The problem with modern tracking, especially that which is espoused by online training programs such as RTP and Burn The Fat, is that it’s complicated. Track this many calories; track that breakdown of carbs/protein/fat; do this specifically, that specifically, or YOU WILL FAIL!

One thing I’ve learned from Eat Stop Eat and author Brad Pilon’s writings is that it’s far too easy to make things difficult, and simplifying things can often be a task. However, it’s time to become enlightened to the fact that, generally, food is food – and losing weight simply means eating less of it (and exercising too, of course).

The main factor in any fatloss attempt is nutrition. My motto is: if it taste good, eat it, just don’t gorge on it!

But how to track what you eat? Don’t you need to make sure you’re specific calorie targets are met? How the hell else are you supposed to know you’re doing it right??

Well, calm down, and have a look at this:

This is a sample graph from what’s known as the Steve Ward Diet. It’s explained like this:

“All that you need for my diet is graph paper, a ruler, and a pencil,” Steve would explain. “The horizontal axis is time, one line per day. The vertical axis is weight in lbs. You plot your current weight on the left side of the paper. You plot your desired weight on a desired date towards the right side, making sure that you’ve left the correct number of lines in between (one per day). You draw a line from the current weight/date to the desired weight/date. Every morning you weigh yourself and plot the result. If the point is below the line, you eat whatever you want all day. If the point is above the line, you eat nothing but broccoli or some other low-calorie food.”

It’s as simple as that. If your weight is on target, eat as you wish (but try and keep it healthy; no 3,000-calorie burgers!). If you’re weight’s not on target, then eat lightly – or, follow Eat Stop Eat and start an 18-24 hour fast. Weigh yourself everyday, and track it every day, and eat accordingly.

Don’t want to use graph paper? Well, there are some new options:

The Line Diet is a new site where you can follow your own custom Steve Ward Diet plan, but online. Each day you enter your weight, and it plots it for you on a graph.

Else, if you’re an iPhone user, there’s the Bang Bang Diet application, which does much the same thing but also tells you whether to ‘eat normally’ or ‘eat lightly’.

Now there’s no reason to complicate things. Life’s complicated enough without obsessing over calories. Just eat healthy food most of the time, and exercise every other day, and track your daily fluctuations. Give it a go for 30 days and see what happens!