Well | Diary of a 'Supertracker'
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Diary of a 'Supertracker'
By Albert Sun
November 17, 2015 5:45 am November 17, 2015 5:45 am
Steve Lochner in 2009 and 2014.Credit
A special report on personal technology for health, family and fitness.
Ever since the 17th-century physician Santorio Santorio created an elaborate "weighing chair" and recorded all that he ate for next 30 years, people have been tracking their diets.
Now, a number of smartphone apps that help people record their food intake and weight have made the task easier, and they are growing in popularity. The most popular apps, MyFitnessPal and Lose It, along with their competitors, have signed up more than 100 million users.
Research shows that people who keep track of what they eat and weigh are more likely to succeed at losing weight and keeping it off. Self-tracking teaches people how their environment and behaviors affect health, said Carly Pacanowski, a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow who studies eating behavior.
"It's a preventive daily strategy that always stays with you," she said. "Over time, it provides you a lot of interesting information. It lets people be more in the driver's seat with regards to their health."
The key to successful tracking is consistency. An analysis by Withings and MyFitnessPal of their users found that those who tracked food and weight at least once every three days lost an average eight pounds over a year, compared with just one pound for those who less vigorously recorded the data.
The strategy might also work better for men than women, according to research by Dr. Pacanowski. Self-tracking works by forcing people to pay attention to how food affects weight; it may be that women are already exposed to so many ads and messages about weight that the extra attention makes little difference.
Dr. Pacanowski also cautions that those already overly concerned with weight and shape — or who are at risk for disordered eating — could be adversely affected by detailed self-tracking.
And as the food diary of Steve Lochner shows, this sort of self-monitoring is far from simple. In February 2012, he weighed 337 pounds. He worked as a supervisor at a contact lens manufacturer, eating pizza and fast food nearly every day, along with multiple energy drinks to stay awake during long overnight work shifts.
But then Mr. Lochner, 38, started tracking his eating habits with the Lose It app. Soon he became a "supertracker," detailing virtually every bite of food — good and bad — that he ate over a three-year period.
As he reached each weight milestone, Mr. Lochner gave himself a reward: a new tattoo. He lost more than 100 pounds, dropping to his current weight of about 200 pounds.
Even though he still succumbs to occasional binges, Mr. Lochner said the key is to keep tracking even when he is not happy with his food choices.
"Bad days are when I have a whole pizza and chicken wings I feel miserable about," he said. "I would like to get in a lifestyle that allows eating what I want to eat and not gaining weight from it, but being aware enough to make those good choices."
View our interactive graphic for a glimpse into the highs and lows of Mr. Lochner's long journey.
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