MyFitnessPal is a food diary, calorie/ nutrition tracker all within an easy to use app. You can access it on your phone or online. Many people use it to track their overall calorie intake, their steps or exercise (calorie output), their macro breakdown, track their water intake or to record foods to identify ‘trigger foods’.
It is used by a variety of people for a variety of goals including but not limited to:
- Maintenance
- Weight Loss
- Weight Gain
The app is free. Like everything you can get a Premium product that has extra features. For me, the free one suits me and my wallet just fine.
My Experience
I initially downloaded MyFitnessPal after returning from surgery and being underweight. I lost a lot of muscle and weight after surgery and for being so sick beforehand. Prior to surgery I was consuming a liquid supplement called “Resource Plus” as I couldn’t handle solid foods with my illness.
After surgery I had to eat Low Fibre foods for 6 weeks. I continued to consume two – three Resource Plus supplements a day to assist in regaining weight as well as fueling my body with the all the nutrients it needed in an easy digestible way. After I had started gaining my weight back to a healthy range, with my dietitian’s permission I stopped the supplements and returned to eating 100% real food (no liquid supplementation).
When I returned to exercise I downloaded MyFitnessPal as a recommendation from my Strength Coach to ensure I was fueling my body with enough calories. Although the exercise was initially very minimal my body was still healing and I needed as much nutrient dense foods as possible.
MyFitnessPal breaks down the nutritional information so you can clearly see you day to day nutritional activities. It mainly focuses on the macronutrients (carbs, fats and protein) however it also shows certain vitamins and minerals.
Prior to surgery I was iron deficient. This was not due to me eating enough iron, this was due to my body not being able to absorb the nutrients (hence losing so much weight). After surgery it was assumed that my body would be able to absorbs all my nutrients, so monitoring my Iron intake was a priority.
My experience was for weight gain. Check out DIME Performance Coach James de Lacey’s article on how he lost 14kg for competition (CLICK HERE). He monitored his macros and calorie intake with MyFitnessPal.
The Good
+ Calorie Tracker (including nutrients)
+ Large food database
+ Exercise Tracker (and counts your steps)
I do not use this as I aim for a certain intake regardless of if I train or not.
+ Community and blogs
+ Feedback and graphs
+ Educates and highlights the importance of serving and portion sizes.
+ Educated and highlights not all calories are created equal.
The Bad
– Possible to create an unhealthy obsession
Please be mindful that with anything you create an unhealthy obsession. Be mindful of what you want out of it, what are your goals. Be your own guinea pig and work out what is best for you.
– Time consuming
If you are recording strictly you require measuring and weighing your food, checking nutrition labels etc. This can be time consuming. I followed it loosely as I am trying to increase weight so I just try and make my serving size bigger, however for someone with weight-loss goals finding out your serving sizes is important. Plus I always recommend reading nutrition labels. Especially for me who has some dietary restrictions it is vital, but it is also important for people wanting to lose weight. If sugar is one of the first ingredients listed that means it is one of the main ingredients (they order the ingredients by proportions in a descending order)
There are many meals you can copy across so if your day to day meals are similar it is not too time consuming. Also I find that if you do it for a week or two you get the feel of what is what and you can base it off experience. So the initial experience is definitely useful but long term you’ll have that experience and knowledge behind you and tracking your food won’t be necessary.
– Inconvenience
Weighing food if you are recording strictly can be inconvenient if you are not at home, especially when eating out or eating at someone’s house
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day I think this is a great aid in assisting you with your overall health goals. Whether you are using it as a loose guide to ensure you are eating enough or not over eating, or using it for a few weeks to portion control, or strictly measuring the food you are eating for serious weight loss or weight gain it caters for all individuals.
Please note MyFitnessPal is not the only app available (however it is the only one I have tried). There are many other calorie trackers/ food diaries that are out there. Like anything find the one that works best for you and your goals.