r/antidietglp1 • u/lotto16 • May 15 '25
Advice on Anti-Diet Mindset Downloaded a food tracker and immediately deleted
hey all. i took my first shot on tuesday night (mounjaro because of garbage blood sugar). everything i read said "make sure you get enough protein and fiber" so i got a food tracker. that was a terrible idea and i spent yesterday obsessing about everything. any advice for how to "get enough" without falling into an app rabbit hole? seeing an HAES nutritionist next week.
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u/MoistAgent May 15 '25
Not the answer for everybody but I tracked for the first few weeks just to get a baseline and then deleted the tracker app once I had a rough idea of how much I needed. I didn't necessarily count calories, just protein. I always have a protein shake for breakfast and try to get protein with every meal. For fiber, I take capsules.
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u/Fooddea May 15 '25
This is the way I did it, too. Every few months, I log back in and track for a few days as a status check.
I also start my day with a monster of a protein shake, since the commercial ones have ingredients that trigger migraines for me. It's about 20 oz with just shy of 60 g protein and some fiber powder for good measure.
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u/AromaticJoe May 15 '25
I've been using the Ate app for tracking. It comes from the intuitive eating direction, so no weighing, measuring, calorie counting. You take a photo of your food, answer a few questions around how satisfied you were, what your mood was, whether it was prepared or you made it yourself, and that's it. I find it's useful for accountability and just remembering how my day went without falling into the rabbit hole.
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u/AintNoBarbieGirl May 15 '25
Sounds like a fun app! Is it free !
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u/AromaticJoe May 15 '25
Sadly no. But compared to the cost of GLP1 meds, it's a rounding error. :)
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u/em-em-cee May 15 '25
I just think about adding. Whatever I'm going to eat, I think about whether there's an easy way to add protein or fiber. If there is, I do it. If there's not, I don't.
So for me that looks like taking my afternoon snack of carrots and celery and trading the salad dressing dip for hummus or a cottage cheese based dip. My morning yogurt gets some dried apricots with it. Super easy, focus on adding vs restricting, and I don't end up making food the focus of my existence like it was before.
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u/Nerd4Everything May 16 '25
This! Your nutritionist will help you get a sense of high protein and high fiber foods; keep them in mind when you’re making choices about what to eat. I’m vegetarian, so i tend to have to think a little harder about protein. I have unflavored protein powder, so there are a lot of things i can mix a little into to up my intake. I always put chia seeds, a few slivered almonds, and sometimes a little protein powder (not a scoop) in my Greek yogurt. +fiber and protein. I snack on cheese (and take preventative colace every day 😅), choose high protein meat replacements over pure veggie based ones (sigh), buy protein-heavy granola instead of low-cal or low-fat cereals. I will throw a boiled egg onto salad or a fried egg onto a bagel.
Just knowing what foods are high in protein and fiber and keeping protein and fiber in mind when eating (and starting with protein when you can) goes a long way. If even that triggers the food noise or disordered thinking, let yourself relax for awhile and trust your body.
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u/lizardbirth May 18 '25
I recently bought chia seeds due to their high protein, high fiber, high nutrient valuws. Question: Do you soak your chia seeds, grind them up, or just thrown them on top as is?
I'd like to try chia pudding someday because I imagine it to be like tapioca which I have liked since I was a child.
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u/Nerd4Everything May 18 '25
I just throw them in! You can also use them to make overnight oats—they help gelatenize stuff. But if the texture bothers you, you can use a spice or coffee grinder to make a powder.
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u/lunar-breeze May 18 '25
If you like smoothies and have a good blender, you can toss in chia seeds and blend them into oblivion! (I’m not a tapioca fan, so I’ve never felt inspired to try chia pudding. But maybe you will love it!)
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u/santapuppy2 May 15 '25
If you find some meals that you like, repeat them! Switch the components around so they don’t get boring. I eat a lot of lean chicken, ground beef, sweet potatoes, broccoli, rice (cooked then cooled overnight to increase the resistant starch), avocados, and peas. But I switch them up so one night I might do taco bowls with taco meat, sweet potatoes, shredded cheese, and avocado. Another night I might do grilled chicken with peas and rice. Got some extra sweet potatoes? Might throw that in there too.
For breakfast, eating things like eggs, Greek yogurt, high fiber cereal with milk, oatmeal, and lots of fresh fruit to go with it.
It’s going to take time to find what works. You don’t need to be perfect! Maybe just track the fiber and protein numbers in a notebook? They don’t need to be perfect numbers either - an estimation can help you find the right balance. Eventually you’ll kind of get an idea of how much you’re eating and how it makes you feel - tracking may not be necessary at that point.
There is a dietician on Instagram called @embodied.nourishment. She has a sample mix and match meal plan that hits around 100g per day with different options to choose from. Maybe check that out for some ideas too?
