Call Me Old-Fashioned...

Hey everyone, it's old-fashioned Karen here, and I am old enough to remember the nutrition world before food tracking apps existed. You know the names...Lose It, My Fitness Pal, Nutritionix, the list goes on and on. Now don't get me wrong. I believe there are many ways in which technology has improved our lives. But for plenty of folks, food tracking apps are more of a burden than a blessing. Let me explain. 

First, let's discuss who these apps tend to help. They can be useful for folks who have no knowledge about the nutritional value of the foods they eat. It might be helpful for them to learn, through tracking, what foods are high in fiber or sodium, for example. Many of us are never taught this information, so using an app can definitely be educational. Apps might also be good for someone who is trying to figure out if or how their diet might be contributing to a specific health concern. Tracking can allow them to see the reality of what they are eating and understand what changes might be appropriate. But even within these scenarios, the app user has to be highly motivated and able to use the app without allowing it to induce guilt or anxiety. 

This brings us to who the apps are not well-suited for. The biggest group that comes to mind is those with a history of chronic dieting. These folks have likely been stuck in a cycle of restriction, binging and guilt, which apps only tend to exacerbate. Maybe this kind of user logged a day of eating where they ate lots of fruits and vegetables (yay!) but went over their calories by a smidge. We all know what happens in the app - the calorie numbers turn RED and all you can focus on is how you went over your daily goal by 37 calories. You have completely lost sight of the fact that you did a great job eating fruits and vegetables. This is how apps can perpetuate guilt and get us myopically focused on what is going wrong (and often focused in the completely wrong direction). 

We'll talk in class this week about gentler and more effective ways to self-monitor. And I also want to remind everyone that "back in my day" we used to keep food journals with pen and paper. We didn't have extensive databases of nutrition information, but the research still told us that this method was effective for self-monitoring. Because at the end of the day, it's less about how you self-monitor, and more about doing it at all.