Five Reasons Why This Dietitian Hates Calorie-Tracking Apps

kommodevaran

May and can are so different from will. You may get an eating disorder if you start obsessing over counting calories, you may get a strange message if you push the complete button on MFP and your eating that day is atypical or you haven't entered the correct data, you can misuse the system and not get enough nutrients by only eating cookies - but you will lose weight if you have a calorie deficit over time, and MFP will help you with that it you use the program properly.

Never ask a hairdresser if you need a haircut.

ChrisM8971

My school's dietitian openly recommends that people use MFP and has been instrumental in getting a lot of the on-campus dining options' calorie counts in the system. Pretty sure this dietitian doesn't speak for most.

Agree with the sentiment that this dietitian does not speak for most. Also is this a Dietitian or a Registered Dietitian, is it someone who has a private practice or someone you get referred too for free

I don't agree with the article but as with anything in life you have to take context into account.

MFP works for me and I wouldn't paint this as a bad site just because someone here once gave out what I believed was bad advice so wouldn't paint all dietitians as bad from this one article

UsedToBeHusky

wow, and here I was thinking that Bananas were healthy and nutritious and oreos weren't... go figure. I will go back to eating the oreos... ROFL, sugar is sugar ... who cares about the antioxidants, phytonutrients and fiber that are naturally in fruit and not in oreos?

I think you missed the point.

Should people stop using MFP because MFP doesn't hold you accountable for your own choices when it clearly helps 99.999999% of people who use it?

ItsCasey

I actually agree with most of the stuff the OP has said...

I love MFP, but agree you have to think about what you're putting into your body, not just how many calories it contains. I know from looking at others diaries, that there are A LOT of people who will skip breakfast and have a basically non existent lunch, just so they can consume 1,500 calories for dinner. That's not what your body wants!!

You just described my typical day. Don't presume to know what my body does and does not want.

likitisplit

May and can are so different from will. You may get an eating disorder if you start obsessing over counting calories, you may get a strange message if you push the complete button on MFP and your eating that day is atypical or you haven't entered the correct data, you can misuse the system and not get enough nutrients by only eating cookies - but you will lose weight if you have a calorie deficit over time, and MFP will help you with that it you use the program properly.

Never ask a hairdresser if you need a haircut.

yeah. I never click the complete button. Waste of time.

likitisplit

The only one I really agree with is number five. Calorie counting can lead to obsessive, almost eating-disordered behaviors and mentalities for some people (you'll see it if you just spend five minutes on the boards here). "omg I ate a cookie and I'm 70 calories over my goal I've ruined all my hard work I'm such a fat failure!!!!!"

The rest of the list is silly to me. While I agree that you can't eat crap all day every day and expect good results, there's nothing wrong with including some junk in your diet as long as it fits your calorie (and hopefully macro) goals. And with the one about exercise, the author doesn't really seem to understand how MFP works...

Those people had those issues when they came here. That negative self-image is probably how they got fat in the first place.

likitisplit

Dietitians have many purposes but for many of us, we can learn enough about food that we can use that knowledge to help us lose weight or achieve our goals without a dietitian.

I do feel like a great portion of the population has NO sound knowledge about food and what they put into their bodies. Often a dietitian is the person who will help teach them about it.

More often I get the sense that people just parrot whatever silliness (or sometimes sense) they got from their dietitian and not really bother learning the underlying reasons for it or how to check the accuracy. Also, based on anecdotal evidence and perhaps some bad examples, I get the sense that many dieticians don't like to get into the whys, since that might encourage people to question, and they prefer people just accept their word as truth. I'm, admittedly, a little cynical, in part because my mother got the most confusing, unhelpful advice from her hospital dietitians (not about weight loss, about a condition that required modifications of her diet to lower her consumption of iron).

I remember when I was younger and playing soccer. The team hired a dietitian to come speak to us and one of the items I will never forget is "|Iced Tea is just as bad as soda" Most of us here already know this but if you think about it I'm sure there are a TON of people that will order an Iced Tea (i'm talking lipton or Nestea crap) instead of soda thinking they are doing their bodies a favor....

You mean because of sugar? I make iced tea (basically, make a pot of tea and cool it in the refrigerator), and think it's totally healthy. I'm not against added sugar--one teaspoon has only a few calories, after all--but don't add it myself since I don't like sweetened coffee or tea. And this is kind of what I mean, since I can see someone hearing that and not examining the reasons for it or that it matters how much sugar you imbibe overally, not just in one beverage, etc.

