One of my great readers, Marylou Hagerty, just emailed me about this great site that offers the best calorie tracking software and apps she has ever seen. I took a quick look (after 30 years, it’s all automatic in my head) and it looks real good. Take a look. https://www.nutritionix.com
Although this looks very appealing, I am a bit skeptical about using an app to track calories.
The last time I successfully lost weight, apps were not yet part of our daily lives. As long as I kept my handwritten food records, I was thin.
Then, as the techie that I am, I switched to a number of different apps. Slowly, my weight returned.
I am now keeping handwritten records and, once again, the weight is coming off again.
This kay nit be true if everyone, but I find that I need to take handwritten notes in university courses, when reading French literature, even when reading such important materials as The Anderson Method.
For some reason, if the information travels from my eyes, into my brain, out through my right arm and onto paper, I remember the information without further study.
Without this time-worm pathway, I can, and will, soon forget the information.
There is a scientific reason for this. The more senses you use when inputting data, the more synapses (brain cell connections) that occur, the stronger the learning and memory takes place. Also, the more we demand from our mental faculties, the more function it delivers. Simple intention, for instance, the intention to remember or function, causes memories to be recorded and abilities to develop. An example is the dependence on calculators or speed dialing inhibits the ability to calculate and remember the facts. People used to be able to make change, calculate in their head, and recall phone numbers. Today, they can’t. When you use a written log, you engage written and spoken language, calculation, and association between foods and the number of calories. When you use an app for tracking, abilities and memory that could have been developed do not get developed.