Aahh calorie counting. I hate it that consumers have access to this :,). Not because I don’t want them to know. It’s good to gain more knowledge as a person with a goal. Makes the opportunity of succeeding higher. But it comes with a price. Let’s say a mental health price. For my own practice, two months tops of Myfitnesspal is enough!! Not a day more and even less is something I advocate. Get some insight in how much rice weighs per portion, how much oil is a good idea and call it a quits!
I work as a coach at a company and clients that mostly come to me either hate calorie counting, don’t do it completely or got a totally fucked up relationship with food eventually. This last thing is something that a lot of people really do not take seriously when they download Myfitnesspal in the beginning. If you feel anxious, because you can’t eat a meal you cannot track. You have a problem!
If you feel anxious, because the battery of your foodscale broke down. You have a problem. As a person who has been there, I am not afraid to say this. And the amount of suffering it gave, is something I would never like to have for others. People trust the food scale more than themselves !?€@#%!?? It is such a hard habit to get out of your system! So better do it now. You are not a bikinifitness model, you are not on prep and you won’t gain all the weight back!!!!
Especially this last one. This is the whole reason why people can’t stop. “Oohh I found a formula to keep myself forever this way”! Well, I can tell you this. It will not be forever. Maybe you have been struggling for years and years with your weight, but this is not the awnser. It’s a tool for insight in calories. Myfitnesspal is just like a diet. It will work for some time, but will lose it charms in the end. Cuz when you stop following it, depending how you react to it, you could gain some weight back. It’s the lie that everyone tells themselves. That calorie counting is not a diet, well guess what, it is!
So if you stop today, maybe stay the same in weight or gain 2-4 pounds (1-2 kilo). Your real lifestyle change can begin. People who use calorie counting often can calorie count when by themselves. But when getting a partner, being with friends or with your own damn kids later on. The craziness of it, will show. Getting to listen to your body, cravings, making healthy choices and sometimes nibble on something less nutritious and staying in balance. Is the key! You already can do that without that app, millions of people show that everyday. And guess what, your weight will always go up and down (2/4 pounds, 1-2kilo) and that is healthy. People think the scale either needs to go down or stay at the same number for all the weeks of the year……
Start with putting the food scale away. Than only use the app for a while. Challenge yourself to eyeball foods and drinks more. Become more easy with tracking (not specific with macro’s). And let it go. To be honest. This has been a thing for me for so long that I actually really am considering to not even start as a dietitian, because this bugs the shit out of me. It really takes away the joy of my work personally. Because I know that at the end, that people who are using this now are gonna give the biggest tantrums on not letting go. While I never even recommended it, but they start looking for information at the wrong sources or twist your advice…
