Gotta Love MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal showing my Summary for today.

MyFitnessPal is so cool. I started using it to count my calories but it also helps you track your workouts. And the best part for a foodie like me is that it adds the calories burned during your workout to your available calories for the day.

Now I don't have to eat all of my available calories for the day. But the option is there. And by not consuming all of your calories for the day, you can see a larger projected weight loss when you close out your day.

That's right. MyFitnessPal provides a calculated projection of where your weight should be in 5 weeks based on how you did that day. I hate to see the projection on days I go over.
But it isn't so bad if you don't go over by much. It should still show some weight loss. That of course would depend on where your weight is now and the goals you have set.

So again, gotta love MyFitnessPal. It is one great calorie counter. I use the mobile version on my Android phone. It is also available on other platforms including the desktop.

Counting calories really does help in weight loss. So have fun and I'll catch ya later.

Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal

Who Else Wants to Lose Weight?

I found it. The key to losing weight. How do I know this is any good. Well, it worked for me. Two days keeping a food diary and I lost two pounds. Keep reading while I explain it.

There is no real secret to it. A little common sense and a little effort is all it takes. The effort comes from doing what you have probably been advised to do before. I know I was. It is nothing more than keeping a simple food log. A diary or journal of your daily meals and snacks.

I found an easy way to do it. Sure it takes some effort but follow along with me. I found it to be informative and enjoyable. Maybe you will find it to be just as fun as I did. And it was on my phone all along.

What was it? It was the MyFitnessPal app from the folks at MyFitnessPal.Com. I had installed this app some time back but never used it. You know how it goes, good intentions and all that.

MyFitnessPal Daily Summary Screen

So I decided to take a look at it early Saturday morning. I had to set up an account first. Then enter in information about my current weight, birth date, height, gender, activity level, goal weight, and weekly weight loss goal. With the options to maintain my current weight, gain weight (Oh-no!), or lose weight, I chose the maximum allowable setting for weight loss - 2 pounds.

But I did not feel comfortable with the recommended setting of about 1500 calories, so I settled for 1 1/2 pounds a week for my weight loss goals. I have done this diet thing before and being a large male I am much more comfortable doing an 1800 calorie diet plan. There are also setting options for exercise goals, I chose 5 times a week, and the units of measure of which I chose inches/lbs. For those on the metric system, that option is available.

Now my main goal here was to see what this app could do. I really wanted to track what I was eating to see where things were going wrong for my weight loss. I knew I should be losing weight and I had. I dropped 15 pounds the month before by being careful what I ate and limiting my snacking. I had changed my habits was eating healthier. Or so I thought.