Food Tracking Apps... Friend or Foe?

Should you use food diary tracking apps? Let’s dig into this hot topic! If you struggle with living a healthy lifestyle, what (and how much) you are eating can play a pretty big factor. Some people benefit from visually seeing the differences in nutrients that foods provide. With that being said, learning those differences through reading food labels or using a food diary tracking app can be helpful. Then, in time, the goal would ideally be to become less dependent on continuous tracking, as new habits are developed and better choices become routine.

In nutrition counseling, oftentimes, I will have clients track on an app just to give me a visibility of where they are and what their habits may be. It’s especially helpful in developing a baseline. Beyond calories, it allows me to look at their meal patterns, likes/dislikes, macro/micronutrient variety, and so much more. When doing this, I actually encourage them not to even look at calories! Crazy idea right? The reason is that the importance factors of foods are so much more than calories.

However, the habit of tracking on apps, can have its downsides as well. First, utilizing a food tracking app without the support of a healthcare professional that specializes in nutrition, can lead good intentions down the wrong path. It is in these situations that I find several common mishaps like unrealistic goals, eating too little, and fixating on the wrong components. In addition, these apps usually focus on specific snapshots like calories, macros, or points. Because of this, it can be easy to concentrate on hitting a "goal," without actually eating a variety of micronutrient dense foods that will fuel your body and promote whole body health. While many weight loss programs promote using food diary tracking apps, for some, daily tracking can become an compulsive regimen. This can also lead to unhealthy habits of being overly restrictive and affecting other areas of one’s life. As I’ve shared before, overly restrictive diets can actually do more long term harm than good by slowing your metabolism, negatively impacting your relationship with foods and mealtime, and even your mental wellness and overall health through micronutrient deficiency.

So what is best? It’s important to find the right fit and balance for you. Ideally, if used, food diary tracking apps should be used as a supplemental tool, not something you are absolutely dependent on.

Here are a few signs that your food diary tracking has turned into an unhealthy habit.

1. You are hyper-focused on cutting out or limiting food groups.

2. Your self-esteem, anxiety, or mood is dependent on how well you meet your daily goal (steps, weight, macros, calorie, etc).

3. You log EVERYTHING before you eat it.

4. Your choices aren’t necessarily health driven (overly weight focused, setting unrealistic expectations to reach, etc).

5. You find yourself limiting social settings or events due to needing to stick to your diet.

If some of these examples feel familiar, it may be time to take a break from your food tracking app. Working with a Registered Dietitian could also help in peeling back some of these internal challenges with food.