Log To Succeed

Good morning, friends! I gotta say that I feel extraordinary today. I guess having a more normal couple of days after days of blindness and pain will leave you in a pretty good mood. I was able to feel productive and look at my family again for the first time in days this weekend. I also got in a few great workouts.

Spin class and some yoga on Saturday. Then, a full body weight session to run through a Best Body Bootcamp workout for my wonderful participants.

Felt good to log a couple sweat sessions. And quite literally, too.

Who here has heard of My Fitness Pal? I had heard of it for a long while and about six months or so ago joined the site and created a private profile. I used the site in order to check in with personal clients who regularly updated their meals and workouts via My Fitness Pal and had planned to log things for personal use, but didn’t use it to its full potential. I would honestly forget to log things on my computer usually.

I kept hearing more and more about My Fitness Pal over the coming months and toyed on occasion more and more with the site. Then I heard about the mobile app version through Glam Media and decided to give the application a more thorough test drive as part of a campaign partnership with Welch’s Light. Namely because I want to know the workings of an application that many clients and Best Body Bootcamp participants use to log their activity and goals.

Here are some key highlights of the My Fitness Pal mobile app.

Easy to use dashboard to update profile settings – including goals, physical statistics such as weight, email, etc – as well as support. It also provides quick access to updates for your meals and workouts.

From there, you can go into the logs and have space to update for a number of things easily – breakfast, lunch, dinner, custom meals (I just have snacks lumped together), cardiovascular workouts, strength training workouts, water, and additional notes for the day. Talk about detailed!

The food log really impressed me!

Not only could I easily find almost every single food I entered for every meal, but I also could have the option to create a custom food that would save for easy addition to future meals should I not find what I was looking for. Or, if in a rush, I could just add the calorie count of a meal in one simple step. They even have a barcode scanner to search for and add foods! On top of that, you can save favorite meals to add in one click…just as I did with my typical oatmeal mix.

Above and beyond all that, they have full nutritional data just a click away for everything in the database.

Sweet potato facts!

What I perhaps liked the most though was their accurate calorie targets based on my weight and height and goal to maintain. Plus, it updates for activity. Thank goodness! I cannot stand when sites give a vague “eat 1400 calories per day” suggestion without accounting for the body’s need for fuel with workouts! Two thumbs up that My Fitness Pal accounts for that.

Thought I was over my goal, but added my exercise…and what do you know? I got some extra food to still be on target! Not going to turn that down.  

You can also get summaries for the breakdown of calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein, and many other vitamins and minerals on a daily or weekly basis.

In other words, the fitness nerd in me loved it all! And using a tool like this can help with achieving fitness and health related goals.

5 Ways The My Fitness Pal App Can Help You Reach Your Fitness & Health Goals

• Make yourself more accountable and aware. When you commit to logging everything you eat it will make you think twice about the choices you make. The second slice of chocolate cake or extra handfuls of potato chips do add up. Logging them can keep you mindful of foods that otherwise may go forgotten and hinder your goals. The mobile app is even better for this, as you can immediately log foods as you go with the easy to use database.
• See changes to help keep up motivation. When you reach a new goal, My Fitness Pal recognizes it. Seeing those steps to progress along the way will keep you motivated to continue furthering your achievements.
• Logs to refer to when facing plateaus or other struggles. Plateaus, injuries, stomach ailments, and a host of other issues can pop up to hinder progress. Maintaining an active log of foods and workouts can serve as a reference point to determine possible contributing factors to challenges when they arise. You may notice you did a few extra workouts the weeks leading up to an injury and determine how to adjust moving forward. Or you may notice a weight loss plateau after incorporating more of a particular food to your diet. Information can go a long way in helping you achieve.
• Properly fuel your body. My Fitness Pal provides a solid calorie estimate for each individual body’s needs based on the personal information entered and your goals. It adjusts those needs based on workouts and caloric expenditure to ensure that your body gets enough. You can target numerous areas of nutrition for your body’s needs as well. Iron problems? Track it to ensure you get enough. Need more sources of Vitamin B for energy? See what foods help you reach your daily target. Have to get more protein in your diet? Easily view that. Did a tough workout and want to ensure you eat enough to refuel? My Fitness Pal covers you there too by adjusting your daily calories.
• Group support. The My Fitness Pal app has the added benefit of connecting via social media with others. You can share updates via Twitter and Facebook or solely connect with other members through the site. The home page of the app even has updates on your achievements and others so you can gain inspiration and receive support from others.

All in all, My Fitness Pal is a very useful tool and I would certainly recommend it to clients and those asking for suggestions on tracking. The information and knowledge you can gain on your body, your habits, and your goals through such a tool will prove invaluable. I learned a lot about my own workouts and meal habits in just the few weeks I have used the app. I’m thankful to Glam, Welch’s, and my fellow Best Body Bootcampers who all pushed me to give it a more thorough investigation.

Your Turn: Do you use a tracking device at all for workouts/food? How has tracking helped you in the past or how can it help you in future goals?

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Crisp, delicious Welch’s Light not only tastes great, but also helps you stay on track. With only 45 calories per serving and no added sugar, you’ll be sure to sip smarter with Welch’s Light! Try both Concord Grape and White Grape flavors: made with our very own grapes and full of antioxidant Vitamin C.

Compensation was provided by Welch’s via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Welch’s.

Tagged as: fitness, goals, motivation, new years resolutions

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