Tracking Calories and Macronutrients

Important Points:

Calorie/Macro tracking online is NOT 100% necessary. You don’t have to do it and no one is going to force you to. What matters the most is that you are eating appropriately for your goals and needs. There are several ways you can do this (eg: via portion control, via spreadsheet, via diabetic exchange lists).

Calorie/Macro tracking is only as accurate as you make it. So, if you neglect to track the foods, or leave out snacks, or only half fill in the days then it isn’t going to work or be accurate in any way.

It doesn’t really matter how accurate the tracker itself is - what matters is what you do and that the tracker gives you something to monitor and change if needed.

You don’t have to track every day. This is especially true if you eat the same thing most days. However, some people vary their diet day to day and this is where being more consistent with tracking your intake will be beneficial.

When you track your intake look at the total calories (weight change is determined by calories in versus calories out) and then the grams for fat, carbohydrate and protein. It is not about the ‘macro %’ you hit. Your body does not care what percentage comes from different macro-nutrient groups. What it cares about is that you are getting enough to support your lean mass / bodyweight.

Do not change things too quickly. If you decide to make a change to your caloric intake you might want to give yourself 3-4 weeks before you expect to see significant change. If you keep changing things ‘looking for something that works’, you’ll never see results.

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