Slow Weight Loss? Do this.

An underrated, free tool.

If you had asked my approach 10+ years ago, this wouldn’t have been it.

If you came to me looking for support with weight loss, the first thing we would do is look at WHAT you’re eating, and focus our efforts there. While there would be conversations about portion sizes, the main goal would be prioritizing whole foods and swapping out more processed foods.

Seems reasonable, right?

And for some people, that’s MORE than enough.

But what about when it’s not?

The women who see me are ones who, for the most part, are already doing ALL THE THINGS. They’ve done Whole30s, intermittent fasting, cutting out sugar for 30 days, and are mindfully choosing groceries and balancing their plates. They’re moving their body, taking supplements, and not seeing progress.

And then they blame themselves, white knuckle through more random restrictions, force more movement, and spend more money on supplements. That’s no way to live.

What I’ve learned over my 15+ years as a dietitian is that it’s not always about pushing harder; sometimes it’s about taking an entirely new approach… and using data in our favor.

Show me the data

The idea of “tracking your macros” (basically using a food log to understand your caloric intake and protein/fat/carb breakdown) is sometimes considered unnecessarily restrictive and disordered.

What’s ironic is that food logs are EXACTLY what researchers do to understand dietary patterns for clinical studies. This data is the best we have outside of highly controlled metabolic ward studies, where researchers have 100% control over what participants eat.

Humans are notoriously inaccurate with remembering what and how much they ate.

You wouldn’t just GUESS how much money you have in your bank account before making a big purchase. You’re constantly checking and making sure you’re set up for success with your expenses and income. The same goes for your nutrition, especially if your goal is weight loss.

To make changes, you need to know your baseline. Otherwise, you’re changing variables without understanding the true impact.

So what do I do?

One of the first things I recommend women do is track their nutrition for at least 2 weeks. This requires focus, accuracy, and humility. This also requires a tool like an app that can calculate the nutrition data for you. (Think MyFitnessPal, but I’ll share better options below!).

And yes, this also means dusting off your scale and monitoring your weight. You’ll want to weigh yourself (first thing in the AM, naked) before and after your tracking experience. More on that later.

This does NOT mean:

1. Eyeballing portions. You would be floored by how little 2 T of nut butter or 1/2 cup of ice cream is. You need an inexpensive food scale to provide the best data.

2. Waiting until the end of the day to track. It’s far too easy to forget the little things, like creamer in your coffee or how many oz of chicken you added to your lunch, if you wait until the end of the day. Track in real time, if possible.

3. Choosing the first option you see. Some apps, like MyFitnessPal, offer 20 different options for chicken breast. You need to be mindful of A) that you’re choosing “cooked” versions of protein and that B) the option you’re choosing wasn’t entered incorrectly by a user. I’ve seen wildly inaccurate nutrition breakdowns for foods, even basic things like an orange. Do a quick scan to make sure it’s accurate or choose one that’s verified by a food database.

4. Tracking what you THINK you should be eating. It’s common to change what you’re eating while tracking to showcase your best moments. It can be confronting to list certain foods and portion sizes that aren’t what you consider to be the healthiest or most effective choices for your weight loss goals, but this is the point!

Honesty and awareness is the key to your success!

5. Being sporadic with tracking. We need a full, honest representation of what 1=2 weeks (minimum) looks like, and how that impacts your results (scale weight). I often see people skipping the weekends, because tracking can be annoying, and weekends are the most common times people increase their intake.

What will happen

Here are a few common experiences I hear:

• Realizing that you’re eating far more (or less) than you thought.

• Realizing that the BLTs (bites, licks, tastes) of your kids’ snacks, the leftover food on their dinner plates, or the breakroom snacks really do add up!

• Realizing that you need to extend your tracking experience because you didn’t weigh/measure everything, or weren’t consistent.

• Realizing that you love the data, or that it’s even more annoying than you thought.

• Realizing you THOUGHT you were eating more protein (or fiber) than you actually are.

