Why Tracking Calories Is Making You Slower (Not Leaner)

Is your calorie tracking app actually working against you?

You're logging everything, hitting your macros and training hard but your long sessions are falling apart, the scale won't budge and you're exhausted in a way that sleep just isn't fixing. The app says you're on track. So what's going wrong?

In this episode, Advanced Sports Dietitian Taryn Richardson breaks down why calorie and macro tracking apps - even the good ones built for active people - were never designed to teach a triathlete how to eat. The maths is educated guesswork, the protein targets are built backwards, and the app has no idea how to help you when your kid gets sick and your afternoon session gets cancelled.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why calorie apps were built for the sedentary population and why that model falls over for a triathlete training 10 to 20 hours a week
• How inaccurate your wearable device actually is at measuring calorie burn (spoiler: up to 93% off)
• Why the standard percentage-based protein model cuts your protein at the exact moment you need it most
• The difference between hitting your macro numbers and actually knowing how to eat
• Why underfuelling sneaks in even when you're tracking perfectly - and how quickly it affects your training
• Two real athlete examples: one who was significantly underfueled despite doing everything the app said, and a vegan athlete whose app couldn't come close to meeting her needs

• What it actually looks like to fuel for the work required, adjust on the fly and never need the app to make a decision for you

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction: the athlete who's doing everything right and still going backwards

02:42 Why calorie apps were built for weight loss, not endurance athletes

05:29 The fundamental problem: apps treat food as a budget, your body treats it as fuel

06:59 How inaccurate is your wearable at measuring calorie burn? Stanford research

09:01 The problem with estimating calories in — why we're all bad at it

11:22 Why percentage-based protein targets are built wrong for athletes

14:16 Hitting your macros is not the same as eating well

16:59 The knowledge gap: how to eat for a light day versus a heavy training day

18:28 When life throws a curveball - why the app can't help you adapt

20:18 How underfueling sneaks in (2023 REDS consensus statement)

21:39 What fueling for the work required actually means

22:39 Athlete example 1: training tanked despite doing exactly what the app said

24:44 Athlete example 2: vegan athlete whose app could never meet her needs

27:04 TLDR summary: macros versus nourishment, the knowledge gap, and what to do next

STUDIES MENTIONED

- Shcherbina A, et al. (2017). Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based Measurements of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort. *Journal of Personalized Medicine, 7*(2), 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm7020003

- Mountjoy M, et al. (2023). 2023 International Olympic Committee's (IOC) consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). *British Journal of Sports Medicine, 57*(17), 1073-1097. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-106994

If you're ticking off the macro boxes every day without ever really being taught how to eat, the Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course is built for exactly that. Learn how to fuel your training and recovery properly so you're never stuck when the plan changes. Head to dietitianapproved.com/kickstart

Download the FREE audio series The 5 Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Costing You Time on Race Day

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