MYTH 1: The calories burned and distance travelled in my device is reliable The following myths demonstrate why this technology and nutrition apps may not be the right fit for you. Tracking every morsel of food and step of exercise can become a deadly obsession for those with eating disorders or an emotional torment tool for chronic dieters. Still for others using devices and apps have destroyed a healthy relationship with food and intuitive hunger cues. Compliance can be a challenge and many of the clients we see in our nutrition counselling practice track on so-called “good days” and avoid tracking on “bad days.” We’ve also seen clients that have found tracking their food intake helped their awareness of food choices for their goal with weight loss or diabetes management.įor others, tracking devices have not been shown to be helpful since there are many barriers to lifestyle change related to emotional, habitual, social and environmental issues. If a device has positively encouraged you to get more steps and increase your fitness level, this is fantastic. But are they useful and are the numbers accurate?ĭevices and nutrition apps that offer live personalized feedback have been shown in some research to be helpful for goal setting, accountability and motivation. There are now more technology devices and phone apps to monitor your food, exercise and health habits than ever before. By Andrea Holwegner | The downside of using calorie tracking apps

Sites like myfitnesspal