The nutritional world often divides itself into rigid camps—those who swear by calorie counting and those who advocate for purely intuitive approaches. But what if the most sustainable path lies somewhere in the middle? This episode dives deep into the misunderstood tool of food tracking, exploring when it helps, when it hinders, and how to use it as a window rather than a cage.
Food tracking has revolutionized how many approach nutrition, offering concrete data where guesswork once prevailed. When used properly, tracking illuminates portion awareness, protein intake, hidden calorie sources, and eating patterns that might otherwise remain invisible. But this powerful tool comes with potential downsides. As a 2017 study in eating behaviors revealed, tracking can increase anxiety and rigid thinking without proper mindset support. Many find themselves obsessing over numbers, ignoring hunger cues, or feeling guilty about minor deviations—transforming what should be a useful tool into a psychological burden.
What makes Transform Health Initiative's approach different is our recognition that tracking isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. We teach clients to use tracking as a learning phase rather than a lifelong sentence. After building awareness through data, many successfully transition to more sustainable methods like the plate approach, hand portions, or hunger scale monitoring. The sweet spot exists where tracking builds knowledge and intuition maintains freedom. Neither approach is inherently superior—they're complementary tools for different seasons of your health journey. The ultimate goal remains consistent: developing ownership over your nutrition choices without obsession over perfect execution.
Ready to explore a more balanced approach to nutrition? Visit transformhealthcoach.com or join our Facebook community "Live Transformed" to learn more about building a strategy that works for your unique life, mindset, and goals.
Show References:
- Linardon, J. (2017). Associations between calorie tracking and eating disorder symptoms. Eating Behaviors, 26, 152–155.
- Thomas, D. M., et al. (2015). Why Do Individuals Lose Weight and Then Regain It? Obesity Reviews.
- Internal coaching outcomes from THI Rebuild program (2024–2025)
For Motivation and More Free Content, Visit Our THI Facebook Page!
Click Here And Follow Coach AK For Even More!
Join Our Free Facebook Group: Live Transformed: Rebuild Your Health, Habits, And Headspace
Instagram: @coachadamkelley
www.transformedhealthcoach.com
Episode Transcript
And actually a 2017 study in eating behaviors found
that food tracking, while usefulfor awareness, can increase
anxiety and rigid thinking insome individuals, especially
without mindset, support orclear goals.
So this can easily turn into anegative thing if it's not
within the right context or andsometimes what we do the right
(00:21):
guidance, and that's why, at THI, we coach clients to use
tracking as a window, notnecessarily a cage.
So when is it a right fit?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to the Win On Purpose podcast From health and
fitness, business, personaldevelopment, relationships and
more.
We promise you will findinspiration to help you win on
purpose.
In all areas of your lifejourney you will find
inspiration to help you win onpurpose in all areas of your
life journey.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Now for your host, adam Kelly.
Hey there, everybody.
Welcome back to the Win OnPurpose podcast, where we help
high-performing adults rebuildtheir health with clarity,
evidence and purpose.
My name is Coach Adam Kelly.
I appreciate you for tuning in.
I am the owner and head coachat Transform Health Initiative.
We are a coaching company basedout of Moore, oklahoma, and we
help people all over the country, all over the world, to take
(01:12):
back their health once and forall.
So, rather, if you work with usas a client or you just you
know, tune into the podcast, youfollow us on social media or
you're a part of our amazing,super fast-growing Facebook
group, live Transform, look itup, join us and so, wherever
you're getting fed, whereveryou're getting quality
(01:33):
information from us, that is ourpurpose to help change the
landscape of nutrition andhealth and fitness in a real,
practical way for real practicalpeople.
All right, so today's episode isall about a tool that's been
misunderstood, misused and, insome cases, unfairly villainized
(01:53):
, and that tool is calorietracking.
Some say that it's essential,others say that it's obsessive,
but here at THI, we kind of fallin the middle ground.
We believe in using the righttool for the right season and
for the right client.
So everything that we do hereis customized to the individual,
because we're all human beings.
(02:14):
I don't care if you have a twinout there.
