With a community of over 280 million users, MyFitnessPal aims to help users live healthier and 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 achieve your goals.
- Tracking often gets easier the more you do it.
- A study shows that even imperfect tracking can help you reach weight loss goals.
- You can build a tracking habit by logging one meal at a time.
- When you can’t find an exact match for what you want to track, choose something similar.
As you track, you’ll learn about your eating habits and how to make healthier choices. You will also gain a better understanding of the impact of training on your progress towards your goals.
Simply download the MyFitnessPal app and add your relevant information – enter your gender, height, weight and goal weight. We provide you with a daily calorie target that is personalized to help you reach your goals. After that, you are ready to start tracking.
Once you get started, you’ll realize how important it is not only to set goals, but also to hold yourself accountable. Tracking becomes a habit – as if you’ve always done it. And finally, you’ll find that you’re part of a like-minded, supportive community that cheers you on, especially when the going 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, achievable goals to help you stay motivated and reach your bigger goal.
2. KEEP YOUR GOALS CAREFULLY
- Tap Complete Diary: When you’re done tracking the day, tap the “Complete Diary” button. This gives you feedback on how the choices you made throughout the day affected your progress.
- Update your weight: As your weight changes, so will your calorie and macronutrient goals. It is important to update your weight at least once a week. Make sure you 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 routines
3. CREATE AND LOG YOUR MEALS
Create customized meals – the things you eat all the time because they taste good, fill you up and meet your health goals – this makes tracking easier and allows you to quickly log them every 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 faster 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 a health journey who wants to know what to eat and how to make big progress in small, actionable steps.
With meal planning tools, shopping 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 will be because you’ll start to see patterns. Only you can hold yourself accountable, making it more likely that you will be able to achieve your health and fitness goals. See some insider tips on tracking here.
2. USE TIMESTAMPS
Not only can you track what foods you eat, but you can also specify when you eat them. This helps you monitor how when you eat can affect your mood and hunger levels, performance, sleep, you name it.
3. SET USER REMINDER
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 a single click.
5. LEARN TO EYE PORTION
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 watching your portions, which in turn can lead to better tracking.
6. SEARCH THE DATABASE
We have one of the largest food databases in the world. With around 20.5 million foods and new options added regularly, you should find what you want to sign up for. Just in case you don’t, you can add foods directly to our database.
Look for the green tick when searching for a food item. This icon appears next to items in our database that have been researched and contain full nutritional information.
7. USE THE BARCODE SCANNER
Simply scan a food’s barcode to enter it in 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 nutritional information for any recipe.
III. BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY
1. ADD FRIENDS
When you add friends on MyFitnessPal, you’re more likely to succeed because you have an extra layer of support, motivation, and accountability. You can decide your level of privacy and whether your friends can see things like your weight, diary entries and the 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 other MyFitnessPal users.
3. CELEBRATE THE NON-QUEER
Not all wins happen on the scale. Progress towards your goals is everywhere: Did you climb the stairs easily? Skipping the donuts at work? Lower your blood pressure? Fits into a smaller size? Make sure you reflect on how your healthy habits have 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 and weight loss
> Weight loss
> Healthy diet
> Portion sizes
> Metabolism
> Macros
> Cool
> Carbohydrates
> Protein
> Sugar
> Fiber
> Micronutrients
> Meal planning
Training & Wellness
> Hydration
> Get started
> Walks 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 useful tips and information about eating, moving, living and learning to help support your journey.
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