THI's Live Transformed Podcast

Why Diets Fail and What Actually Works (Bonus Episode 2): The Truth About Calorie Tracking – Tools, Traps, and Long-Term Use

• Adam Kelley • Episode 43

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The nutritional world often divides itself into rigid camps—those who swear by calorie counting and those who advocate for purely intuitive approaches. But what if the most sustainable path lies somewhere in the middle? This episode dives deep into the misunderstood tool of food tracking, exploring when it helps, when it hinders, and how to use it as a window rather than a cage.

Food tracking has revolutionized how many approach nutrition, offering concrete data where guesswork once prevailed. When used properly, tracking illuminates portion awareness, protein intake, hidden calorie sources, and eating patterns that might otherwise remain invisible. But this powerful tool comes with potential downsides. As a 2017 study in eating behaviors revealed, tracking can increase anxiety and rigid thinking without proper mindset support. Many find themselves obsessing over numbers, ignoring hunger cues, or feeling guilty about minor deviations—transforming what should be a useful tool into a psychological burden.

What makes Transform Health Initiative's approach different is our recognition that tracking isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. We teach clients to use tracking as a learning phase rather than a lifelong sentence. After building awareness through data, many successfully transition to more sustainable methods like the plate approach, hand portions, or hunger scale monitoring. The sweet spot exists where tracking builds knowledge and intuition maintains freedom. Neither approach is inherently superior—they're complementary tools for different seasons of your health journey. The ultimate goal remains consistent: developing ownership over your nutrition choices without obsession over perfect execution.

Ready to explore a more balanced approach to nutrition? Visit transformhealthcoach.com or join our Facebook community "Live Transformed" to learn more about building a strategy that works for your unique life, mindset, and goals.


Show References:

  1. Linardon, J. (2017). Associations between calorie tracking and eating disorder symptoms. Eating Behaviors, 26, 152–155.


  2. Thomas, D. M., et al. (2015). Why Do Individuals Lose Weight and Then Regain It? Obesity Reviews.


  3. Internal coaching outcomes from THI Rebuild program (2024–2025)

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Speaker 1:

And actually a 2017 study in eating behaviors found that food tracking, while useful for awareness, can increase anxiety and rigid thinking in some individuals, especially without mindset, support or clear goals. So this can easily turn into a negative thing if it's not within the right context or and sometimes what we do the right guidance, and that's why, at THI, we coach clients to use tracking as a window, not necessarily a cage. So when is it a right fit?

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Win On Purpose podcast From health and fitness, business, personal development, relationships and more. We promise you will find inspiration to help you win on purpose. In all areas of your life journey you will find inspiration to help you win on purpose in all areas of your life journey.

Speaker 1:

Now for your host, adam Kelly. Hey there, everybody. Welcome back to the Win On Purpose podcast, where we help high-performing adults rebuild their health with clarity, evidence and purpose. My name is Coach Adam Kelly. I appreciate you for tuning in. I am the owner and head coach at Transform Health Initiative. We are a coaching company based out of Moore, oklahoma, and we help people all over the country, all over the world, to take back their health once and for all. So, rather, if you work with us as a client or you just you know, tune into the podcast, you follow us on social media or you're a part of our amazing, super fast-growing Facebook group, live Transform, look it up, join us and so, wherever you're getting fed, wherever you're getting quality information from us, that is our purpose to help change the landscape of nutrition and health and fitness in a real, practical way for real practical people.

Speaker 1:

All right, so today's episode is all about a tool that's been misunderstood, misused and, in some cases, unfairly villainized, and that tool is calorie tracking. Some say that it's essential, others say that it's obsessive, but here at THI, we kind of fall in the middle ground. We believe in using the right tool for the right season and for the right client. So everything that we do here is customized to the individual, because we're all human beings. I don't care if you have a twin out there. You are different because of your life circumstances, because of what you go through, because of what you experience, because of your food environment, because of your stress environment all of these things. So everybody's individual and that's how true quality coaching should be and that's how we roll around here. So we're going to break down how calorie tracking can be one of the most powerful tools for awareness and change and how it can be used responsibly alongside intuitive, mindful eating for long-term success.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's get into it. So why tracking became popular? Let's go back to the beginning. Calories and macro training became popular because it gives you something most diets never teach, which is data. It helps you move from guessing to understanding, especially if you've spent years following plans that didn't explain why they worked or didn't. Apps like my fitness pal and chronometer have made it easy to track food, monitor trends and spot patterns. But more data isn't always better right. Sometimes too much can be too much. So before we talk about the risk, let's talk about what tracking gets right, all right. What tracking can teach you? When used correctly, when approached with the right mindset, tracking is a powerful educational tool. It teaches you things like what real portion sizes look like, how much protein you're actually getting, where hidden calories tend to show up, how to spot trends that affect your results.