You are different because ofyour life circumstances, because
of what you go through, becauseof what you experience, because
of your food environment,because of your stress
environment all of these things.
So everybody's individual andthat's how true quality coaching
should be and that's how weroll around here.
(02:35):
So we're going to break downhow calorie tracking can be one
of the most powerful tools forawareness and change and how it
can be used responsiblyalongside intuitive, mindful
eating for long-term success.
All right, let's get into it.
So why tracking became popular?
(02:55):
Let's go back to the beginning.
Calories and macro trainingbecame popular because it gives
you something most diets neverteach, which is data.
It helps you move from guessingto understanding, especially if
you've spent years followingplans that didn't explain why
they worked or didn't.
Apps like my fitness pal andchronometer have made it easy to
(03:16):
track food, monitor trends andspot patterns.
But more data isn't alwaysbetter right.
Sometimes too much can be toomuch.
So before we talk about therisk, let's talk about what
tracking gets right, all right.
What tracking can teach you?
When used correctly, whenapproached with the right
(03:36):
mindset, tracking is a powerfuleducational tool.
It teaches you things like whatreal portion sizes look like,
how much protein you're actuallygetting, where hidden calories
tend to show up, how to spottrends that affect your results.
Many of our THI clients startwith short tracking phases, not
as like a lifelong method,necessarily, but as a tool to
(04:00):
build awareness and alignment.
That said, tracking isn'tperfect and it's not right for
everyone all the time.
So let's talk about when it canstart to feel more like
pressure than progress.
So when tracking doesn't serveyou.
While tracking helps manypeople develop clarity and
control, for some especially forthose with past food anxiety
(04:22):
and the all or nothing thinkingyou know the trauma from the
diet world, excuse me it cantrigger some pretty unhelpful
patterns, right?
So this might look like feelingguilty over going over a
certain number, or obsessingover perfection, or ignoring
internal cues or fullness cues,or letting data override
(04:44):
intuition.
You know when you know what'sbest and you are so
hyper-focused on a number cuesor fullness cues, or letting
data override intuition.
You know when you know what'sbest and you are so hyper
focused on a number that that'sall that you're willing to
listen to.
And actually, a 2017 study ineating behaviors found that food
tracking, while useful forawareness, can increase anxiety
and rigid thinking in someindividuals, especially without
mindset support or clear goals.
(05:04):
Rigid thinking in someindividuals, especially without
mindset support or clear goals.
So this can easily turn into anegative thing if it's not
within the right context or andsometimes what we do the right
guidance, and that's why at THI,we coach clients to use
tracking as a window, notnecessarily a cage.
So when is it a right fit?
Hey guys, I hope you're enjoyingthe episode so far.
Sorry to interrupt this willjust take a minute, but if you
(05:27):
guys have been enjoying ourcontent so far, if you've
enjoyed the podcast, if you'reone of our clients, if you've
worked with us in the past,you've been following along,
following our progress, seeinghow we're helping people.
That's fantastic.
I want to tell you aboutanother really good opportunity
that you can take advantage of,and that is our free Facebook
(05:48):
community group.
It's called Live TransformedRebuild your Health Habits and
Headspace.
Okay, go over there, look it upand join the group.
Okay, what you do is you ask tore-request into the group.
You see what our group rulesare.
You know the basic group rulesthat you'll usually see, and
then you just answer a couple ofquestions lets us know why
you're joining us, how, whattype of content that we can
provide to help you in the group, and then that's it.
And then you're locked in andso we have a very quickly
(06:10):
building list of people.
We just revamped and rebrandedour group so we're opening it up
to everybody, to anybody that'son a health journey, anybody
that's looking fortransformation on any level of
life.
It could be big or small andthey just want to be in a place
where they can get tips, theycan get help, they can get
guidance from coaches who aredoing this thing and helping
people, and also be withlike-minded people who can give
(06:32):
them advice, answer questionsand all that good stuff.
So you guys come join us in thegroup, take full advantage.
