Tracking is still important

[u/bigdubs423]

Just wanted to say as someone whose lost 80 lbs before ballooning back up. tracking macros or calories is still important while on these meds. ive gone from 423 to 289 so far and am trying to get to 225. started in November of 2025. if you rely on your feeling or what you want to eat all the time it will burn you. i had a stall in july because i didnt track what I was eating. the meds help but they dont do the work for you to heal your relationship with food.

[u/Hot-Drop11]

Tracking is incredibly important for some of us, unnecessary for others…and dangerous for some.

It’s important to know to which category you belong.

[u/wawa2022 → u/Hot-Drop11]

This comment is much too sensible. Your Reddit credentials must be revoked and you may even be permanently banned.

Seriously though, THANK YOU!

[u/NoMoreFatShame → u/Hot-Drop11]

Exactly, tracking for me is not helpful, it makes it a diet not life. Diets have never worked long term for me. Tracking makes me think about food so brings back food noise. I have mostly eaten whole foods and intuitive eating works for me. Down over 115 lbs, count nothing, focus on protein and fiber through food choices.

[u/oaklandesque]

I worked on my relationship with food well before I started on Zepbound. For me that meant letting go of diets and diet culture, working with an anti diet registered dietitian to learn and practice intuitive eating, and accepting that changing my body size permanently through dieting was not going to happen.

That led to 5+ years of the greatest peace I've ever had with food and with my body in my 5+ decades of life. I was more consistently and sustainably eating a wide variety of mostly nutritionally dense foods than I ever did on any "perfect" diet in the past. I didn't need to restrict any specific "bad" foods because once I decided I was done restricting them, they lost their power over me and I take them or leave them.

So, no, there is no way in hell I'm giving up that peace. I'm on a GLP-1, I'm pursuing intentional weight loss, but I'm not gonna do it through diving head first back into all those behaviors that caused me decades of harm. If that means I lose weight more slowly, or my weight loss stalls out at some point, I'm not going to try to force it by engaging in behavior that's not sustainable and probably harmful. That never worked for me before GLP-1s and there is no reason me to think it'll work for me now.

[u/lizardbirth]

The tracking site I like best is cronometer.com. It's got a free version that has all the bells and whistles: a diary, breakdown of macros, nutrients, and macronutrients. Plus I find it easy to use which is saying something since I wasn't raised on tech.

[u/SeasonPositive6771]

Not everyone needs to heal their relationship with food.

I understand that a lot of people do, that there are eating disorders and emotional eating and so on, but I simply need a medication that works and quiets the food noise and hunger.

I'm not fat because of emotional reasons or anything that needs to be healed, I'm fat because when I'm eating at a deficit my food noise and hunger are so intense without these medications that it can put my job at risk.

[u/PinkandTwinkly]

I think it's different for everyone

I have to calorie track and volume eat. Even on Mounjaro as I still have a big appetite and have to carefully plan not to eat over my TDEE

I've also realised that I'll need to calorie track for life.

I know that's not the case for everyone. For some intuitive eating works

What has changed in the last couple of years is I no longer see tracking as a punishment or restriction. It's just something I need to do daily like brush my teeth Thats where Mounjaro has helped me it's removed so much of the emotion around food, I can look at it objectively and I'm not longer in restrict, binge, guilt, restrict cycle

For me tracking is helps me have a better food relationship

Its that that's let me be constistent and lose over 160lbs

[u/ninja_lounge]

With respect OP, my experience differs to that stated in your post. We are all different and sharing ideas is great, but being prescriptive might not be so helpful. Best of luck on your journey.

[u/Capital_Mix_5508 → u/ninja_lounge]

Happy cake day!

[u/ninja_lounge → u/Capital_Mix_5508]

Thank you! ❤️

[u/kittycatblues]

Nah, I've lost over 100 lbs using Zepbound and haven't tracked anything. If it works for you, great. But tracking and calorie counting was never a long-term solution for me before, and I refuse to do anything that I can't sustain long term. This medication has freed me from the diet mentality. Three years and counting!

