# Effort vs calories, a simpler way

*Guide · 2026-10-22 · https://undiet.app/guides/effort-vs-calories*

Why Undiet logs effort and feeling instead of calories: two taps a day, a ten step comb, a streak that counts days not kilograms, and a weight trend read next to how the days actually felt.

## Two ways to keep a record

Counting tracks what went in: every meal, every gram, against a number for the day. [Calorie counting](https://undiet.app/diets/calorie-counting), [macros](https://undiet.app/diets/macros-iifym) and [points](https://undiet.app/diets/ww-points) are all in the catalog as programs of their own.

Effort tracks what the day cost you. One tap says how the day felt, from heavy to light, and the weight goes next to it.

Both are valid. Undiet is built around the second one, and this guide explains why and what it changes.

## What two taps capture

Your weight on a ruler that scrolls under a fixed mark, so there is nothing to aim at. Then the feeling comb, ten steps from heavy to light, set with a thumb.

That is a full check-in. There is no food database, no barcode scanner and no number for the day to come in under.

## Why the feeling matters

A flat week with light days is a different week from a flat week with heavy ones, even if the scale says the same thing. Over months, the comb shows which diet was easy to live with and which one was not.

That is often the thing people want to know and cannot see in a calorie log: not whether a diet worked on paper, but whether they could keep doing it.

## The streak counts days, not kilograms

The streak grows on days you showed up, whatever the weight did. A heavy day that you logged still counts.

Rewarding the number pushes people toward extremes; rewarding the check-in only rewards the check-in. The community credits work the same way, earned for taking part and never for losing weight.

## Quick logs, nothing mandatory

If you want to note a meal, a drink, a walk or a dose, each is one tap from the plus button. None of it is required, and none of it is counted into a total.

The logs sit on the timeline as context. The reflection at the end of the week is written from them in plain sentences, with no verdicts.

## When counting is still the right tool

If your program is itself a counting method, count. Mark [calorie counting](https://undiet.app/diets/calorie-counting) or [macros](https://undiet.app/diets/macros-iifym) in Undiet, keep your usual counting app for the numbers, and let Undiet keep the timeline and the feeling.

The two fit together. Undiet is the layer over any method, including no method, and [intuitive](https://undiet.app/diets/intuitive-eating) or [mindful eating](https://undiet.app/diets/mindful-eating) sit in the catalog beside the strict ones.

## Try the comb

The home page has the check-in to play with: slide the comb and the app answers. If you want a shortlist of programs that match the effort you can give, [Find my diet](https://undiet.app/find-my-diet) asks exactly that.

## Programs in this guide

- [Calorie Counting](https://undiet.app/undiet/diets/calorie-counting.md): Track energy in vs out and keep a modest deficit. Food-agnostic: anything fits if it fits the budget.
- [Macros (IIFYM)](https://undiet.app/undiet/diets/macros-iifym.md): "If it fits your macros": hit daily protein/carb/fat targets rather than banning foods.
- [WeightWatchers](https://undiet.app/undiet/diets/ww-points.md): A points system that nudges toward more filling, less energy-dense foods, with group support.
- [Intuitive Eating](https://undiet.app/undiet/diets/intuitive-eating.md): Rejects diet rules entirely; relies on hunger and fullness cues and a peaceful relationship with food.
- [Mindful Eating](https://undiet.app/undiet/diets/mindful-eating.md): Deliberate and non judgmental attention to the experience of eating.

More guides: https://undiet.app/undiet/guides.md. Find my diet in five taps: https://undiet.app/find-my-diet. Free on iPhone (https://apps.apple.com/app/id1490849895) and Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=be.krnic.undiet).

Undiet describes programs and records what you log. It does not give medical advice.

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Any diet. No calorie counting. Your weight, your effort and every diet you try, on one timeline. Undiet is a tracking companion, not a medical service. For people aged 16 and over. Made by Krnic CommV, Gent, Belgium. Contact: undiet@krnic.be. Privacy: https://undiet.app/privacy · Terms: https://undiet.app/terms · Delete your account: https://undiet.app/delete-account · Support: https://undiet.app/support