Speaker 1:

Many of our THI clients start with short tracking phases, not as like a lifelong method, necessarily, but as a tool to build awareness and alignment. That said, tracking isn't perfect and it's not right for everyone all the time. So let's talk about when it can start to feel more like pressure than progress. So when tracking doesn't serve you. While tracking helps many people develop clarity and control, for some especially for those with past food anxiety and the all or nothing thinking you know the trauma from the diet world, excuse me it can trigger some pretty unhelpful patterns, right? So this might look like feeling guilty over going over a certain number, or obsessing over perfection, or ignoring internal cues or fullness cues, or letting data override intuition. You know when you know what's best and you are so hyper-focused on a number cues or fullness cues, or letting data override intuition. You know when you know what's best and you are so hyper focused on a number that that's all that you're willing to listen to. And actually, a 2017 study in eating behaviors found that food tracking, while useful for awareness, can increase anxiety and rigid thinking in some individuals, especially without mindset support or clear goals. Rigid thinking in some individuals, especially without mindset support or clear goals. So this can easily turn into a negative thing if it's not within the right context or and sometimes what we do the right guidance, and that's why at THI, we coach clients to use tracking as a window, not necessarily a cage. So when is it a right fit?

Speaker 1:

Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying the episode so far. Sorry to interrupt this will just take a minute, but if you guys have been enjoying our content so far, if you've enjoyed the podcast, if you're one of our clients, if you've worked with us in the past, you've been following along, following our progress, seeing how we're helping people. That's fantastic. I want to tell you about another really good opportunity that you can take advantage of, and that is our free Facebook community group. It's called Live Transformed Rebuild your Health Habits and Headspace. Okay, go over there, look it up and join the group. Okay, what you do is you ask to re-request into the group. You see what our group rules are. You know the basic group rules that you'll usually see, and then you just answer a couple of questions lets us know why you're joining us, how, what type of content that we can provide to help you in the group, and then that's it. And then you're locked in and so we have a very quickly building list of people.

Speaker 1:

We just revamped and rebranded our group so we're opening it up to everybody, to anybody that's on a health journey, anybody that's looking for transformation on any level of life. It could be big or small and they just want to be in a place where they can get tips, they can get help, they can get guidance from coaches who are doing this thing and helping people, and also be with like-minded people who can give them advice, answer questions and all that good stuff. So you guys come join us in the group, take full advantage. We got lots of things planned coming up that's going to be able to really just blow your socks off with help and content and everything that you need to start transforming your health. Now, the right way, the last Okay. So you guys go over there, live, transform, rebuild your health and habits and headspace in Facebook.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's get back to this episode when calorie tracking helps and when it doesn't. So calorie tracking is helpful when you're learning how to feel your body properly, when you're working towards fat loss or performance goals, when you're troubleshooting plateaus or fatigue, or when you want to build better understanding about food's impact on your health and on your body. But it may not help when you already consistently in feel and control, when you're overwhelmed or stressed about numbers, you're in a maintenance or lifestyle phase or you know it shifts your focus away from the bigger picture. That's why tracking isn't a forever tool for everybody. It's a tool to build awareness and alignment, for sure Not something that you should have to depend on long-term. Now notice I say have to because tracking can totally be a healthy thing and absolutely nothing wrong with it, and you know I myself have tracked my food for a long time. You know our other coaches track their food for a long time, and they can totally be a good thing, but it could also not. So tracking isn't the only option, though.

Speaker 1:

Then what are some alternatives that we can look at? What else is out there? So non-tracking strategies that still work? You don't have to log every bite to be successful. Okay, that's not the key to success. Here are some effective alternatives that we teach here at THI. Number one the plate method. So that's basically like my plate that the government issues out. So half the plate of veggies, a quarter of protein, a quarter of carbs or fats pretty easy rule to follow, an eyeball, and will work really well on building a healthy diet. Healthy plate Hand portion so your palm size of protein, a fist of veggies, a cupped hand of carbs, a thumb of fat just kind of breaking it down where it's again easy to see, easy to compare, easy to do, so it doesn't take up too much time.

Speaker 1:

Meal templates so having a few consistent meals rotated weekly. That's something that I implemented, my own strategy, and it works phenomenally. I have several meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, if you want to call them that. That you know I eat on for a few days, maybe a day or two. When they start to get old then I swap them out and do something different. Works great for me. And then also, you know hunger scale, learning to listen to your hunger scale. So learn to eat when you're at a three or four hungry and to stop around a seven, aka satisfied. So we never want to be at a one or two as far as hunger, because now we're so hungry we're much more likely to overeat and overconsume. And then we don't want to wait to stop eating when we're at like eight, nine, 10, because now we're overstuffed and almost positive that we are overconsuming calories at that point, especially if you're eating multiple times per day.

