MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal is a calorie-counting app available on iPhone and Android. If you've ever looked for a food- or fitness-related app in your App Store, you've likely come across it. It's free. Everyone loves free. You can track every single thing that you eat with this app - it's your personal food diary. I have to say that jotting down everything you eat for a day, while perhaps daunting, is a great exercise. You become aware of what you are putting in your body. And when you see the calories and sugars rack up in the app, you naturally start to make more conscientious decisions about what you eat. It can even help you and your doctor pinpoint certain symptoms or ailments you may have. The app provides a database of over a million food and drink items. When you sign up, you input some personal details, height, weight, that sort of thing, and you can set a goal. How much weight would you like to lose? How fast? Personally, sure I'd like to snap my fingers and lose 5lbs. I like low-effort things too.
I first used the app in college, post-freshman 15. I used it for calorie restricting, but we won't get into that today, other than to say it was admittedly unhealthy and short-lived. I was reintroduced to the app (the proper way) in the summer of 2016, fresh back in the US from 4 months overseas eating....well, I'm not really sure what, but I can assure you 90% of it was not "healthy." I started an 8-week bulking program. It kicked my butt and got me the results I wanted. I was thrilled. I worked out 6 days a week and tracked my macros (fat, carbs, protein) so that I could maximize the results from the time I was putting in at the gym. I used MyFitnessPal religiously, inputting everything I ate and drank. I added custom meals and recipes. And I upgraded to the Premium plan for $49.99/year. This upgrade allowed me to track macronutrients, micronutrients, set different goals for different days (varying carbs depending on activity level), and I got to skip all the ads.
At first, I HATED the app. I just wanted to sit down with my grilled chicken breast and quinoa and eat. But no, I had to put it in my "diary" first. I guess I could have done it later, but to be honest, I'm fairly forgetful. I meal planned and prepped like a mad woman. I was going to get my remaining macros down to 0g carbs, 0g fat, and 0g protein. Turns out, this isn't the easiest task. Please note: counting macros is different than restricting calories.
When I came off my 8 week program, all these habits started to fade. And as they did, guess what grew? Guilt (and inevitably my waist but we are't here to talk about that). I would feel GUILTY for not tracking macros or for eating food that wasn't 100% clean. I drove myself crazy, going back and forth between using the app and not. The app was addictive (or maybe it was the results) and I beat myself up for not using. I still use it from time to time. For example, I just did a 6-week program where I was supposed to track macros. Coach, if you reading this, I am sorry... I didn't track them thoroughly after like week 3. I "kept track" in my head. It's not nearly as effective. As I said, I'm forgetful. But for me, in this season of my life, it was the healthier thing to do mentally. I still kicked my butt in the gym and focused on eating better and balancing my macros the way my coach has taught me these last couple years. But I could not convince myself to be tied to the app for every meal.
To sum up my feelings about the app, I'd still recommend it. It gets results. But I would caution you to know yourself well enough to know if you have food-related guilt and consider how this constant tracking may affect you. Honestly, I'm having a hard time hitting "publish" on this post. How dumb is that? It's about an app. I know the app and tracking macros gets results. So how can I warn people NOT to use it. I'll use it again, probably just as religiously as I used to. I swear by tracking macros, but I'm saying maybe you shouldn't. It's hypocritical, I recognize that. What I want you to get from this is that food freedom, mental health, and self-love are just as important as eating clean. Did you get that from this? Maybe not, but it's in there, I promise.
Take what you will from my experience with MyFitnessPal and shoot me a message about yours. Surely I'm not the only one with hard feelings about it.... right? If tracking macros doesn't appeal to you, but you want results, stay tuned for a post this weekend about what I'm doing next to keep my body healthy! -The Girl