One of the questions I get asked a lot is, "How do I transition out of tracking macros and eat intuitively?" Although there is certainly no one size fits answer to this question, today Kaci Cheeseman, (our PA on the DD team), is going to break down how you know its time to make that transition.

First, I want to clarify, that by tracking we mean any form—calorie counting, WW points, macros, and/or weighing food on a kitchen scale. It is also worth noting that this same information can apply to laying down the restriction of certain foods too. In other words, use it to identify whether it’s time to begin incorporating foods you’ve put “off limits,” even if you’re not tracking.

Here are a few keys that may help you determine if laying down tracking is best for you!

1 - It feels more like bondage than freedom.

In other words, it’s no longer a helpful tool or useful meals of accountability so much as a form of restriction. If you feel like you have to control every single morsel that goes through your lips, whether you’re logging your food or not, there is definitely a new level of freedom available. This is where Holy Spirit guidance becomes critical. Often there’s fear about what might happen to your body if you were to stop tracking/restricting (even if you’re at a comfortable place with your weight) that perpetuates tracking. Living in fear is something God wants us to be free of. And usually that requires laying down the means by which we are trying to control things. In this case, tracking/restricting. If it’s taking the joy out of eating or perpetuating rigidity around your food intake, this is a good indicator you are ready to shift.

2 - If it causes more rigidity than it does flexibility with food:

If you’re not able to be flexible with food, avoid certain foods, or even avoid certain social situations because the food doesn’t fit your normal plan, you may want to try without tracking. Tracking to stay within the limits of your pre-set intake (calories, macros, WW points, etc.) limits the degree of flexibility we have with intake, whether there’s “off limits” foods or not. A Spirit-led mindful approach to eating gives us a greater degree of freedom with food choices because we don’t have to be as “perfect” about our intake. Similarly, you may want to try a Spirit-led approach to including foods you have put “off limits.”

3 - You can maintain things without it:

If you have been tracking for a period of time and are comfortable with where you are at, you probably don’t need to continue to log and track because you’re already maintaining fairly well as is. In this case, it might be a perfectly innocent habit that is causing you no dysfunction or loss of freedom. At the same time, you could take the time and energy you are spending on it and transfer it elsewhere. Shifting to mindful eating frees up brainpower to use on something that helps you improve in other ways. This is much better than spending it on maintaining where you're at, which you’ll already be able to do without tracking.

Things to Know for Context

It warrants being said: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with tracking in and of itself. The motive behind it is what we want to identify. Ultimately, it comes down to whether it’s a faith-based tool or fear-based form of control.

For some it may be that they are using it as a form of control rather than trusting their body and the Lord for guidance. For others, it is simply a means of building awareness around their intake and what works best for them. It can also be a useful means of accountability if we are working towards weight loss.

For myself personally, tracking was the way I was able to get over labeling foods as “good” or “bad” and heal disordered eating. Learning to track macros allowed me to fit any food in without “being off plan.” Slowly I realized that food was just food vs “good” or “bad.” So long as I looked at the overall numbers being met and accounted for, I was “on plan,” regardless of what I ate. Then the guilt faded and spiraling into overindulging ended because I knew that I could have anything I wanted at any time so long as I worked it into my day.

Of course, I know others who had the exact opposite experience with tracking and it was the gateway to obsessing and control with food.

Ultimately you know yourself well enough to see if it is a good form of accountability/awareness building or not at this point (or in the future). For some, it’s a tool they use in a long-term manner. For others, it can be useful for a period of time before transitioning to a more intuitive and mindful approach.

I can tell you that I personally feel the most freedom in tracking most of the time. I have stopped for periods of time when I felt the Lord wanted me to lay it down just to make sure I was using it appropriately. I do find that if I don’t track, I’m more apt to extremes like under-eating or overeating. But I personally have a history of both anorexia and bulimia, so for me, tracking feels like guardrails rather than restriction.

How to Know What’s Best for You

I would encourage you to do a heart check. Pray for clarity and dig into what it feels like:

• Does it feel like a helpful tool that encourages you to make informed, positive decisions?
• Does it feel like a crutch that you can’t let go of because you’re afraid to trust yourself and the Lord?
• Does it feel like a ball and chain that keeps you rigid or resorting to extremes?

By that same token, I would encourage you to do a heart check and pray for clarity on what transitioning to mindful eating feels like:

• Does it feel scary because you don’t trust yourself yet, or is it actually daunting because you might lose helpful accountability and guardrails present with tracking?
• Is there a part of you that wants to switch to mindful eating so that you have permission to go past what you know to be healthy guardrails, or is it genuinely so you can experience the freedom of mindful eating, even if it seems a bit scary?
• Do you have a sense that mindful eating might be best and find yourself resisting giving up control, or do you feel pressured to because people make it out to seem “better” than the accountability of tracking that’s actually better for you right now?

These are questions that are helpful to answer. And remember, whatever you decide to do, it’s not permanent! You can always reassess and switch gears down the road.

Realize it’s time to make the switch? Watch this video for Practical Tips for Transitioning from Tracking to Mindful Eating. Even if you’re not at this place right now, please watch the video because you may be in the future!

Feel free to email me at Kaci@dashingdish.com if you have questions!