Food Tracking: How to Use It as a Tool, Not a Rule
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Tracking food often gets a bad reputation because of its association with restriction, food scales and obsessing over numbers, but it doesn’t have to be any of those things.
From a Dietitian’s perspective, tracking is a useful tool to help you understand your nutrition, build awareness and make informed changes without needing to track forever.
So, why track?
Tracking your food intake isn't just about knowing how many calories or grams of protein you are eating. While that is part of it, it’s often not the most beneficial part of tracking. Tracking can help you build your knowledge of the energy and macronutrient content of different foods, identify patterns in your eating habits, and make more informed decisions about your nutrition.
The more you understand about what you eat, your individual needs and how different foods contribute to your overall intake, the more confident you can become in making informed nutrition choices that align with your goals, without needing to track everything.
How to track
Choose a tracking method that works for you: You don’t have to jump straight into an app. Start with good old-fashioned pen and paper, or use your phone’s notes or digital diary. This is a great way to build your tracking skills, including learning what to record and getting into the habit of tracking consistently. Then, you can move into using an app to collect more detailed data when you’re ready.
Decide how many days you will track for: You don’t have to track every day, especially if you eat the same thing every day. A good starting point is 2-3 weekdays and one day on the weekend.
Track your intake as it actually happens: If we are assessing your current intake, start tracking without making any changes to your usual eating habits. If you are following a new nutrition plan, track the plan as written, then add anything else you eat or drink throughout the day.
Take time to analyse and identify patterns: Tracking is most valuable when you take a moment to look back at what you’ve recorded. Each day is an opportunity to learn something about your own nutrition — not to judge or criticise what you ate.
Ask yourself: What did I learn today? → What patterns am I noticing? → How did my food intake align with my training, hunger, energy and goals? → Is there anything that I could do differently?
Some more hot tips:
Use a food scale or consistent household measurements. Take note of how much this corresponds to in hand portions or by ‘eye-balling’, and test your skills.
Use verified food entries when using tracking apps as much as possible (for tracking apps). When in doubt, cross check against nutrition labels on food packaging.
Include as much detail as possible including, brand names, exact portion sizes, and cooking methods.
Include everything (this includes, sauces, random bites, spoons from the jar and be honest with yourself. This is important for you to get the most out of it.
Add notes on hunger, fullness levels, mood, and energy levels to provide valuable context on how your body responds to the food you eat.
When should I track and how long should I track?
If you do it right, you should only need to track for a short period of time. A good starting point is tracking a few days each week for 2 weeks, giving you enough information to identify patterns without feeling like it’s too much right from get-go.
We recommend using tracking whenever you start a new nutrition plan, your usual nutrition changes, your goals change, you switch brands or products, if you notice changes in your hunger, energy, and performance, or if you just need an occasional check-in to refresh your food awareness.
When not to track
Of course, tracking isn’t for everybody, and there are circumstances where we wouldn’t recommend it. If tracking elicits significant negative emotions, you feel like you obsess over the numbers, you have a history of disordered eating, or tracking takes the enjoyment away from food, then it is not the right approach for you.
THE GOOD NEWS…
If you’re interested in tracking but aren’t sure where to start or don’t want to do it on your own, our Dietitians can help.
Whether you want to learn more about tracking, need a little help getting started, want some accountability, or simply want someone to take the guesswork out of it for you, we’ve got you covered.
