Tuesday, February 4, 2014

My Fitness Pal

If you're looking for a way to keep track of calories, exercise and view your daily breakdown of fat, protein, etc... then you might want to try My Fitness Pal. You can use it on the computer or your smartphone. It's a free "calorie counter, diet and exercise journal."

It may be a little time consuming at first, but becomes easier as you go especially if you tend to eat some foods or do they same workouts regularly. My Fitness Pal contains over 3 million foods in their database, so you should be able to find what you're looking for... especially if you are eating healthy whole foods!

Here's some info from their website:
Lose weight the healthy way. We believe — and medical studies prove — that the best way to lose weight and keep it off forever is to simply keep track of the foods you eat. Gimmicky machines and fad diets don't work, so we designed a free website and mobile apps that make calorie counting and food tracking easy.

It is very common to think that we eat less than we actually do. The calories in a few crackers, handful of M&Ms, and the extra serving of food add up quickly. Even if you're not trying to lose weight, a food diary/log/journal can be a good way to track your intake of nutrients (see where you might be lacking) and to see how many calories you burn during exercise.

Keep in mind that calorie counting is not necessary at all for a healthy lifestyle (to gain, maintain or lose weight). It works for some people to see things broken down into data, and others really don't care. If you're diet is healthy, you're happy, and you have energy, then do not add the stress of calorie counting. If you like numbers and like to see results analyzed, then try out this fitness app. If I feel like I've started consuming too many calories, then I'll use My Fitness Pal for a month or so until I'm back on track. It's definitely not an all-or-nothing plan.

That all being said, here's a great summary from the article below: "The bottom line? You don't need to count calories, but you should make all your calories count."


Action Item: Continue your commitment to a healthier lifestyle!

For further reading: The Dos and Don'ts of Counting Calories

 

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