Here’s a little blog on using Myfitnesspal and some tips to help you get to terms with it quickly.
First of all, don’t fear it. Tracking your intake is the best way of understanding your current habits, what triggers them and what value Each food Type has.
WHen you first open the app, you will be welcomed to your dashboard (see below). To add food, at the bottom hit the ‘diary’ button.
LOGGING FOOD;
Here, you have a few options -
Type it in - ’2 eggs scrambled’. You will then see a number of options for that food, choose the option that best suits what it is, bearing in mind the calories and size of meal. Watch This video to get an idea.
Scan a barcode - if you’re out and about and buy a sandwich for example in a shop, rather than type the type of sandwich in, you can scan the barcode and it will give you the exact calories and nutrient value. This makes life so much easier! Watch the video below.
Scan a meal - this is where you actually take a photo of your meal, and the app works out what it is and how much! It can work sometimes, it can be a little wrong at times too - so by all means try it, but i prefer the above options.
WHAT OPTION TO CHOOSE?
Well, it’s trial, errror and understanding really. Say you’ve made a chilli and don’t know how to add it. I would simply type in ‘chilli’ and a number of options will pop up (see photo). From this list, find the food that best describes what you’ve had. Cups is usually a good way of measuring. 2-3 cups would be around a portion.
If you are cooking for a family, you know how many grams of mince (for example) you’ve used, or you will learn to pay attention to that, so you would divide that by how many of you there are and alter the option to that amount of grams.
You can then add/do the same with the rice.
(Video explaining how to alter grams ⬇️)
SHOULD I ADD MY ‘NAUGHTY’ STUFF?
ABSO-BLOODY-LUTELY.
That is the whole point. You need to eat your humble pie. If you know you eat shit, record it. Seeing how it adds nothing to your targets other than calories will make you realise you can eat so much better for the amount of calories. This is a hugely important part of change. Seeing WHY it is so bad and understanding WHY other food is so much better. This is what I mean by better QUALITY food.
Same applies with alcohol 😊
I want you to remember it’s not an exact science, I am not looking for the exact size or exact amount of calories. Get close, but as long as I know the food you’ve consumed, what you’ve consumed it with and which meal, we have everything we need to make small, positive changes to help you improve your balance.
Any more questions, message me. It’s what I am here for
Josh Dowson
Dowsonfitness
Comments