My Fitness Pal | You Are What You Eat

I was recently introduced to this fairly addictive app by one of my former colleagues and it is fair to say it has changed the way I look and think about food. As mentioned previously I have always struggled with my weight and finding that balance between eating correctly and exercising. I tend to eat what I want in moderation and have always managed to maintain my weight. However, sometimes I can overdo it when it comes to exercising and this is where this app comes in handy. Obviously this app was designed for those who want to shred the pounds, a calorie counter as it is known. Yet, it is also great for those fitness freaks out there who like myself who want to ensure they are getting the right nutrients to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

What I must say, after logging my food on this app for several weeks is do not rely solely on this app. A lot of the foods on there don't have all the nutritional breakdowns and therefore more than likely you wont get a honest breakdown of all nutrients consumed at the end of the day. I often find that I go over my daily recommended amount of sugar but this is not something I am particularly concerned about as I know a lot of this is natural sugar from the sheer amount of fruit I eat. I love fruit and wont be cutting this out of my diet in a hurry. The daily recommended amount of fruit has gone up to seven portions now and there's no way I consume that much, so in that sense this app is unreliable. It does however break down your fats which is very useful as fat like sugar is something we need to be monitoring when leading a healthy lifestyle. 

The app is useful if the foods you eat are not already listed or if the details are incorrect. It allows you to enter these manually by creating a new food group. However, this I imagine is time consuming. One of the best things about this app is being able to add your foods quickly on the go. It recognises familiar foods which you have eaten which is good if you eat a lot of the same foods like I do. It also allows you to add exercise which is great when monitoring whether you are reaching your net calories for the day. I would say as long as your net calorie is within 100-200 of your daily allowance then this is okay. Prior to using this app I led a fairly low carb diet which was concerning due to how much exercise I have been doing lately. This app has made me realise that food groups like carbs aren't your worst enemy and above all, has enhanced my performance at the gym as a result. I now eat more carbs and feel much more energised as a result.

The phrase everything in moderation has never been so useful. Carbs and fats are essential for a balanced diet, just as much as fruit and vegetables are. It is useful to know that after years of thinking I am lacking Vitamin C, in fact the thing that I am lacking the most is probably iron. I love this app but it can become quite obsessive. Just remember, it is okay to have a day off or go over your recommended amount of calories. See the app as a useful way of logging your food so you can eat more of the good things and less of the bad things.

Have you ever used My Fitness Pal? What are your experiences of using this app?

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