The Dark Side of Food Tracking

Описание: If tracking feels like safety, like control, like the only thing keeping you from “going off the rails,” you are not broken. You have a nervous system that learned numbers = safety. And that can turn a simple tool into a full-blown mental prison.

In this Heal the Beast video, we are talking about what tracking is actually for, what it is not for, how it can help you learn nutrition and learn your own body, and how to spot the moment it stops being educational and starts being obsessive. Because going 200 calories over on a random Tuesday is not toxic. Living in anxiety, rigidity, and shame around food is way more harmful than the number you are afraid of.

You will learn how tracking can be used like a temporary science experiment instead of a lifelong parole officer, how to build awareness without turning food into a daily verdict, how to use “noticing without judging” to rebuild self-trust, and how to step away from tracking when it starts stealing your peace.

What you will learn in this video:
-What tracking is for (and what it is not for)
-How tracking can teach you nutrition literacy without becoming diet culture
-How to use tracking to learn how food makes YOU feel, not just what it “counts” as
-How to tell when tracking has become an obsession
-Why tracking often becomes a coping strategy for fear and control
-When it is time to pause or stop tracking
-How to rebuild self-trust and awareness without shame
-How to practice “noticing without judging” when your brain wants to spiral
-How to track cues instead of numbers (hunger, stress, satisfaction, digestion, energy)
-How to spot the belief underneath the behavior and start rewriting it
-Why getting support can help when you cannot see the belief that is running the show

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:18 What tracking is for and what it is not for
2:41 Tracking as a learning tool and how food makes you feel
5:10 When tracking becomes an obsession
8:21 When to stop tracking
9:48 Heal the Beast: How to Keep awareness without shame

Read the matching blog article here: https://beautifulbeastwithinstudios.c...
Listen to “My Beastly Story” on the Unveiling the Beast podcast here:    • Episode 160 - BONUS EPISODE - My Raw Beast...  
Read “My Beastly Story” on my website here: https://beautifulbeastwithinstudios.c...
Book a free Exploration Chat with me here: https://beautifulbeastwithinstudios.c...

Main Music by Sean Entrikin. Yep, that is my hot husband 💜
Produced in the Beautiful Beast Within Sound Studio

Sources and references
Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: A Systematic Review of the Literature (Burke et al., 2011)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
A systematic review of the use of dietary self-monitoring in behavioural weight loss interventions: delivery, intensity and effectiveness (Raber et al., 2021)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
Associations Between the Use of Fitness and Diet Tracking Technology and Disordered Eating Behaviour: A Systematic Review (Moody et al., 2025)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
Effects of diet and fitness apps on eating disorder behaviours: qualitative study (Eikey et al., 2021)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
My Fitness Pal calorie tracker usage in the eating disorders (Levinson et al., 2017)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
Validation of the flexible and rigid control dimensions of dietary restraint (Westenhoefer et al., 1999)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10349...
When the social self is threatened: shame, physiology, and health (Dickerson et al., 2004)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15509...
Immunology of Stress: A Review Article (Alotiby, 2024)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...

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Linktree: https://linktr.ee/beautifulbeastwithi...
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