Does anyone else love tracking their calories?

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty new to tracking and I've always heard about how bad it is, but I love it. I'm a gold star kind of person; I just love seeing that check mark at the end of the day that the food was logged. Makes me feel in control; I'm free to eat whatever so long as I stay within x calories per day or I can go over x so long as I stay under the weekly y count. I never have to worry about whether this snack or that snack is ok to eat, there's a simple way to know. It's satisfying to me.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I do. Even if I eat like crap, at least I know it.

[Anonymous]

I would not say I love it, but I started it recently and it has been eye-opening for me. I knew that certain foods were calorie-dense, but did not realize just how much. Now, I make better food choices and know that those three extra dates of pieces of chocolate are not just a little bit more.

[Anonymous]

I do. I like that is allows me to work in just about anything I want to eat. I can always shift things around.

I also like using a calendar to track consistency. That is particularly eye opening. I spent years thinking I was doing so well on my diet, but not making progress only to realize they I was doing great hitting my calorie target 5 days a week, but hitting it the other 2 days and that was really derailing my progress.

[Anonymous]

No. I have great attention to detail for a few weeks, then life gets in the way so I start losing track and eventually give up. It doesn’t work for me; I can’t sustain that kind of scrutiny permanently.

[Anonymous]

No. I hate it. But, for me, it’s a necessary evil.

[Anonymous]

I hate it. I can’t have a bite of something because I don’t know how many calories, exactly, that is. I don’t trust restaurant labels. I hate having to remember everything I ate. It’s boring and distracting. Also it weirdly made me prefer processed food because boxes have labels and don’t require measuring the way real food does. So a big no for me but I am glad it works for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty new to tracking and I've always heard about how bad it is, but I love it. I'm a gold star kind of person; I just love seeing that check mark at the end of the day that the food was logged. Makes me feel in control; I'm free to eat whatever so long as I stay within x calories per day or I can go over x so long as I stay under the weekly y count. I never have to worry about whether this snack or that snack is ok to eat, there's a simple way to know. It's satisfying to me.

This reads like someone a few months away from a full blown eating disorder, especially if anything outside your control greatly impacts your life soon.

[Anonymous]

No. Because I don’t have disordered eating habits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Because I don’t have disordered eating habits.

Oh, hi, it’s you again!

[Anonymous]

I don't love it but it seems to work in terms of making me more accountable to myself. The donut at work or dessert with my son or both? Tracking has made it far more likely that the answer is dessert with my son and leave the donut in the box. It makes me feel a bit silly that writing it down makes such a difference but it does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate it. I can’t have a bite of something because I don’t know how many calories, exactly, that is. I don’t trust restaurant labels. I hate having to remember everything I ate. It’s boring and distracting. Also it weirdly made me prefer processed food because boxes have labels and don’t require measuring the way real food does. So a big no for me but I am glad it works for you!

I don't treat it that seriously. Most of my foods are an estimation. I don't weigh food or do exact measurements so my numbers are not 100% spot on. I am fine with that. The idea, for me, is to ask if I want to have the extra calories from the extra cookie or a large fry vs a regular fry or even a small fry. And yes, it makes me more cautious with what I order at a restaurant, so I eat at home more frequently. If I do go out to eat, because of travel or the like, I try and be more selective with what I eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Because I don’t have disordered eating habits.

Not OP, but yes, I do. Glad that makes you feel superior to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Because I don’t have disordered eating habits.

Not OP, but yes, I do. Glad that makes you feel superior to me.

I should also mention I have depression and anxiety as well. It runs in my family. Feel better about yourself now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate it. I can’t have a bite of something because I don’t know how many calories, exactly, that is. I don’t trust restaurant labels. I hate having to remember everything I ate. It’s boring and distracting. Also it weirdly made me prefer processed food because boxes have labels and don’t require measuring the way real food does. So a big no for me but I am glad it works for you!

All of this for me too. I hate it. I am also a grazer and it get's really, really annoying trying to put in a whole bunch of different things in small, only approximate quantities. I also frequently want to break down the food items after I have not eaten say, the crusts from pizza or only ate half the bread from a sandwich and it doesn't let you do that, so I end up having to basically recreate the food (1/2 roll, mayo, 2 slices cheese, ham, lettuce, tomato, onion, etc) with what I *think* it is and that is a major pain in the ass and of questionable accuracy, which really makes a difference when you are trying to stay pretty low on cals. I also travel 4+ days a week and eat out constantly, so everything is kind of a guess.