Lazy food tracking
How food tracking can help:
- Increase awareness around your eating habits
- Bridge the gap between perception and reality
- Create a feedback loop for change
- Provide accountability
Ask yourself:
- WHY do I want to track?
- WHAT do I want to track?
- HOW will I track?
- HOW will I use the information?
Food tracking apps
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to access | "Freemium" pricing |
| Can be educational | Data can be overwhelming |
| Provides real-time feedback | May feel "judgy" |
| May work best for those who like numbers and/or have specific goas | Input can be tedious |
| May create unhealthy relationship with food |
Recommended apps:
- Cronometer
- Robust free trier (includes bar code scanner)
- Verified food database
- Contains ads in free tier
- Foodnoms
- Robust free tier (includes bar code scanner)
- No ads in free tier
- Feast - Caloric Intelligence
- Robust free trier (includes photo logging and AI analysis)
- No ads in free tier
Keep a photo journal
- May be easier and less time consuming than a traditional food tracking app.
- Eliminates a focus on numbers.
- Do it on your own by creating a dedicated photo album on your phone.
- Use a visual-based tracking app, such as:
- FoodView (100% free, no calorie counts)
- See How You Eat (free tier, no calorie counts)
Kick it old school
- Research on food journaling told us it was effective before smartphones were invented!
- Track what you eat on paper, in an electronic document, or in the notes app of your phone.
- Keep it simple: record time of day, what you ate or drank, and approximate amount.
- This is enough information to get you started!
Track specific habits
- If you already have a sense of what specific areas you want to focus on, you can just track those.
- Ideas may include:
- Water intake
- Fruit and vegetable intake
- Snacks
- Specific nutrients (e.g. fiber, protein, carbs, sugar)
Don't track your food at all
- Try a “non-food” journal where you reflect on things such as:
- meal timing
- hunger and fullness levels
- emotional eating
- daily “wins”
- ongoing challenges
- strategies to try
- anything else that you find relevant
Tracking checklist
- Is this way of tracking the right fit for me?
- How am I using the information to help me?
- Do I need to take a break or make a change?