Speaker 1:

So these methods build intuitive awareness without relying on an app and for many they're easier to sustain on the long term. Okay, and that's the most important thing at all times is the long-term vision. It doesn't matter if you can do something in the short term, that doesn't make you successful. It's what you can do over the long haul. That's where true success is. But what's most important is choosing a method that matches your season of life and goals. Okay, that's number one. It's always about what you need, not what works for everybody else.

Speaker 1:

And one thing I want us to understand here and clarify here is that it kind of sounds like we've created enemies you know what I mean between tracking and intuition, but we need to understand that tracking and intuition are not opposites. So one thing that we emphasize at THI tracking and intuitive eating aren't at war, okay, they're not opposing camps. They're both tools, and many successful clients use both over time. Okay, that's really what I consider like the sweet spot. So tracking builds early awareness. It lets us know where we're at. It gives us an understanding of food and what we're consuming. Intuition develops over time through consistency and habits, so as we begin to learn these foods, we get to learn how much of each that we're consuming, how that affects our body as far as our body composition, as far as our energy level, our sleep, all of that. Then we can start using intuition at that point, because now we have a better understanding. Intuition doesn't really work that well in this situation without a basic understanding of food. You're going to really have a struggle without that, and together intuition and tracking they build confidence and freedom. Okay, and that's what we're after.

Speaker 1:

So now let's tie all this together. Let's give you some practical takeaways here. So, number one calorie tracking is a powerful tool when used intentionally. When you use it properly and for a purpose, it can be fantastic. Number two, number three However, it's not for everyone and it doesn't have to be forever. Just because you're doing it now doesn't mean that this is what you're always going to have to do, because a lot of people stop before they ever learn anything from tracking or get any benefit from it, because they start thinking this is so hard to do. I'm four days in and I'm struggling so hard. This is always going to be like this. What's the point? Well, no, as soon as you learn the lessons, then you can transition away from it totally fine. But also, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

Speaker 1:

Number three on our practical takeaways intuitive and structured approaches can coexist. Okay, they're not opposing forces, they're not enemies. There's not a good and a bad. We can use both of them, and that's probably the best way to go about it, for a lifestyle is knowing how and when to use either approach to stay on track, maintain your results or get to your goal.

Speaker 1:

Number four using the right method for your season, stress level and goals. Understand this needs to be built for you. You can't take what your brother or sister or Sally or you know home girl at the gym told you that they're doing. That's not going to work for you. Your life is different, your stress levels are different, your goals are different, your season of life is different. Everything's different, so it needs to be tailored to you. And number five the goal. What's the goal? Of learning both, of using both of these techniques. It's about ownership, not obsession. Okay, it's about learning how to use these tools and not let these tools use you. All right, and understand that you don't need to be perfect, you need to be consistent and you need to be aware, but we're never after perfection here, right? So at THI, we teach both tracking and non-tracking strategies, not because one is better, not because one works faster, but because each client's journey is different. We help you build a strategy that works for your life, your mind and your mission. You can learn more at transformhealthcoachcom if it feels like it's the right next step.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you've listen to previous episodes, I want to clear something up real quick. We used to use an application based process for our coaching and it was great. It worked well, all that, but I started to feel like it was getting like a little too impersonal. It was missing some of that human connection and as our society becomes more dependent on technology and less focused on human connection, I wanted to bring the human connection factor back. So now you'll see on our website an option to either send us a message directly or complete a short little form that gives us your contact info and what days and times work best for your schedule, and then we'll personally reach out to you to schedule a consultation or a strategy call, based on your availability or if you're local, if you're remote. So if that sounds like something you're interested in, then go sign up now, while we still have a few openings available for August. We only take so many people per month, just so we can keep up with the workload. Make sure that we're providing excellent service to whoever's trusting us, so make sure you get in and get that spot. So thank you for listening to the win on purpose podcast.

Speaker 1:

Once again, tracking is a tool, intuition is a skill. You can use both and you don't have to pick sides to win next episode. We're going to go. We're going deep into something that changes how you think about food completely, which is how to eat like a grown-up satiety, simplicity and self-respect. So this is going to be another bonus episode to this series why diets fail and what actually works. So you don't want to miss that one, guys. This was episode bonus. Episode number two. Last week, august 5th, was bonus episode number one. This next one will be bonus episode number three. So we're giving you guys a ton of content and we truly hope to help. So until next time, do something good for yourself, something good for your health, something good for those you care about and, whatever you do, make sure you win on purpose. Talk to you next time.