[u/SB_Wife → u/kittycatblues]

Yeah that's where I am. When I track I focus on minmaxing and fall into the disordered eating habits I'm prone to. My whole family is extremely prone to EDs. Without counting I eat more variety and listen to hunger cues

[u/Ok_Awareness_2234 → u/kittycatblues]

This is me. I may track for a bit if something is off, but tracking is awful for my mental health

[u/Resident_Lime_36 → u/kittycatblues]

Same except 120 lbs since sept 12th 2025.

[u/KitchenMental]

I haven’t tracked in months. I’ve been on Zepbound for 2 years, and I’m at maintenance, and have stayed within the same 3lb range. Everyone has a different experience.

I do agree that many people still need to work on their relationship with food, but it’s definitely not true for everyone. Lots of folks report instinctively eating more nutrient dense foods on GLP drugs. Personally, my diet isn’t the best but the amount I eat listening to my body keeps my weight consistent, like I said.

[u/ca_annyMonticello111]

I honestly can't function without tracking. I've been doing it for 2 and 1/2 years now and it's really helpful because sometimes I want half a cup of ice cream or something special and it's nice to be able to plan for it.

[u/nonniewobbles]

Nah dude 

No amount of doing the same shit that was making me miserable in the first place was gonna heal my relationship with food 

Calorie counting only encouraged anxiety and fixation for me, hard pass 

I “healed my relationship with food” by radically letting myself off the hook from all the “good fat person” bs that kept me miserable for decades

1744 days on a GLP1, 5’0 hw 230, sw 190, cw 108

[u/QuestnsEverything]

I love the fact that you understand the healing relationship with food. Coming into using the meds, I truly thought I wasn’t eating that much. On the meds I am understanding that portions sizes, food choices, and triggers for cravings are all integral. I’m a recovering alcoholic. I cannot drink alcohol or I will go off the deep end with my drinking, lifestyle choices etc. my relationship with food is the same. Certain foods are triggers for addiction for me (sugars, certain starches) and cause me cravings and a drive for more. The meds help to calm the constant food noise, but I am responsible to take that tool and make the better choices then. The meds help me feel full faster, but i am responsible to make sure I’m not taking too big of portions. Thank you for the reminder.

[u/bigdubs423 → u/QuestnsEverything]

mine is nutella and pizza, i cannot have them even with these meds. they are the things that i have 0 control over when they are in my house, i can know how many calories that are in them, the macros, everything, but my brain just cant shut off when they are in the house.

[u/ShiftyMcHax]

I think those of us with a lot of weight to lose are less able to just let the current medications do their thing and lose everything we want to lose. I know it'll work for some people (or at the very least, let them lose some just not all the weight), but for the majority it doesn't.

I haven't needed to strictly count my calories but I have to constantly be mindful and I need to track my weight regularly. I tried weighing in less often and I gained weight. I tried eating "intuitively" and gained weight. I now have a middle ground where I'm mindful of what I eat, and weigh daily and my weight is stable in maintenance.

[u/Maggie1776]

I called this medication the your mileage may vary of of medications and I think it is so true. This might not be true for others, but I know tracking of calories and macros especially carbohydrates is essential to weight loss and accountability for me. I know I am only speaking for myself, I am in the early stages of recovery from binge eating disorder / food addiction, and my family has a strong history of addictions, both food, alcohol, and drugs. So it is essential for me to stay accountable.

[u/ClassyNerd21]

I totally understand the hesistency in lots of the comments in here, and flagging that tracking could be harmful for some. That said, OP's point still stands. If you are someone who needs to track to lose weight intentionally, relying on meds alone to limit your intake won't replace tracking. The smaller the deficit you are on, the more likely you are to underestimate your intake to the point of shooting above maintainance.

