Dial in and fall in love with those meals.

Discipline of limiting meal selections will create freedom for your body, brain, other decisions, and creativity in other areas of life. Understand the serving sizes of those meals, developing the skill of eating bigger or larger portions of the same handful of meals based on your goals or needs from one season to the next. Then, stop tracking but maintain the same healthy eating habits. A couple times per year – ideally, after holiday seasons – take 1-2 months and track again, checking yourself to see if you're still (1) eating that handful of healthy, predictable meals, and (2) eating appropriate portion sizes for your goal. These irregular tracking check-ins will keep you honest and allow you to course correct if needed without relying on the macro counting every single day.

Use tracking as a tool. Don't obsess over it. Obsess over eating quality food and appropriate portion sizes. Understand the calories and energy tradeoffs from eating sweets or desserts. This doesn't mean you can't eat sweets, but understand that if you're going to do so, you should taper back your calories without sacrificing protein intake in other meals during the day.

When you figure out this little dance, you're able to find balance among healthy eating, healthy, appropriate portion sizes, and enjoying the sweeter (food) things in life from time to time, without needing to weigh everything out and stress over if it was a 6 oz 70% lean burger or 4 oz 90% lean burger that you ate at the restaurant (pro tip: avoid restaurant burgers, altogether. Go for the sliders or just be the weirdo eating grilled chicken sandwiches, or, if available, a grilled salmon).

TLDR: Currently I am not tracking my calories and it feels good. 1 less minor stressor to add to my life for now. But, I'm able do so because I spend the majority of the year, every year, for the last 12 years or so, tracking my calories and macros. The practice is mostly unnecessary because I typically eat the same meals day after day, with a few variations (sometimes roasted potatoes for dinner, sometimes Jasmine Rice. Sometimes 93/7 ground beef, sometimes 93/7 ground turkey). I plan to eat at least 2 meals "out" per week, which I do, guilt-free because I focus on eating lower calorie, higher protein meals those days. And, when eating out, I mostly opt for a healthier item on the menu. But I also almost always get dessert if I'm eating out. Oh well. That's why we train more days than not and walk every day, am I right? 

Tracking calories and macros is a good skill to learn and it trains you to eat in a disciplined, educated manner. But, you can make the process easy by eating the same handful of meals throughout the week so you don't NEED to track (I'd encourage you to form a healthy friendship with the scale, though, and weigh yourself a few days per week to make sure you're not getting carried away with portion sizes, keeping you headed in the direction you desire, including those that are desiring their weight to go nowhere).

Occasionally spending a month or 2 tracking calories again will help maintain the skill while also keeping you honest (along with the scale) ensuring you're consuming enough calories to support your goals. But, you must also prioritize quality of food – something the fitness trackers (which are simply numbers and macros driven – remember those harmful IIFYM days, anybody?) do NOT  teach.

Eat quality food. Consume said quality food in appropriate portions. Learn how to track to develop the habit of eating appropriate portions and protein amounts (0.7 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight). Take the lessons and apply them so you have the freedom to eat like an adult without needing to neurotically track and weigh or look up everything you're eating.

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Bonus: Some of my favorite meals (portion sizes not included because that'll change per individual and goal)

Scrambled eggs, honey, and a side of natural (zero added sugar) orange juice (honey on scrambled eggs is delicious)

Full fat 4% cottage cheese and fruit (any and all fruits)

Cottage cheese and honey (I like my cottage cheese with either fruit or honey, but not both. Fruit AND honey in cottage cheese is too sweet for me).

Tuna salad in a bowl or tuna salad on sourdough bread. My tuna salad is tuna + Duke's natural mayo + nuts/seeds + apple slices

Oatmeal + 1-2 eggs (cooks in the oatmeal while heating) + peanut butter + honey + protein powder (great cold or hot)

Roasted potatoes, ground beef or ground turkey, and veggies (I like putting some buffalo sauce or soy sauce or Chick-fil-A sauce on it)

Jasmine Rice, ground beef or ground turkey, and veggies (I like putting some buffalo sauce or soy sauce or Chick-fil-A sauce on it)

93/7 burgers or turkey burgers on sourdough bread instead of buns, mustard and mayo, cheddar or provolone cheese.

Snack on fruit and nuts/seeds or trail mix. Sometimes pretzels. Also, toasted sourdough bread with butter. I love bread.

I eat out with friends or have a cheat meal 1-2 days per week. Sometimes less. Sometimes more. But 1-2 days is an average.

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Go for more walks. 

Accumulate 3-6 x 20-30ish minute lifting sessions throughout the week, remembering more sessions is not necessarily better. But, it also may be better. It depends on each individual, situation, and the training split, not to mention, the volume per training session. 

Time to put this phone away – far away, in a dark room on the other side of the house – and hit some pages of my book before going to sleep. 

Peace.