re: friction with calorie tracking
I subscribe to a fun newsletter called 10+1 Things by Rishikesh Sreehari. Rishikesh lives in Abu Dhabi and shares a little about his life in his newsletter along with some interesting links. I recommend it.
In his latest newsletter he talked briefly about the problem with friction in calorie counting apps:
I've been trying to track my calories and stay in a deficit. But here's the thing that's driving me crazy: calorie tracking apps are incredibly frustrating to use. The friction is just too high. Think about it - you finish eating, then you have to remember to open the app, search for your food, pick the right serving size, log everything. It's mentally exhausting and honestly makes eating feel like a chore.
I'm convinced this is a real problem ...
I disagree that it's a problem. In my opinion there should be some friction. This friction causes you to pause and think about what you're entering and by doing so makes you think about what you're eating. This is especially important for someone just starting out and trying to figure out their diet during a weight loss journey.
I also think it is worth entering the food item before you eat it, so that the friction involved might make you pause about something you're choosing that might be high in calories (or maybe the wrong macro nutrients for you, if you're tracking that as well). Say you have 150 calories left in the day, and you want a chocolate bar, and look it up to see that it "costs" 300. Maybe you put it down, or save it for another day.
That said, I agree that there is a problem: the frustration when you can't find the food that you want to log, or trying to figure out meals that don't have an easy calorie label attached to them. It is tedious when you cook a meal to list out all the ingredients and weigh everything, and figure out how many portions, etc. I think this might be best served by writing things down on paper and looking everything up later.
I'm interested to see what he's come up with for his personal solution. Sounds like he's going to share it.
Reply by email Share this post
Or if you prefer, find me on Mastodon. And there's also Bluesky!