More and more of us are tracking our steps taken, calories eaten, hours slept and even our stress levels in the name of health. But is that massive increase in data making us healthier, or could it be harming us? By Claire Turnbull
Growing up in the 1980s, I watched my mum hop on and off the scales every day, jotting down the number in a Weight Watchers ring-bound pad, ready to present it to the group leader at her weekly meeting.
As well as tracking her weight constantly, she wrote down everything she ate, counted calories, and tracked how many "points" she had racked up, all ready to be judged when the time came.
While we've moved on from that era, with group weigh-ins and shame-based approaches thankfully less common, the tracking trend going stronger than ever.
The pen and paper have been replaced by apps, smart watches, rings and wearable devices, and millions of people now track everything from their food intake and the number of steps they take each day to their sleep and stress levels. About one in three adults in the UK, US and Australia use some form of wearable device to track their health, and in New Zealand that statistic is reportedly even higher.
But is all this tracking actually helpful, or can it do more harm than good? Let’s take a look at some pros and cons.
The power of identifying patterns
When it comes to making changes to your health and wellbeing, awareness is a really important first step. This is where some forms of tracking can be helpful, particularly when they help you identify patterns.
If you are tracking your sleep, for example, and start to see that when you drink alcohol or stay up late, your sleep is worse, that insight can be incredibly useful. It gives you something practical to work with, if and when you're ready to make changes.
In nutrition, it's also common for dietitians and nutritionists to ask people to keep a record of what they eat for a short period of time. This is often paired with tracking their emotions or any physical symptoms. It can be particularly helpful for people with digestive issues, endometriosis, diabetes, suspected food intolerances, or those struggling with recurring patterns like binge eating.
The same applies to movement. Tracking can highlight differences between working from home and office days, or weekdays compared to weekends. Once you can see those patterns, you're in a position to do something positive with the information.
The key thing to remember is that the value is often in the noticing and reflecting, not in hyper-focusing on the numbers themselves.
What about nutrition tracking?
When it comes to tracking what we eat, there are now more options than ever, and I have very mixed feelings about it.
On the one hand, tracking can be useful. It can help you a clearer picture picture of your overall intake – things like how often you eat, and whether you get enough protein or fibre. For some people, that awareness alone can be enough to prompt helpful changes.
But it's far from perfect. The accuracy depends on the database being used, how well foods are entered, and how accurately portions are estimated. Many apps rely on overseas data, which doesn't always reflect what our Kiwi products.
It's also easy for tracking to shift your focus to numbers rather than nourishment. Calories, "macros" and targets can quickly take over and, before you know it, you're judging yourself by the numbers on an app, rather than tuning into your own hunger and fullness. The bigger picture of your wellbeing can be subsumed by these impersonal numbers – I see it time and time again.
In my experience, personality, mindset and how your brain is wired play a big role here. Some people can use these apps as a neutral source of information and move on. My husband, for example, who works in IT, tracks almost everything when it comes to health (and every kilowatt used in our house!) without any negative impact because data makes him happy and calm. I also have a friend who's a scientist who enjoys tracking all sorts of data; she finds it genuinely helpful and is able to embrace it without judgement.
But for other people, particularly those who've had a complicated relationship with food or their bodies, this type of tracking can be incredibly unhelpful. It can become obsessive, judgmental and, at times, damaging.
For that reason, I'm very cautious about recommending long-term food tracking. Instead, I prefer a much simpler approach.
Planning what you eat ahead of time is one of the most powerful tools in the quest for a healthier diet. It helps you see the speed bumps before you hit them.
If things feel a bit off track, writing down what you eat for a short period can also help. Not to count calories, but to notice patterns. Are you eating enough? Would an afternoon snack help you feel more in control at dinner? Do you snack more when you're tired or drinking?
This kind of mindfulness is far more useful than hitting a perfect number on an app.
Should you track your weight?
For most people, regularly weighing yourself is something I strongly discourage.
Weight has been over-simplified as a measure of health, when in reality it tells you very little on its own. Someone can sit in a "healthy weight" range and still have poor sleep, high stress, low muscle mass and unhealthy behaviours. Equally, someone in a larger body may be active, well-rested, and metabolically healthy.
On top of that, weight fluctuates. For women in particular, it can easily change by one to two kilos across the month due to hormones, fluid shifts, digestion, and other factors. I see people all the time who gain a few hundred grams and feel like everything has gone wrong, when in reality nothing has changed at all.
There are now scales that estimate body fat and muscle mass, but these are based on electrical impedance and mathematical assumptions. Hydration levels, how many carbs you have eaten, and the time of day can influence the results, so they're far from precise.
For some people, like my husband, regularly stepping on the scales has little impact. But for many others, it becomes a source of stress and a measure of success or failure, which is not helpful.
If throwing out the bathroom scales feels too radical, limit weighing yourself to once a week at most, monthly being even better and do it first thing in the morning. Plus remember, if you haven’t had a number two yet, that will impact things.
But for most people, I suggest getting rid of all scales. There are far better ways to track progress.
How did you sleep?
I have to admit, I do enjoy checking in on my sleep graph on the nights I wear my watch, but I am aware of the limitations and don’t get hung up on the numbers because just like the fancy scales, the accuracy is limited. While most wearables are reasonably good at estimating when you are asleep versus awake, they are much less accurate when it comes to measuring sleep stages like deep or REM sleep, so that’s something to keep in mind.
As with other tracking, if you are noticing patterns that you might not otherwise notice, like the impact of alcohol, late nights, caffeine or screen use on how well you sleep, which you use to prompt positive changes, then all good.
However, I am sure like me, you also know people who become fixated on their sleep scores and become worried and anxious about it. And, just like there is a word for an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating (orthorexia), there is a word for the unhealthy obsession with achieving perfect sleep too, orthosomnia.
So again, it comes back to how you use the information. If it helps you notice patterns and make changes, great. If it is adding pressure or anxiety, it is probably not serving you.
Tracking your moves
Tracking movement, particularly steps, can be very motivating. It gives you immediate feedback and something you can act on because if your step count is low, you can go for a walk. Reminders to stand can also be helpful, provided it gets you moving again.
When it comes to movement, it's also important to remember that it’s more than steps that count; getting your heart rate up sometimes and resistance (weight) training is also critical. Some apps, wearables, and tracking devices are across this, so it depends on what you're tuning into.
As with the other trackers, there is also the risk of developing an obsession which is something to consider based on who you are and how you know your respond to these things.
So overall, is tracking helpful or harmful?
It depends! If you're able to use it as a tool for building awareness and supporting valuable change, it can be a good thing. But if it becomes just another source of pressure in a world where it's already too easy to feel that you aren’t doing enough or getting it "right", then step away.
If you're not sure whether tracking is helping, ask yourself:
- Is this helping me make better choices?
- Is it making me feel calmer or more stressed?
- Am I using the data as information or judgement?
- Could I track for a week, then stop?
- Is there a simpler way of tracking that would be more useful?
Your health is about more than numbers on a screen. It's about feeling and functioning at your best.
Claire Turnbull is a registered nutritionist with an honours degree in dietetics, a wellbeing educator and author.
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