Let MyFitnessPal help you stay on track
What’s your APPtitude? 
By Kathy Fallert
The holidays are behind us but unfortunately, for some of us, the extra calories from big holiday meals and fun snacks may not be. MyFitnessPal by Under Armour is a free app for Android or iOS which I have found to be a great help when it comes to weight loss and staying on a healthier diet.
Lots of studies have shown that keeping track of what you eat and the activity you do has benefits. The more consistently you track what you eat, the more likely you are to lose weight. Instead of a cumbersome food diary and activity log where you make guesses about caloric intake and calories burned, MyFitnessPal helps you log your meals and exercise quickly and without fuss.
You start off by entering your current weight, your goal weight and your activity level. The app calculates your daily caloric goal, which can be modified at any time. MyFitnessPal has a searchable food database of over 300,000,000 items. I find it easy to zero in on what I’ve eaten. For instance, if you just ate a chicken spicyaki bowl with veggies from Toyko Joe’s, the components are right in the database to easily track your calories. If you go out and run three miles and enter that in the exercise log it instantly tells you how many calories you burned and adjusts how much you can still eat that day to stay within your set goals.
It’s easy to log entries from your computer, your phone or anywhere else with an internet connection. The app remembers your most common entries so you don’t have to search for them. As with most apps there is an option to purchase their premium membership at $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year if you’d like more detailed tracking and food analysis. Even without the premium option, the app supports any specific diet you are on such at Atkins, Keto or if you’re diabetic.
In addition, the app offers discussion forums to help you with tips from others or to share your own discoveries. Whether you want to get to your lowest weight in years, go on your first run in weeks or track your heart healthy afternoon snack, MyFitnessPal is a reliable and easy-to-use tool to help you reach your goals.