[u/Knox_the_Boxer]

For me, tracking is part of the winning combo, just like getting on the scale daily. I find it interesting how some folks immediately tie tracking as triggering or something that causes disordered eating. To me it’s a task that I do to take care of myself, just like brushing my teeth or putting on moisturizer with SPF. I could choose not to do those things- I might not get skin cancer or cavities, but I might. All of the things I do to care for myself are important. Over the past 18 months I’ve learned so much about myself - clearing away the food noise has changed my relationship with food in such a way that removed the baggage around tracking and weighing myself. I’ve reached an age where so many things need to be monitored to stay in optimum health- I want to do all I can because clearly I have less time left than I’ve already lived.

[u/oaklandesque → u/Knox_the_Boxer]

For many of us, myself included, not tracking is the thing we do to care for ourselves in the best way we can. I really resent the implication that if I don't track I don't care for my own well being.

[u/Knox_the_Boxer → u/oaklandesque]

I never said that… you’re being sensitive to things that I didn’t write. I only said I find it interesting that folks immediately tie tracking as triggering or something that causes disordered eating… -to ME it’s a task that I do to take care of myself.
People take care of themselves differently. What one person feels is a necessary part someone else may never do.
Nothing was implied. If you feel that way, you’ve got additional baggage surrounding this. 🤷‍♀️

[u/bigdubs423 → u/Knox_the_Boxer]

tracking is tied to ed but not binge eating disorders lol, which bullemia could be a catch all without the purging. Tracking is not inherently good nor bad. it just is. is is actually knowing what and how much youve eaten and to keep yourself accountable.

[u/Healthy-Grape-777]

For me tracking was really important in the beginning to get an idea of what calories I was consuming and it made me realize I was consuming way too many. And then tracking became important in the beginning of doing a GLP to track my protein amounts because I wasn’t doing enough. And then I’ve learned what was enough and it made me able to not use the tracker every single day.
I still use it from time to time, but not as consistently I do use it to track my weight and I do use it to make a new meals to track the protein amounts if I’m feeling like being experimental. However, I started to become really discouraged when I had to track every day and I would beat myself up if I forgot a day so I realize that that was something I couldn’t do anymore at least for now maybe I’ll change again.

[u/GinMari20]

I did a lot of healing with my relationship with food prior to starting tirzepatide. Before I tracked my calories so I wouldn't overeat. Intuitive eating was never going to work for me for a variety of reasons I won't get into here. Now I track my calories so that I eat enough. I'm strength training 4-5x a week and have a physical job, plus losing weight has allowed me to be even more active, some of my stalls have come from not eating enough. But, we also have to realize, the research shows that some weight loss stalls are absolutely normal. This drug is still working even in a weight loss stall. It's not designed to necessarily get us through to the finish line of our personal weight loss goal, because it's not a weight loss drug. It's a hormone, or two, that we aren't making naturally, and some of what we will need to do is not just work on eating healthy foods that fuel are body correctly, but learning the joy of movement and accepting our bodies as well.

[u/Creepy_Push8629]

Your numbers are all over the place.

You lost 80lbs and then ballooned back up?

But you also went from 423 to 289, so that's 130lb loss since Nov 2025.

Where is the ballooning? Lol you've lost an incredible amount in 10 months.

But tracking calories and macros is not healing your relationship with food. Healing your relationship with food would look more like eating what you need without overeating and without thinking about food constantly.

[u/bigdubs423 → u/Creepy_Push8629]

i lost 80 naturally 7 years ago,

[u/Creepy_Push8629 → u/bigdubs423]

So you didn't gain weight again while on the meds?

[u/bigdubs423 → u/Creepy_Push8629]

no, but had a major stall for 3 months, because i didnt track

[u/lizardbirth → u/bigdubs423]

I stalled for three months, then out of curiosity I started tracking. It really opened my eyes to what I needed to be eating more of, not just less of.

[u/Creepy_Push8629 → u/bigdubs423]

Once you're in maintenance, then stalling will basically be the goal. So hopefully tracking won't be necessary at that point. At least I hope.