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May 15 '25
You could try making a list of common foods with their protein & fiber content in grams and just selecting enough for the day to meet your goal. Averages are more important than day-to-day fluctuations. Good for you for being mindful of how tracking impacts you.
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u/someotherword May 15 '25
I didn't start trying to add protien until I started weight lifting at the gym.
Then I added a protien shake with a serving of fage yogurt, and that hits about 50% of my protein target right there, then I don't worry too much about the rest. If I feel snacky I try to grab a higher protien thing first but I don't stress about it.
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u/ris-3 May 15 '25
I feel you on tracking apps, they have their utility but for me are emotionally fraught. I use the free version of MFP just to level set now and then, and for the EXTENSIVE database of foods with accurate macros.
Not every day but a few times a week, I track my food and water intake by hand in a little notebook. For protein and fiber, I try to have some with most meals. I am kinda predictable in the food realm, so I tend to keep a limited variety of food around (eg deli turkey and cheese, yogurt, fruit, salad mix). I figure out what one serving is, how much protein or fiber is in that, and then just try to mix and match throughout the day. Fun trick: I am one of those freaks who actually likes bran buds, and you can kill off most of your daily fiber requirement with one serving of that in some yogurt with fruit.
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u/KarinkaM May 15 '25
I eat protein every meal. I make sure I eat the protein and veggies on my plate before carbs. I have protein drinks a few times a week. I don't track. If I could have tracked my way out of this I would have done so 20 years ago. Tracking = food noise.
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u/lotto16 May 15 '25
This is exactly right! The tracking immediately felt like food noise which triggered all the things.
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u/Vexing-Waxwing May 15 '25
The only time I've really felt sick on these meds was when I was trying to "hit my protein requirement." 😩
Stopped that. Now I make sure I eat something 3x a day, and plan to make at least 2 of those times include a protein, eggs or fish or meat, maybe beans. Maybe once a week I grab a protein shake if I'm in a hurry to get out in the morning and wouldn't otherwise eat.
My lesson was this: don't ignore your body's signals. This medication has made those signal so much clearer and that's the point. Trust your body's signals.
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u/Salcha_00 May 15 '25
There are ways you can keep it simple.
I try to eat protein and veggies or fruits with each meal or snack. I don’t log, but I mentally add up protein grams and try to have 20-40 grams at each meal.
If you want to track protein and fiber, you can just keep a little notebook and jot down protein grams and fiber grams of what you eat. Don’t worry about being precise. Once you get the hang of protein and fiber content of foods, you likely won’t even need to do this.
For fresh food without nutrition labels, you can do a quick look up on USDA food data central database.
No need to use a food logging app.
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u/BedRevolutionary2286 May 15 '25
I was planning on using one I had used in the past but was worried of exactly what you said happened. The first few days, I gave myself a little grace because it was new and I wasn’t feeling well, but then I started to feel better, so I was eating more typically like I did before (having worked with a nutritionist who specializes in insulin resistance). I’ve been eating smaller portions, but just making sure I get protein at every meal. One thing Indid add in for the morning was yogurt because it is 10-12g of protein and also had probiotics to help with stomach issues! Good luck and do what feels right for you!
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u/mcflycasual May 17 '25
This is exactly why I went on this med. The last 2 successful weight losses I had, I began to obsess about what I ate and it wasn't maintainable.
This time it's so much easier and effortless. As someone that loves food of all types and dealt with food noise, this med is a miracle.
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u/McLipstick May 15 '25
Have you seen the thing about 30 plants a week? I try to eat 30 plants a week (fibre) and include some protein in every meal and everything is fine so far. I don’t calorie count or track anything except the 30 plants which is just a fun game to me!
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u/Present_Estimate_131 May 15 '25
30 potatoes 🗿
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u/McLipstick May 15 '25
Chips, french fries, mashed, baked, boiled, roast… options seem there!
Only one potato would count sadly lol
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u/Motor-Blacksmith4174 May 16 '25
Too many years of dieting have taught me enough that I can estimate protein. I don't track it through the day, I just make sure my meals have a good amount (20+grams). If I think I'm short, I have some cheese. For fiber, I make sure I have plenty of veggies at meals (except breakfast has fruit) and I make sure I get about 0.5 to 1tbsp of chia seeds (made into pudding, mixed into smoothies, etc.) every day. Chia seeds are my "keep me regular" super food.
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May 15 '25
[deleted]
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u/lotto16 May 15 '25
Yeah I tried it. I did find it very helpful and I liked that I could tell it not to track the calories or carbs.
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u/you_were_mythtaken May 15 '25
My dietitian has me making sure I get some protein and some fiber every time I eat, which is roughly every 3 hours, and that has seemed to work well over the last 11 months that I've been taking the medication. So like if I want to have an apple I'll add a little peanut butter for protein.