Many people on a GLP-1 medicine are asked by their prescriber, dietitian or nurse to keep an eye on a few specific things: how much protein they're getting, how much fiber, and whether they're drinking enough. Those are reasonable things to want to see, and most food apps make them far harder than they need to be.
Full calorie counting asks you to weigh, scan and log every bite. That suits some people and wears others out within a week. This guide shows a lighter approach: track only the three things you've been asked about, in quick taps, against targets you set with your care team.
Start with your own targets
There's no single right number for protein, fiber or water. What's right for you depends on you, and it's something to agree with your prescriber or dietitian. This guide deliberately doesn't suggest numbers; it's about how to track, whatever your targets turn out to be. In Hushweek you set your own in You › Profile and goals; until you do, the rings use a common everyday amount as a placeholder, and the app marks it as not dietary advice.
Once you have a target, it helps to turn it into something you can count without thinking:
- Water is the easiest: decide how many glasses or bottles your target works out to, and count those.
- Protein and fiber can work the same way: split your target into a handful of portions, and count a portion each time you have one.
Counting portions instead of grams is less precise, but it's the difference between tracking for a week and tracking for a year.
Three glasses, filled by taps
Picture three glasses, one each for protein, fiber and water. Every portion you have, tap the glass and it fills a little. By evening you can see at a glance whether you're close to the day you planned.
Each tap is one eighth of a target you set with your care team.
In Hushweek the three are rings, on Today and on Food, and each tap adds a set amount whatever your target: 10 g of protein, 5 g of fiber or a glass of water. If a tap was a slip, the minus beside each ring takes back the day's last quick add, and the Water row on Food removes the latest glass.
Why this works better than a long food log
- It's fast. A tap takes a second, so you'll do it at the moment, not from memory at night.
- It's visual. A half-full glass is easier to read than "48 g of 90 g".
- It's forgiving. Missing a tap here and there doesn't ruin the day's picture.
- It focuses on what you were asked about. Nothing else competes for your attention.
When you want more detail
Some days, or some meals, you'll want to know what's actually in a food. That's where a food list comes in. Hushweek includes a food list built from USDA FoodData Central that works offline, and you can scan a barcode to look up a packaged food on Open Food Facts: three scans a day for free, as many as you like with Pro. Only the barcode number leaves your phone, nothing about you. Foods you star come first, the ones you've logged lately are listed, and products you scan are remembered. With Pro you can also search the full database online, and foods you find there are kept once you add or star them, so the meals you eat often are a tap away next time.
Use the detail when it helps and leave it when it doesn't. The quick taps work either way.
Patterns worth noticing
After a couple of weeks, a light log tells you things that are hard to see day to day:
- Which days of the week you tend to fall short, and which you don't
- Whether mornings or evenings carry most of the day
- How your intake sits around your dose day, if you're on a weekly medicine
- Whether the targets you set feel realistic, which is worth raising with your dietitian or prescriber
None of this is about a perfect score. It's about seeing your own habits clearly enough to talk about them. If appetite and food noise matter to you too, pair this with a ten-second food noise check-in.
Keep it kind
Food logs can tip into guilt quickly. A few ground rules help:
- A low day is information, not a failure.
- If a target feels out of reach week after week, that's a conversation with your care team, not a reason to try harder alone.
- If tracking food starts to feel stressful or obsessive, it's fine to stop and talk to someone about it.
Track what you were asked to watch. Let the rest go.
Questions people ask
How much protein, fiber and water should I have?
That depends on you and is something to agree with your prescriber, nurse or dietitian. A tracker should let you set your own targets rather than tell you what they are.
Do I need to count calories to track protein?
No. Counting portions of protein against a target you've agreed on is much quicker, and good enough for most people to see their pattern.
What's the easiest way to track water?
Work out how many glasses or bottles your target is and tap once for each one. A visual glass that fills up makes it easy to see where you are.
Does Hushweek send my food log anywhere?
Not unless you choose to. Your food, protein, fiber and water stay on your phone. Scanning a barcode sends only that barcode number to Open Food Facts to look up the product; with Pro, a search of the full database sends only the words you type; and if you sign in for Pro's cloud backup, your log is backed up to your own account.
Keep your week in one quiet place.
Doses, sites, weight, side effects and food in a free app that follows your medicine’s own label. No account needed.
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