Awareness Over Counting: How Tracking Helped Me Understand My Body
I’ve never been a fan of tracking food. At least, not in the way I first learned about it through diet culture. The idea of weighing every bite and logging each calorie felt exhausting and took the joy out of eating.
But over time, I realized that awareness and tracking aren’t the same thing. When I talk about tracking now, I don’t mean obsessively counting macros or measuring out chicken breasts, I mean noticing, paying attention, tracking for self-awareness, not control. It’s about seeing patterns and connecting the dots between what I eat, how I feel, and the outcomes I experience.
I often tell clients, “you can’t change what you aren’t aware of.” That mindset shifted everything for me.
The Power of Awareness-Based Tracking
Every now and then, my energy just crashes. I’ll go from “Wow, I could go for hours,” to “I don’t really want to do this but can push through” and then suddenly hit a wall like, “I cannot muster another step.”
Through tracking, I discovered what was really happening: I tend to under eat and will use nut butter as my energy source.
I’ve learned anxiety shows up in my gut first. When it hits, it’s like being a scared goose running from a cyclist on the waterfront, everything in my body goes into evacuation mode. My appetite disappears, I miss hunger cues, and I start craving almond butter (my brain’s way of screaming for quick, dense calories). Through tracking what I was eating and how often I skipped lunch, I realized I wasn’t getting enough quality nutrition to sustain my brain or my workouts.
Another discovery: when I eat one of my favorite chocolate chip cookies after dinner, I sleep terribly. I wake up several times and run hot all night. That information has been a game changer because now I have a choice — eat the cookie and risk a restless night, or save it for lunch tomorrow. (Obviously, there are many other choices here, but that’s where my brain goes.)
These patterns became visible only through awareness, not weighing or measuring just a willingness to look for the patterns.
Shifting the Mindset
When we shift out of shame or avoidance and treat food tracking like a fact-finding, curiosity-seeking mission, everything changes.
Instead of judgment, we get clarity:
“When I skip lunch, I crash.”
“When I eat enough protein, my energy holds.”
“That late-night snack actually messes with my sleep.”
That kind of awareness gives you power and choice, not punishment.
When Tracking Isn’t Helpful
If you have a history of disordered eating, or if calorie and macro tracking feels triggering, there are still ways to cultivate awareness:
Track mood throughout the day
Note energy dips or spikes
Record digestion, sleep, or stress patterns
Watch for skin changes or cravings
These simple reflections build self-awareness, without numbers or apps.
The Takeaway
Tracking isn’t about control, it’s about curiosity.
When we shift from self-criticism to self-awareness, we gain valuable information, the kind that helps us make choices that truly support our energy, health, and overall well-being.