We got lots of things plannedcoming up that's going to be
able to really just blow yoursocks off with help and content
and everything that you need tostart transforming your health.
Now, the right way, the lastOkay.
So you guys go over there, live, transform, rebuild your health
(06:52):
and habits and headspace inFacebook.
All right, let's get back tothis episode when calorie
tracking helps and when itdoesn't.
So calorie tracking is helpfulwhen you're learning how to feel
your body properly, when you'reworking towards fat loss or
performance goals, when you'retroubleshooting plateaus or
fatigue, or when you want tobuild better understanding about
(07:16):
food's impact on your healthand on your body.
But it may not help when youalready consistently in feel and
control, when you'reoverwhelmed or stressed about
numbers, you're in a maintenanceor lifestyle phase or you know
it shifts your focus away fromthe bigger picture.
That's why tracking isn't aforever tool for everybody.
(07:37):
It's a tool to build awarenessand alignment, for sure Not
something that you should haveto depend on long-term.
Now notice I say have tobecause tracking can totally be
a healthy thing and absolutelynothing wrong with it, and you
know I myself have tracked myfood for a long time.
You know our other coachestrack their food for a long time
(07:58):
, and they can totally be a goodthing, but it could also not.
So tracking isn't the onlyoption, though.
Then what are some alternativesthat we can look at?
What else is out there?
So non-tracking strategies thatstill work?
You don't have to log everybite to be successful.
Okay, that's not the key tosuccess.
Here are some effectivealternatives that we teach here
(08:19):
at THI.
Number one the plate method.
So that's basically like myplate that the government issues
out.
So half the plate of veggies, aquarter of protein, a quarter
of carbs or fats pretty easyrule to follow, an eyeball, and
will work really well onbuilding a healthy diet.
Healthy plate Hand portion soyour palm size of protein, a
(08:41):
fist of veggies, a cupped handof carbs, a thumb of fat just
kind of breaking it down whereit's again easy to see, easy to
compare, easy to do, so itdoesn't take up too much time.
Meal templates so having a fewconsistent meals rotated weekly.
That's something that Iimplemented, my own strategy,
and it works phenomenally.
I have several meals forbreakfast, lunch and dinner, if
(09:04):
you want to call them that.
That you know I eat on for afew days, maybe a day or two.
When they start to get old thenI swap them out and do
something different.
Works great for me.
And then also, you know hungerscale, learning to listen to
your hunger scale.
So learn to eat when you're ata three or four hungry and to
stop around a seven, akasatisfied.
(09:25):
So we never want to be at a oneor two as far as hunger,
because now we're so hungrywe're much more likely to
overeat and overconsume.
And then we don't want to waitto stop eating when we're at
like eight, nine, 10, becausenow we're overstuffed and almost
positive that we areoverconsuming calories at that
point, especially if you'reeating multiple times per day.
(09:47):
So these methods build intuitiveawareness without relying on an
app and for many they're easierto sustain on the long term.
Okay, and that's the mostimportant thing at all times is
the long-term vision.
It doesn't matter if you can dosomething in the short term,
that doesn't make you successful.
It's what you can do over thelong haul.
That's where true success is.
But what's most important ischoosing a method that matches
(10:11):
your season of life and goals.
Okay, that's number one.
It's always about what you need, not what works for everybody
else.
And one thing I want us tounderstand here and clarify here
is that it kind of sounds likewe've created enemies you know
what I mean between tracking andintuition, but we need to
understand that tracking andintuition are not opposites.
(10:31):
So one thing that we emphasizeat THI tracking and intuitive
eating aren't at war, okay,they're not opposing camps.
They're both tools, and manysuccessful clients use both over
time.
Okay, that's really what Iconsider like the sweet spot.
So tracking builds earlyawareness.
It lets us know where we're at.
It gives us an understanding offood and what we're consuming.
(10:53):
Intuition develops over timethrough consistency and habits,
so as we begin to learn thesefoods, we get to learn how much
of each that we're consuming,how that affects our body as far
as our body composition, as faras our energy level, our sleep,
all of that.
