Tips for Tracking: Calories or Macros

Tracking either your calories or your macros is a great way to gain more information about your nutrition, and whether the amount of food you are eating is appropriate for your goals. The best way to track is to get an easy-to-use app on your phone. Some of the highest rated in the Google App Store are MyFitnessPal, Lose It!, MyPlate Calorie Counter, and MyNetDiary. Most Apps offer a paid version where you have access to more features, but most times you can get away with just using the free version. In this article, I will share some tips that help with tracking your food, and also your mindset around tracking too.

The best thing you can do when tracking is be honest with yourself. Not every day is going to be perfect, and some days you aren’t going to stick to your caloric goals, but that is okay! Do not just stop tracking and go wild because you are off track one day, continue to track and be honest with the amount of calories you are consuming. The pressure of being perfect causes a lot of people to quit, so aim for consistency instead. Hitting your caloric goals 80% of the time allows for flexibility, greater diet enjoyment, and greater program compliance.

You also need to be honest with yourself about the foods you are eating. Sometimes it's easy to miss things or get the amount of something wrong. Some tips to help avoid this are:

• Don’t eat directly out of the bag, make sure to portion out how much you want into a bowl or plate
• Make sure to track all the ‘extras’ like oils used for cooking, cream added to coffee, sauces, dressings, and condiments
• Beverages need to be tracked as well, even if they are low calorie

When measuring food, the most accurate way is to weigh food using a food scale. You can buy a food scale online for relatively cheap. However, for some people that will be really tedious, so using measuring cups and spoons is another good way to measure food. If you aren’t eating at home, a good way to measure food is by using hand portions. Your palm is about one serving of protein, your closed fist should be one serving of vegetables, a copper hand should be one serving of carbs, and the thumb is one serving of fats. This is the best way to make an educated guess, and can help you portion meals that you get at a restaurant.

To save time when tracking, favorite foods that you commonly eat. You can also turn meals you regularly eat into recipes so you only have to track the one recipe instead of all the individual components of the meal. For example, if you always eat Oikos Greek yogurt, ½ cup of granola, and ¼ cup of blueberries for breakfast, saving these three things as a recipe can help save you time. Planning your meals out the night before and putting them into the tracker can also make it easier the next day to track. This way you only have to track snacks, or make adjustments if you eat more or less of something than planned.

Lastly, remaining flexible is the key to success. Make sure you are eating a variety of foods, trying new things, and still going out and enjoying time with friends and family. While tracking can provide a lot of insight into your diet, and helps keep people on track with weight loss, it should not make you rigid or take away enjoyment from other parts of your life. If you find yourself becoming too rigid, or constantly thinking about food, it might be best to talk to a professional and take a step away from tracking food.