• Realizing that the data is triggering. (This is a big reason why I screen for eating disorders or disordered eating prior to asking people to track - it may do more harm than good).

Now what

You now have accurate calorie/macro data from (hopefully) at least two weeks. You also have before/after scale measurements.

• Did the scale go up? That may mean you’re in a surplus, especially if your calories were higher than expected. There’s room for you to be more mindful of your portions and focus on satiating foods like protein and fiber.

• Did the scale go down? That may mean you were more mindful with tracking, which led to less calorie consumption and weight loss. If this intake feels reasonable, you may be good to go and play with this for longer!

• Did it stay the same? That may mean you are at maintenance — eating enough to maintain your current weight, not gain or lose.

*If you’re finding yourself consuming below 1500 calories, and your tracking is honest and accurate, it’s likely time for a REVERSE diet (slowly increasing your calories to get you to a healthier and more sustainable calorie intake).

I cannot give specific calorie levels you should be at, because everyone is VERY different. In general, I have women eating at least 1800 calories, 1.6 grams per kg of their body weight in protein, and aiming for 30-50 grams of fiber a day (slowly ramping up to this).

Now that you have this information, you have data for your next steps. If you feel lost or uncertain about what to do, this is incredibly helpful information to expedite conversations with a dietitian to create a more comprehensive plan! It’s similar to bringing CURRENT lab data to a functional medicine practitioner — it will cut down the cost of visits (since they’ll need this information anyway) and get you on a plan asap.

Which Tracking Apps Do You Recommend?

My FREE favorites are:

1. LoseIt -

   1. My clients love this one, as it’s free (or very cheap to upgrade) and the data can easily sync to a practitioner dashboard to view along with you.

2. Chronometer -

   1. This one is great for those who love data, and want more information on the vitamin/mineral content of their diet. Just keep in mind that it’s not 100% accurate, as some foods do not have comprehensive data (vitamin/mineral content). It can also feel a little clunky compared to others.

*I typically do not recommend MyFitnessPal, as the calorie amounts they tell you to eat are horribly inaccurate (LOW!) and the user-inputted foods make it hard to find accurate options.

My two PAID favorites (for more advanced users) are:

1. MacroFactor

   1. This is the fastest, most user-friendly, and comprehensive tracker that I’ve found. It’s about $12/month, and includes a “coaching” feature that you can turn on/off, which will adjust your calorie intake based on your data. It uses your average weekly scale weight and weekly caloric intake to determine whether or not you should keep, increase, or decrease your calories. This can be used for reverse diets/weight gain/maintenance or loss.

   2. This is what I use to track, when I track. I do not track year-round, only when I am actively working on weight loss.

2. Carbon

   1. This is another option, with similar features to MacroFactor. I find it’s slower and less comprehensive than MacroFactor, but I know a lot of people who love it, so I wanted to give you a second option

**When you use one of these apps with a coaching feature, you should be aware of the limitations. Hormonal fluctuations (such as water weight gain during your luteal phase or a higher sodium diet) may cause the app to see a higher scale weight and decrease your calories unnecessarily. Carbon asks where you’re at in your cycle and factors this in. You can also state “non-compliant” for your calories if you think your weight may be off. If you find that the app is dropping you too low in calories (<1600), then I recommend turning off the coaching feature or using a more basic app.

Final Thoughts

Do you NEED to go this route and track your calories and macros? No, of course not. I also do NOT recommend it for those who are struggling with eating disorders or disordered eating.

However, if you feel like you’re doing ALL the things and not seeing results, this is a free and highly effective way of gathering more data AND awareness so you can make small tweaks and start seeing results.

In Part TWO, I’ll cover other considerations — as I believe that calories in vs calories out plays a significant component in weight loss, but it’s not the only thing. Labs, supplements, medications (including GLP-1), and lifestyle are all worth considering depending on your situation.

Now I want to hear from YOU. Have you tried this? Could this be helpful for you?