With a community of over 280M users, MyFitnessPal aims to help users live healthier, happier lives.
Whether you want to lose weight, tone up, get healthy or just get in sync with your eating habits, MyFitnessPal provides the tools, support and motivation you need to succeed.
A key to successful tracking on MyFitnessPal is consistency. There are a few things to keep in mind when tracking on MyFitnessPal:
- Tracking can help you reach your goals.
- Tracking often gets easier the more you do it.
- One study shows that even imperfect tracking can help you achieve weight loss goals.
- You can build the habit of tracking by logging one meal at a time.
- When you can’t find an exact match for what you want to track, pick something similar.
As you track, you’ll learn about your eating habits and how to make healthier choices. You’ll also gain a better understanding of the impact of exercise on your progress toward your goals.
Simply download the MyFitnessPal app and add your pertinent information — enter your gender, height, weight and your target weight. We’ll provide you with a daily calorie target that’s personalized to help you reach your goals. After that, you’re ready to start tracking.
As you get going, you’ll realize how important it is to not only set goals but also to hold yourself accountable. Tracking becomes habitual — as if you’ve always done it. And finally, you’ll discover you’re a part of a like-minded, supportive community that’s cheering you on, especially when it gets tough.
MYFITNESSPAL TIPS: YOUR THREE-PART PLAN FOR SUCCESS
I. SET GOALS AND HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE
1. ESTABLISH REALISTIC GOALS
Thinking you can undo years of habits in a week only leads to frustration. Think SMART with a series of small, attainable goals to help you stay motivated and reach your bigger goal.
2. KEEP YOUR GOALS IN VIEW
- Tap Complete Diary: When you’re done tracking for the day, tap the “Complete Diary” button. This gives you feedback on how the choices you made during the day impacted your progress.
- Update Your Weight: As your weight changes, so will your calorie and macronutrient goals. It’s important to update your weight at least weekly. Be sure to weigh yourself on the same day each week, at the same time, in the same clothes.
- Visit the Progress Screen: The progress screen has graphs and charts of your progress over time. This can help you identify healthy changes you can make to your eating habits and exercise routine
3. CREATE AND LOG YOUR MEALS
Create custom meals — those things you eat all the time because they taste great, fill you up, and meet your health goals — it makes tracking easier and allows you to quickly log them each time.
4. CONNECT YOUR APPS AND DEVICES
5. GO PREMIUM OR PREMIUM+
Premium is designed for those who want to make their nutrition and fitness tracking quicker and easier. With custom goals, advanced logging tools, and an ad-free logging experience, it provides even more control and convenience.
If you want even more guidance and support to reach your goals, Premium+ is perfect for anyone just starting out on a health journey who wants to know what to eat and how to make big progress with small, doable steps.
With meal planning tools, grocery lists, and integrated grocery delivery services, it’s perfect for those looking to streamline their daily meals and stay on track with their goals.
II. DEVELOP A HABIT OF TRACKING
1. TRACK EVERYTHING
Not tracking something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The more honest and consistent you are in your tracking, the more useful the app becomes because you start to see patterns. Only you can hold yourself accountable and doing so makes it more likely you’ll be able to meet your health and fitness goals. See some insider tips on tracking here.
2. USE TIME STAMPS
Not only can you track what foods you eat, but you can also specify when you eat it. This helps you monitor how when you eat could affect your mood and hunger levels, performance, sleep, you name it.
3. SET CUSTOM REMINDERS
Set custom reminders so you never forget to track meals. Choose when you want to be reminded, and we’ll send you notifications so you remember to track.
4. SAVE YOUR FAVORITE MEALS
Whether it’s yogurt and granola for breakfast, celery and peanut butter for a snack or a turkey sandwich for lunch, many of our users eat the same meals regularly. Save your favorite meals so you can add them to your log with one click.
5. LEARN TO EYE PORTIONS
Portion control is key to accurate tracking. The more you log, the more likely you’ll be aware of serving sizes and the more practice you’ll have eyeballing your portions, which in turn could lead to better tracking.
6. SEARCH THE DATABASE
We have one of the biggest food databases in the world. With roughly 20.5 million foods and new options added regularly, you should find what you want to log. Just in case you don’t, you can add foods directly to our database.
Look for the green check mark symbol when you search for a food. This icon appears next to items in our database that have been vetted and include complete nutrition information.
7. USE THE BARCODE SCANNER
Simply scan a food’s barcode to enter it into your diary. It’s that easy.
8. FIND RECIPES
Recipe Discovery lets you save recipes from anywhere on the web without having to manually add each ingredient. You can also use this tool to calculate the nutrition information for any recipe.
III. BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY
1. ADD FRIENDS
When you add friends on MyFitnessPal, you’re more likely to succeed since you have an extra layer of support, motivation and accountability. You can decide your privacy levels and whether your friends can see things like your weight, diary entries and amount of weight lost.
2. VISIT THE FORUMS
The forums are a lively online community where you can find advice, support, tips and tricks from fellow MyFitnessPal users.
3. CELEBRATE NON-SCALE VICTORIES
Not all victories happen on the scale. Progress toward your goals is everywhere: Did you climb the stairs with ease? Skip the donuts at work? Reduce your blood pressure? Fit into a smaller size? Make sure you’re reflecting on how your healthy habits are having a positive impact on your life.
WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION
If you’re interested in learning more about MyFitnessPal, nutrition, exercise or how to reach your goals, try these MyFitnessPal resources:
Nutrition & Weight Loss
> Losing Weight
> Healthy Eating
> Portion Sizes
> Metabolism
> Macros
> Fat
> Carbs
> Protein
> Sugar
> Fiber
> Micronutrients
> Meal Planning
Workout & Wellness
> Hydration
> Getting Moving
> Walking and Steps
> Strength Training
> Sleep
FOR MORE ON HEALTH, FITNESS AND NUTRITION
THE MYFITNESSPAL BLOG
This is your go-to source for healthy living. Here you’ll find articles with helpful tips and information about eating, moving, living and learning to help support your journey.
The post Essential Guide to MyFitnessPal appeared first on MyFitnessPal Blog.