Do You Really Need to Track Your Body?

Unpacking the wellness-culture trend of monitoring every bodily function

This post is from my previous newsletter, Food Psych Weekly.

This week’s question is from a reader named Christine, who writes:

Hi Christy, I am new to your work and incredibly grateful to have found you. The latest (and last!) wellness diet—which through your book I’ve come to realize was such—that I participated in was marketed as “pro metabolic.” While I found freedom in learning that I was not eating enough, the process required a lot of surveillance—of foods and ingredients, but also of my body, including monitoring temperature/pulse, stool, skin, menstrual cycle, energy, etc., etc. And this was framed as a way of connecting with my body. I don’t really know if doing this is listening to my body or actually just a mechanism of orthorexia and diet culture. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this topic. Thank you for helping me initiate a journey towards TRUE body peace.