Are you trying to lose weight?
Or maybe you are just trying to get a little healthier and curious about your nutrition?
You may have heard that tracking your calories is an important part of those things.
But what does that mean, and is it essential?
Here is a list of Pros and Cons for tracking calories
Pro
Tracking calories for a few weeks can give you good insight into your general calorie intake and macronutrient breakdown. If you are new to nutrition, it can be really helpful to track, simply for the purpose of having a better understanding, and working toward a better balance that will promote either health loss, or muscle gain (or both!).
Con
It is extremely time consuming! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life logging every morsel of food I put into my mouth. It can become very tedious and monotonous to track and log each meal.
Pro
Accountability. If you have a coach that is working with you on your nutrition, they may ask you to track your meals so that when you meet, they can check in and see exactly what you have been putting in your body. This can be a good reminder for you, as you decide between a cookie or an apple, to ask yourself, “Which is the best choice here?”.
Con
It can convince you that you are either “winning” or “failing” based on if you are over/under your calorie consumption. You have to be extremely mindful and remember that you are not a number, and your success cannot be associated with an “under calorie goal” or “over calorie goal” summary.
This is just a short list of pros and cons, and there certainly could be many more added to this list. If you’re considering making changes to your nutrition, we recommend finding someone to support you and who can find a plan that works best for you!