The Power of Tracking: How It Can Help You Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals
You don’t have to follow a specific diet plan to lose weight successfully. Researchers have demonstrated that various eating patterns help with weight loss. However, no matter which eating pattern you choose, the key to effective weight loss is consuming fewer calories than you burn.
Tracking your food intake, physical activity, and weight are important behaviors that numerous studies have found effective in assisting with weight management. By monitoring what you eat and drink, you can gain valuable insights into your eating habits and make more mindful decisions.
Why does tracking work?
Keeping track of what you eat, how active you are, and monitoring your weight can help you see if you’re on track to burn more energy than you consume. These records can give you clues about what changes you might need to make in your eating or exercise habits.
Tracking your intake and progress likely works because:
Increased awareness: Tracking what you eat helps you become more aware of your food choices throughout the day.
Portion sizes: It can make you more mindful of how much you eat and how many calories you consume, which can lead to healthier decisions.
Accountability: By keeping a record of your food and activity, you take responsibility for your eating and exercise habits.
Goal setting: When you track your food and activity, you can set specific goals like calorie intake, nutrient targets, or minutes of exercise per day or week. By monitoring your progress, you can make adjustments to your eating and activity routines to achieve your weight loss goals.
Education: Food tracking requires reading nutrition labels for more informed dietary choices.
Behavior modification and identifying problem areas: Monitoring your food and activity allows you or your healthcare provider to pinpoint specific areas where you may be eating too many calories or making unhealthy food choices. This helps identify triggers for overeating, like emotional eating, certain situations, or specific times of the day. It also helps you determine if you’re compensating for exercise by consuming extra calories. Tracking your food brings attention to eating patterns and behaviors that may hinder weight loss progress. By recognizing these patterns, you can consciously make changes to your behavior, such as eating smaller portions, choosing healthier options, or addressing emotional triggers.
Tracking your food can be helpful for weight loss but should be part of a balanced approach. Consult a healthcare professional for personalized advice.
How much do I need to track?
Although most research supports the idea that more food tracking is better, there is also a consensus that doing some tracking is better than none. A recent study investigated the effectiveness of tracking food within the digital program WW (formerly known as WeightWatchers). The study found a significant connection between the percentage of days spent tracking food and the percentage of body weight lost.
The study identified specific amounts of food tracking that predicted significant weight loss at 6 months. These were:
Tracking food on 28.5% of the intervention days to achieve a weight loss of ≥3%
Tracking food on 39.4% of the intervention days to achieve a weight loss of ≥5%
Tracking food on 67.1% of the intervention days to achieve a weight loss of 10%
The authors of the study concluded that "perfect food-tracking adherence is not necessary to achieve clinically significant weight loss." This means that even if you don't track your food perfectly, you can still achieve meaningful weight loss results.
What is the best way to track?
A study conducted with military members discovered that the tracking method they personally favored, whether it was using a phone, pen-and-paper, or a web-based application, did not show any significant difference in their weight loss compared to when they used a method they did not prefer. Essentially, the choice of tracking method did not have a noticeable impact on their ability to lose weight. However, they did find that using a preferred method resulted in significantly more entries.
In general, the best way to track your progress is the method that is easiest for you and allows you to be consistent.
Final Words:
Tracking is not necessary for weight loss, but it is a great tool that can help you see if you're on track to burn more energy than you consume.
Keeping track of eating and activity can help foster healthier behavior, which can lead to weight loss.
Even if you can't track everything, some level of tracking is still beneficial, as it can result in meaningful weight or behavior changes.
Choose the tracking method that suits you best.
Tracking should be part of an overall balanced and sustainable approach to losing weight.
Seek advice from a healthcare professional for personalized guidance
Peer review provided by Michael Albert, MD.
Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Please consult with a qualified healthcare professional before starting any weight management program.
References:
Berry R, Kassavou A, Sutton S. Does self-monitoring diet and physical activity behaviors using digital technology support adults with obesity or overweight to lose weight? A systematic literature review with meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2021;22(10):e13306. doi:10.1111/obr.13306
Dunn CG, Turner-McGrievy GM, Wilcox S, Hutto B. Dietary Self-Monitoring Through Calorie Tracking but Not Through a Digital Photography App Is Associated with Significant Weight Loss: The 2SMART Pilot Study—A 6-Month Randomized Trial. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2019;119(9):1525-1532. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.03.013
Ingels JS, Misra R, Stewart J, Lucke-Wold B, Shawley-Brzoska S. The Effect of Adherence to Dietary Tracking on Weight Loss: Using HLM to Model Weight Loss over Time. J Diabetes Res. 2017;2017:6951495. doi:10.1155/2017/6951495
Painter SL, Ahmed R, Hill JO, et al. What Matters in Weight Loss? An In-Depth Analysis of Self-Monitoring. J Med Internet Res. 2017;19(5):e160. Published 2017 May 12. doi:10.2196/jmir.7457
Peterson ND, Middleton KR, Nackers LM, Medina KE, Milsom VA, Perri MG. Dietary self-monitoring and long-term success with weight management. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014;22(9):1962-1967. doi:10.1002/oby.20807
Shay LE, Seibert D, Watts D, Sbrocco T, Pagliara C. Adherence and weight loss outcomes associated with food-exercise diary preference in a military weight management program. Eat Behav. 2009;10(4):220-227. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2009.07.004
Xu R, Bannor R, Cardel MI, Foster GD, Pagoto S. How much food tracking during a Digital weight‐management program is enough to produce clinically significant weight loss? Obesity. Published online 2023. doi:10.1002/oby.23795