Calorie-counting apps don’t work, and neither does the internet

It’s February and Trump is in charge. It’s ok to want to give up.

Last week, I slipped on a little pile of dirt while on the way to the gym and fell. Apart from the dirty jeans, I was OK. But yet, somehow it felt like the last straw. I texted my friend and here’s what she replied:

“You should just stay lying there. Where is there to go anyways?”

Indeed, what is the point? I stood up, of course, and kept on walking with a gleeful thought. Some people start exercising only to lose weight but find themselves actually gaining weight as physical exercise makes you hungry, duh.

If you want to lose weight, you need to stay in a calorie deficit. You need to consume a little bit less (up to 500kcal less) than you consume, et voila. Tracking calories is hard and energy-consuming, no matter how valuable the experience might be (you learn about nutrition and discover a healthier way to get in shape).

I’ve been trying different calorie-counting methods and apps for about five years now. Like pretty much any other hobby or project I take on, I became obsessed with it. Recently, I refreshed my weight loss plan on the “Lose it” app as I want to shed a few pounds before an upcoming marathon in May.

I do run a lot (not according to my couch though), and I do eat a generous amount of calories (2,200-2,700kcal) that would still allow me to lose weight. But what I noticed is that diligently logging in food actually made me eat more. If it’s 8 p.m. and you still have a budget of 500 kcal would you try to eat something even if you didn’t want to? Especially if you knew that tomorrow is a rest day for you and the calorie budget will be significantly lower?

While deep down, I knew that I should pay attention to my weekly calorie budget and could technically save those calories for another day, it bothered me that the app was screaming that I was over budget for a certain day, which would delay the date when I would achieve my goal.

So I gave up. Will probs revisit it again someday. As I do with Strava – I try it out every once in a while, get spooked by all the privacy issues and skeddadle.

I know for sure getting off some app or online service has done me only good in the past. I was obsessed with Goodreads and I would choose a book based on its length just to keep up with my reading challenge. I ditched the service half a year ago, and I read only what I enjoy now, and way more magazines and online articles, too.

As for Strava, I still experience a fear of missing out (FOMO), so I mostly replaced it with Discord, where my fellow runners share their experiences.

If not for the business I am in, I would probably ditch news websites for a while. While this is not our first rodeo with Donald Trump in charge, we haven’t gotten used to his way of political communication, and even journalists are getting freaked (and freaking readers) out about every little detail. Yes, a lot is changing, but living in my little peaceful and green city I don’t feel like we are on the brink of war. Until I open local news outlets to learn that Russia is about to invade the Baltic states soon (not really but you get that impression).