My Fitness Pal

Upon starting this blog, one of the things I said I wanted to use this for was to post my reviews of different fitness products/tools. I've found THE best calorie/diet/exercise tracker out there. I've tried the Daily Plate, Spark People, and Lose It, but I have to say that My Fitness Pal beats all of them. First of all, it's free, and it does the basics of combining both diet and exercise. You have to account for the calories you're burning to see the grand picture. Secondly, its food library is huuuuuge. I used Lose It for a long time and felt like it had a pretty wide selection of foods you can choose from, including brand names at the grocery or restaurants. My Fitness Pal's library is 10 times more extensive because other users are able to add to the library, keeping it fresh and updated. Even smaller restaurants or lesser-known brand names are in there. So far, everything I've found that was added by another user has been accurate--just make sure you're reading the serving sizes correctly. When in doubt, my rule of thumb is to overestimate your calories from food, and underestimate calories from exercise.

Almost any time I do a fitness consultation at work, the client has one of three goals: weight loss, toning up, flattening the belly--or all of the above. I always start the conversation with a visual example of the "pyramid of weight loss" (or whatever their specific goal is). Just like there are 3 sides of a triangle, there are 3 components to weight loss: 1. Nutrition. This is the most important component, making up the base of the pyramid. Numbers have been thrown around in the exercise science world saying that proper nutrition makes up 80% of weight loss!! Shocking fact, huh? And it makes sense, really, because in 30 minutes of exercise, most people are lucky to burn 300 calories. But 300 calories worth of food can be eaten in just a few minutes, in one handfull. That's why those people that think they'll just workout extra hard and not adjust their diet never make it very far. 2. Cardio. Continuous muscle movement that is at a high enough intensity to make you sweat and breathe hard = sheer calorie burn. Enough said. 3. Resistance Training. Even though it's only the third most important component of weight loss, it is important. Lean muscle, built through strength training exercises, demands a higher calorie burn to sustain, therefore, even at rest, a person with a large amount of lean muscle is burning more calories than someone with a low amount. Plus, from an appearance standpoint, who cares about being skinny if there's no tone or definition underneath? When all 3 sides of the pyramid are aligned, the result is goal-realization.

So finally, where My Fitness Pal comes into play is how people are expected to keep track of all the above. I understand that counting calories is hard, tedious, and no fun, but it's crucial in order to reach a body composition goal or to stay in tip-top shape, so why not make it as easy and convenient as possible? I used to refer people on to the Lose It app, but that can only be found on iPhones and iPads, so many people couldn't use it. My Fitness Pal is on several apps for different phones, but is also online, so anyone can access it throughout the day.

If you've never tried tracking your calories, give it a whirl. It may be easier than you think, and it could make the nutrition component finally click for you. Even for those of you in mainenance mode, who have been settled into an ideal weight for years, I encourage you to count calories just for a week. Let me tell you, it's enlightening!