How to build a tracking routine

Weekly technique

By Weight Watchers

Last updated 31 July 2024

Top fitness trackers of 2020: sleek designs, advanced features, and accurate data tracking for optimal fitness monitoring.

Pop quiz: What are three things you do every day without even thinking? Maybe it’s brushing your teeth, making the bed, or checking your email. To reap the weight-loss benefits of tracking, make it just another part of your routine.

Try this!

1. Which tracking style makes it feel easier for you? Tracking an entire day’s food at once OR as you go? Tracking before OR during OR after you eat? Saving often-tracked foods and meals OR tracking from scratch every time? 2. What strategies have worked well for you? Taking pictures of meals to track later Tracking at certain times of the day Using the barcode scanner Using the Quick Add feature to guesstimate Points® Other? 3. Using your answers, determine… How you’ll create a tracking routine. Example: I’ll track meals and snacks as I go, and I’ll use the barcode scanner, save favorites, and guesstimate Points when needed. And When is the best time to track. Example: I’ll set aside a few minutes after every meal.

Let’s dive a little deeper…

We talk a lot about tracking. And if you’re new around here (hi! welcome!), get ready to hear it a lot because the science is crystal clear: People who track more often lose more weight. Why? Tracking makes you aware of what and how much you’re eating, and awareness is key to making small but meaningful changes.

What’s tricky: Tracking takes time and effort, and we humans are more likely to do stuff that’s easy. So leaning into what makes tracking feel seamless for you helps you stick with it. Some other tracking hacks:

Set guidelines and reminders. For example, if you track after every meal, open the app as soon as you clear your plate. For all-at-once trackers, try setting an alarm on your phone to a time that works for you.

Forget perfection. Tracking consistently with fewer details is better than getting burned out trying to log every single bite, ingredient, and exact portion.

Sharpening or creating habits around the most effective weight-loss behaviours, like tracking, helps pave your way to success. After all, we like things that are easy, right? A few focused goals feel a lot easier and more doable than attempting to make over your whole routine.

Did you know?

More than 74% of WW Success Registry* members reported tracking Points most of the time or always compared to only 7.4% of those in the weight-stable control group.