Anybody Use "My Fitness Pal"?

Mark Elvin

I struggle to keep track of what I cosume during the day, finding it too easy to be tempted to snack when I don't really need too. As a result of this my weight crept up to 86kg from it's original 76kg.

A friend recommended I try My Fitness Pay as it may help me keep track of my calorie intake & excersise.

So far I have found it really helpful, I've dropped to 82kg as of this morning over the last few weeks.

whyamihere

I use it when I can be bothered about losing weight, and the girlfriend uses it fairly religiously. The calorie burning figures for exercise seemed a bit high to us,cso we generally ignore that bit, but for tracking intake it's good.

Monkeypump

The missus has been using it for a while and raves about it, but as above, the output calories seem a bit high.

Apparently very easy to use though, and she finds it effective for weight loss.

lostboysaint

I did when I initially started cycling again and was looking to lose weight. I found it very useful for monitoring the calories in although, as has been mentioned, the calories out often seems a tad optimistic. (Although having lost 20kg you then wonder whether they are more accurate than you give them credit for!!).

As I now have a good idea of what 2k calories looks like (rest days) I don't go back there very often.

Mark Elvin

I agree with the calorie intake bit, they are a little high. But the great bit is you can scan the barcode on stuff too & that bits pretty accurate.

John Flanagan

I tried it but found it pretty useless.... but then I have always preferred riding more to strict calorie control!

p9uma

I use the free app, version on my IPad, and the enemy uses it on her iPod touch.

We both use it every day without fail and have done since January this year. She has lost 30lbs and I have lost 26lbs by sticking to a calorie controlled diets and cycling. I would say that most of the weight I lost was by sticking to the calories, and the MFP app was extremely helpful in doing so. My weight loss, was improved when I startled cycling again and now that I have reached target weight, I continue to use the app to maintain the diet.

As for the calories burned, I sometimes use the apps calories, tweaked a little but I mainly input my own as recorded on my heart rate monitor.

I highly recomend it, it's not perfect but it is very good indeed. If you use an iPhone you can scan barcodes of products, you can also put in and save your own recipes. And it's free! What's not to like.

dw300

1. Weigh yourself ever morning after going to the bathroom, but before breakfast.
2. Get a feel for a trend for the last couple of days to a week.
3. If the trend is that you're gaining weight, eat less.
4. If the trend is steady. You're doing it right.
5. If you are loosing weight and don't want to, eat more.

It's pretty simple and all you need are scales. How to people not notice 20lbs going on??

Monkeypump

dw300 wrote:

1. Weigh yourself ever morning after going to the bathroom, but before breakfast.
2. Get a feel for a trend for the last couple of days to a week.
3. If the trend is that you're gaining weight, eat less.
4. If the trend is steady. You're doing it right.
5. If you are loosing weight and don't want to, eat more.

It's pretty simple and all you need are scales. How to people not notice 20lbs going on??

Perfectly valid, but why ignore tools that might help you? Whilst the concept is simple, weight loss isn't always easy, and being informed about calorific content, calories burnt through exercise, etc. is quite handy.

Pross

I used it at the start of the year for about 10 weeks and it helped me get my weight down by 10kg. In part the benefit was seeing the extra calories I could have by riding the 37 mile round trip commute to work and I therefore got out on my bike much more.

The way I used it was to calculate the daily calorie allowance on the assumption that I was doing no exercise and with a deficit to lose 1kg per week. This left me with a horribly low calorie intake (hence the commuting 2 - 3 days a week, a couple of rides at the weekend and gym sessions most other days!). I would then add any exercise I did based on the calorie output from my HRM rather than the My Fitness Pal numbers. This approach worked really well for me and I tended to work on a weekly deficit rather than daily which gave me some treat days in return for longer rides - I hit the 1kg / week loss I was aiming for consistently.

Definitely worth trying the free app, nothing to lose in using it. It is so easy to use with a massive food database and the bar code scanning function. Just make sure you accurately log the portion size as in my case it was usually much larger than a standard portion!

Pross

dw300 wrote:

It's pretty simple and all you need are scales. How to people not notice 20lbs going on??

Because it goes on gradually over a matter of years in many cases. When I originally stopped cycling I was 70kg, 12 years later I was 90kg. I obviously knew along the way that I had put the weight on but by time you realise exercising is harder and you get put off (in my case I couldn't get up a local hill I had previously ridden on the big ring and this knocked my confidence). In the end you get to the stage where you realise you really have to do something about it but different people have different triggers.

moffatt666

Paired-up with Strava and Endomondo, I find MFP really handy as a way of tracking what I'm eating/doing. I love it.

Cleat Eastwood

No, and stop calling me Pal.

p9uma

dw300 wrote:

1. Weigh yourself ever morning after going to the bathroom, but before breakfast.
2. Get a feel for a trend for the last couple of days to a week.
3. If the trend is that you're gaining weight, eat less.
4. If the trend is steady. You're doing it right.
5. If you are loosing weight and don't want to, eat more.

It's pretty simple and all you need are scales. How to people not notice 20lbs going on??

I do this too, every morning, and I use MFP. This routine, using both recourses has helped me lose weight, and maintain it, in fact I am slightly under my target weight. MFP is a really useful tool and helps me keep track of my calorie input and output, tracks my nutrition and tracks my weight. It's is free, what's no to like?

Cuddywifter

I have just done a couple of searches on the Apple App store and can't find the app. Can you clarify the exact name please? Thanks

Update: It's ok I have just found it. The app store list it as "Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal".

shockedsoshocked

It's an excellent tool, I used to during my nutrition module at uni and dropped around 1KG per week. If anything it makes you aware of how bad the stuff you sometimes put in your mouth is for you.

Word of advice though, always underestimate calories burnt, to be on the safe side.

teisetrotter

I have been using it for nearly 6 months. It gives me a real tracker for losing weight. I always enter the effort of exercise down one level ......... I do a mad session in the gym or on the bike I put in vigorous or moderate.

But for tracking weight and the mobile app with bar code scanner is invaluable.

Down from 14st 2lb's to 10stone 12lb.

Christophenes

I use and it is brilliant!

I have been religiously tracking what I eat and logging my exercise since January. I have lost near on 24 pounds which is basically what I aimed for!

It is a great motivator and I highly recommend it!