Yeah, I mean because of sugar. I know that there is a difference between American and Canadian version of Iced Teas. I'm speaking the crap that you can buy powdered at the grocery store and mix with water OR the stuff you can get at your local fast food joint and VOILA you have fountain drink.

Actual brewed tea and cooled in refrigerator is just fine. IMO
I agree I don't think that dietitians always have the best advise. Same can go for chiropractors, physiotherapists the list can go on. These are people that are supposed to know about their industry and you are "trusting" them with the information they are telling you. In their defense, everyone is different. To make something work for someone it has to be so intricate, so detailed and so personalized. These people dont have time for that. They are making their chunk of money from an hour of time with you and although they have a good meaning behind what they do not all the time can they be accurate in every situation. It all comes down to the "I can make more money if I have more clients but spend less time with them" or " I can spend more time on one person and make less money because more time = less clients" If that makes sense!


Edit: to apologize for my horrific grammar. Please forgive my laziness to correct it

How does freeze drying tea make it bad for you? I, personally, don't like the taste. But I'm still struggling with how it's bad for you.

likitisplit

this whole thing was enlightening to me b/c I had no idea people used tracking in this way -
I track what I eat \b/c I like to see the impact it has on my running/ race times and some of my health issues
I never viewed a calorie as a calorie and eat primarily veggies and fruit (with occasional nuts, whole grains and peanut butter ) - my junk food would be the occasional popcorn or a luna bar

Is it true that ppl actually do this - eat garbage and figure as long as they are within their goal they are ok? or force themselves to eat something if they are under goal?

Yeah. There's also people who eat 1000 calories and exercise 500. Lots of wrong ways to use the tool. It's not the tool's fault that a few adults can't manage their own nutritional needs. I can guarantee you that these people would be doing the same thing with or without MFP.

bcattoes

I actually agree with most of the stuff the OP has said...

I love MFP, but agree you have to think about what you're putting into your body, not just how many calories it contains. I know from looking at others diaries, that there are A LOT of people who will skip breakfast and have a basically non existent lunch, just so they can consume 1,500 calories for dinner. That's not what your body wants!!

Actually, I think that is what my body wants. I've tried eating breakfast, because "it's the most important meal". I've tried eating a bunch of snack throughout the day and never having a proper meal. I've tried 3 meals a day with little to no snacks. I had trouble controlling my weight with all of those.

With only a drink for breakfast, a light lunch and a big proper meal in the evening, I don't have trouble controlling my weight. I don't go hungry, I have plenty of energy and, most importantly, I don't think about food all the time. It seems completely natural to me to eat this way.

likitisplit

I actually agree with most of the stuff the OP has said...

I love MFP, but agree you have to think about what you're putting into your body, not just how many calories it contains. I know from looking at others diaries, that there are A LOT of people who will skip breakfast and have a basically non existent lunch, just so they can consume 1,500 calories for dinner. That's not what your body wants!!

Actually, I think that is what my body wants. I've tried eating breakfast, because "it's the most important meal". I've tried eating a bunch of snack throughout the day and never having a proper meal. I've tried 3 meals a day with little to no snacks. I had trouble controlling my weight with all of those.

With only a drink for breakfast, a light lunch and a big proper meal in the evening, I don't have trouble controlling my weight. I don't go hungry, I have plenty of energy and, most importantly, I don't think about food all the time. It seems completely natural to me to eat this way.

I was always a no-breakfast, big lunch, snack, small dinner kind of person. However, I've gotten into the breakfast habit. I was thinner when I didn't eat breakfast though.

kjarvo

I do agree with some of these points. HOWEVER, I have lost weight and feel I am starting to eat better.
1. Your body doesn't work like that. - There is a lot of debate over this. A calorie being a calorie. Whilst I still eat crap, I don't believe that all food is the same. This doesn't encourage you to only look at calories though, otherwise the other macros wouldn't be listed.
2. You can lose your hunger cues. - I do fake hungry, or if I am close but slightly under my 1200 calorie goal I don't want to go over. This article has just pointed it out and I hadn't realised previously, but I do do this occasionally.
3. Exercise doesn't erase a day of poor choices. - No, but it's better that having poor choices and not exercising, which is what I would do if I didn't log. I would still eat crap.
4. Predictions made by calorie counting apps may cause you to want to chuck your phone at the wall. - They aren't very accurate, take with a handful of salt, but it reminds me that if I stick at it, my weight will be lower at some time in the future, something that is hard to see on a day by day basis.
5. Constantly measuring and recording everything you eat can easily slip into obsessive behaviour. - Yeah, got to be careful of this. On the other hand, people put on weight slowly, without realising or knowing how, so this shows where those extra 100 calories come from a day.