My Fitness Pal - Help!

[LorraineG90]

Hi,

I've tried several times to try and lose weight using the My Fitness Pal app, but always give up because I get confused and then eventually can't be bothered any more, but I'm trying to make a commitment and stick to it as people rave about this app! I have a few questions for anyone that uses it to help ease me in.. I'm currently 11 stone 5 and looking to get to around 10 stone. Its given me 1200 calories a day to play with.

1. I've had breakfast, lunch and a snack so far and still have 659 calories remaining out of 1200. If my dinner is less than 659 calories - do I try and use up the rest till i'm down to 0?

1. If I exercise and gain back 200 calories, am I expected to eat these calories back afterwards or do I leave the deficit and have 200 calories remaining at the end of the day?

1. When you're making a meal from scratch, do you add every single ingredient or just select a generic meal you're eating? (i.e - spag bol with veg - do you put in all the veg and ingredients individually or do you just select 'spag bol' from the food item list with your serving amount?

I'd appreciate any tips people have on how they've lost weight using this app!

Thanks :)

[iamyourequal]

Hi LorraineG90 I’m not an expert but have been using MyFitnessPal for ages so thought I’d share.
Firstly 1200 calories a day seems quite low. Did MyFitnessPal set this for you ? I would definitely eat the 1200 a day, or keep any you don’t eat for the weekend.

1. For exercise, it’s up to you. If you don’t ‘eat them back’ you will lose weight more quickly, but if you are starving hungry you may be as well eating them rather than risk feeling really weak with hunger or blowing the diet. Remember some exercise apps overestimate calories used for exercising.
   
2. For homemade meals I usually list all ingredients and store in the ‘recipes’ section so it can be reused later. This can be a little time consuming but makes your calorie counting far more accurate than guessing your recipe is similar to someone else’s and you only need to do if once for each recipe.
   

Good luck with the dieting!

[LorraineG90]

@iamyourequal Thanks so much!! That helps a lot! I've managed to stay committed to far and have recorded everything and am breaking things down by ingredient to make sure it's as accurate as possible! I've also bought some measuring cups to help!

Yeah the app has set me 1200 calories..I have gone over it on one day but managed to claw it back the following day.

How long have you been using it? Has it worked well for you?

[fishonabicycle]

BBC good food recipes are quite often on Mfp.

[chatwoo]

MFP user here as well!

...wanted to ask, as I lose weight, does the app give me less calories, or it stays the same (as its based on height / activity level in the settings?).

Thank you if you've got the answer!

[MotherOfSoupDragons]

I couldnt be arsed with it and just counted calories instead. Worked perfectly.

[MountainDweller]

@chatwoo it gave me fewer calories as I lost weight

I lost weight successfully using MFP a few years ago - I didn't always stick to the calories but it made me aware of what I was eating. Unfortunately have regained and now trying again!

IMO it's gone downhill though... first there was a horrible update that made everything white and now from 1 November they will only keep your food diary for 2 years, so anyone in it for the long term, make sure you have a backup! Also I think it only keeps your weight entries for a limited time as well.

[chatwoo]

Thanks @MountainDweller, clearly I haven't lost enough weight yet!

I don't mind it, but I do also log calories eaten / exercised, in a separate Excel sheet, along with my weight each time I weigh in.