Tracking calories

[Growly]

Are there any benefits in tracking calories or is it a waste of time?

 

 

@Schizophonia

@Princess Arabia

@Leo Gura

@M A J I

@integral

[integral]

Track how what you're eating effects Brain Function, Sleep Quality, Physical Performance during exercise and overall quality of life.

You should be tracking how what you just ate ties directly to every aspect of your life to build a strong intuition and connection with your food.

All of this is tracked mentally every time you eat by simple observing and making connections between what you ate and some aspect for example your current performance at the gym. By doing so you develop pattern recognition and internalize all of that data to create a intelligence inside you (Experimentation Mindset).

Yes tracking calories is a waste of time unless you're under eating and you feel like shit all the time. In that case you want to do Comprehensive Functional Lab Work to determine any weaknesses

Edited April 24 by integral

[Princess Arabia]

Only if you're trying to lose weight or if you're eating a lot of junk food. Not all fats are equal and some are beneficial. It's best to just watch the types of food you're eating; and if it's a balanced diet with mostly whole foods, calorie counting would not be necessary then.

Edited April 24 by Princess Arabia

[Growly]

@Princess Arabia so eating pizza everyday while maintaining balance is healthy?

[Princess Arabia]

Just now, Growly said:

@Princess Arabia so eating pizza everyday while maintaining balance is healthy?

There are healthy versions of pizza. Maybe made with cauliflower instead of white flour, all veggies, homemade healthy marinara sauce etc. No cheese or even nut cheese. So that question is vague. Eating traditional pizza everyday isn't a good idea to maintaining one's health, no.

[Sugarcoat]

It’s helpful if you’re trying to lose or gain weight, to get a sense of how much to eat. You can lose weight without tracking simply by reducing portion sizes in comparison to what you usually eat and perhaps reduce meal frequency which is what I’m doing . Tracking calories can also help if you’ve already lost /gained weight and reached your goal weight, and now are trying to figure out how much to eat to maintain weight. I think it would be cool to one day reach a point where you can somewhat eyeball amount of calories because you’ve tracked so extensively for a period, I doubt I’ll ever reach that point but it would be cool, makes it easier to control your weight. 

[PsychedelicEagle]

I've been tracking all my food intake with a food scale and the Cronometer app, for the last two weeks.
It's been a great experience to get a deeper intuition not only on macro but also micronutrients, especially if you're into optimizing food ratios (e.g., Carbs:Fat, Omega 3:Omega 6, etc.).

I'll share my Cronometer report below so you can see how it looks.

Cronometer.pdf

PS: I did not include the mineral and vitamin supplements I use in there, just protein supplements. But Cronometer has that option too. You can scan the label and if it's already registered it's even easier to log the food.

Edited May 5 by PsychedelicEagle