Why I Love MyFitnessPal!
I first started to take fitness training seriously in my first year at university, having played football to a very high level throughout my youth I had always been slim and fit but decided now was the time to pack on some muscle.
Online resources were few and far between and although I didn’t aspire to be a bodybuilder I read Muscle and Fitness and Musclemag to educate myself on training programs and diets. Back then all the articles seemed to point to eating nothing but chicken breasts and rice, very plain and boring. The supplement industry was nowhere near the size it is today but there were a few reputable brands knocking around like Tropicana / Muscletech and creatine was starting to become popular.
I would eat what I thought was a huge amount of food but my main reference point was fellow Uni students who were surviving on a cocktail of beans on toast/pasta and copious amounts of alcohol and other recreational vices! The reality is that was probably consuming less than 2000 calories per day and nowhere near enough protein. I was flying blind and this carried on for years!
As online resources improved and elite athlete programs, lifestyles, and diets could be sourced via google, my education improved and eating habits improved as well but there was no real accountability or system behind what I was doing. I was in good shape and would receive lots of comments on my physique but the time and dedication invested deserved better results!
Fast forward to the current day and the one app that I believe has truly revolutionized the tracking of calorie intake is MyFitnessPal!
What is MYFitnessPal?
MyFitnessPal is effectively a huge food database, it is so much more than just a calorie counter. Users can scan the barcode on their foods or manually upload meals to the app and this information is stored and accessible to any other users that have signed up. The app has a free version which is the one I use, myfitnesspal premium has a few more bells and whistles and there is a free trial available as well as a detailed guide on the MyFitnessPal website, see here
It is incredibly simple to use and flexible so you can calibrate the serving size to match what you have consumed so that the calories and associated macronutrients will adjust accordingly
The benefits are instantaneous! After 1 day you have a full analysis of what you have consumed for only a few minutes of your time.
How to Set Up MyFitnessPal
- Login by creating a new account
- MyFitnessPal will ask a series of questions to generate a suggested calorie target, provide your height, and weight and select “lightly active” under the activity level section
- You will then receive a suggested calorie target, ignore this for now
- Sign up complete
From the home screen, adding food is really simple,
Hit the + button and then select “Food”, then choose your meal or select Snack if applicable
You can then use the search box to look for the food/meal you have or plan to have eaten or alternatively you can scan the barcode if you have the packaging to hand
For instance, here is a screenshot of what I see when I enter the search “Quaker Porridge Oats”
You can see that the serving size has been set to 40g.
As I eat 100g in my serving, I need to change my serving size to 2.5 (2.5 x 40 = 100).
This changes the calories consumed from 150 to 375 and adjusts the carbs, fats, and protein measurements accordingly
To then upload this entry to my daily diary, I need to tap the tick in the top right-hand corner. Simple!
Configuring the App to Align to your Goals
If you have a specific calorie target you are working to (if not, read my free guide to find out how !), follow the steps below:
- Go to the home screen and tap “more” in the bottom right
- Then tap ‘goals’
- Under nutritional goals select ‘Calorie, Carbs, Protein and Fat goals
- Now you can edit the calories to your preferred target amount
- Change the percentages for each of the macros (Carbs, Protein, and Fats), the total will need to be 100 but you can set each macronutrient as you wish and the app will show you an equivalent measure in grams.
- Alternatively, you can sign up via the desktop version here
You should now be good to go and can return to the homepage and tap the + button at the bottom of the screen to begin tracking!
How I use MyFitnessPal
- Support my Goals – I have always struggled to put on muscle mass, the app really helped me to ramp up my intake and ensure I was hitting ~4000 calories per day.
- Keep tabs on my Diet – I do not use the app every day as I kind of have an intuitive feel for what I need to eat but I will dip in and out just to check on where I’m at.
- Travelling – I commute 300 miles to London most weeks and occasionally overseas with work. On days when I am reliant on eating out or picking up snacks from Waitrose, I can use the app to again just keep me on track in the right ballpark. Often it’s a case of identifying I need to consume more.
- Barcode scanning – This feature is perfect for days when I’m on the move. I used to be a bit self-conscious about scanning items in shops but smartphone tech is everywhere these days, plus no one else actually cares.
Summary
Clearly, I am a fan of the app, it offers incredible value and has filled a gap in the armoury of the fitness enthusiast.
It really is simple to use and it doesn’t take long to develop a real feel for what you are eating and then just having the app as a fallback or reference point can be very handy.
I recommend downloading the app and giving it a go
To read more about how to keep on track with your Fitness Goals you might like my post 5 Ways To Keep on Track with your Fitness Plan when Travelling
0 Comments