Then we can start usingintuition at that point, because
now we have a betterunderstanding.
Intuition doesn't really workthat well in this situation
(11:15):
without a basic understanding offood.
You're going to really have astruggle without that, and
together intuition and trackingthey build confidence and
freedom.
Okay, and that's what we'reafter.
So now let's tie all thistogether.
Let's give you some practicaltakeaways here.
So, number one calorie trackingis a powerful tool when used
(11:36):
intentionally.
When you use it properly andfor a purpose, it can be
fantastic.
Number two, number threeHowever, it's not for everyone
and it doesn't have to beforever.
Just because you're doing itnow doesn't mean that this is
what you're always going to haveto do, because a lot of people
stop before they ever learnanything from tracking or get
(11:57):
any benefit from it, becausethey start thinking this is so
hard to do.
I'm four days in and I'mstruggling so hard.
This is always going to be likethis.
What's the point?
Well, no, as soon as you learnthe lessons, then you can
transition away from it totallyfine.
But also, the longer you do it,the easier it gets.
Number three on our practicaltakeaways intuitive and
(12:18):
structured approaches cancoexist.
Okay, they're not opposingforces, they're not enemies.
There's not a good and a bad.
We can use both of them, andthat's probably the best way to
go about it, for a lifestyle isknowing how and when to use
either approach to stay on track, maintain your results or get
(12:38):
to your goal.
Number four using the rightmethod for your season, stress
level and goals.
Understand this needs to bebuilt for you.
You can't take what yourbrother or sister or Sally or
you know home girl at the gymtold you that they're doing.
That's not going to work foryou.
Your life is different, yourstress levels are different,
your goals are different, yourseason of life is different.
(13:00):
Everything's different, so itneeds to be tailored to you.
And number five the goal.
What's the goal?
Of learning both, of using bothof these techniques.
It's about ownership, notobsession.
Okay, it's about learning howto use these tools and not let
these tools use you.
All right, and understand thatyou don't need to be perfect,
(13:20):
you need to be consistent andyou need to be aware, but we're
never after perfection here,right?
So at THI, we teach bothtracking and non-tracking
strategies, not because one isbetter, not because one works
faster, but because eachclient's journey is different.
We help you build a strategythat works for your life, your
(13:41):
mind and your mission.
You can learn more attransformhealthcoachcom if it
feels like it's the right nextstep.
Now, if you've listen toprevious episodes, I want to
clear something up real quick.
We used to use an applicationbased process for our coaching
and it was great.
It worked well, all that, but Istarted to feel like it was
getting like a little tooimpersonal.
(14:01):
It was missing some of thathuman connection and as our
society becomes more dependenton technology and less focused
on human connection, I wanted tobring the human connection
factor back.
So now you'll see on ourwebsite an option to either send
us a message directly orcomplete a short little form
that gives us your contact infoand what days and times work
(14:22):
best for your schedule, and thenwe'll personally reach out to
you to schedule a consultationor a strategy call, based on
your availability or if you'relocal, if you're remote.
So if that sounds likesomething you're interested in,
then go sign up now, while westill have a few openings
available for August.
We only take so many people permonth, just so we can keep up
with the workload.
Make sure that we're providingexcellent service to whoever's
(14:44):
trusting us, so make sure youget in and get that spot.
So thank you for listening tothe win on purpose podcast.
Once again, tracking is a tool,intuition is a skill.
You can use both and you don'thave to pick sides to win next
episode.
We're going to go.
We're going deep into somethingthat changes how you think
about food completely, which ishow to eat like a grown-up
(15:07):
satiety, simplicity andself-respect.
So this is going to be anotherbonus episode to this series why
diets fail and what actuallyworks.
So you don't want to miss thatone, guys.
This was episode bonus.
Episode number two.
Last week, august 5th, wasbonus episode number one.
This next one will be bonusepisode number three.
So we're giving you guys a tonof content and we truly hope to
(15:30):
help.
So until next time, dosomething good for yourself,
something good for your health,something good for those you
care about and, whatever you do,make sure you win on purpose.
Talk to you next time.
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