Is myfitnesspal healthy longterm?

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Replies

  • jasonpoihegatama
    jasonpoihegatama Posts: 496 Member
    You can use it to keep on track.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,913 Member
    I think it really helps to teach us about food and therefore be able to make better choices. My problem is that I know fully well that eating x is a lot better for me nutrient and calorie wise, but i'll still eat y anyway because why not?

    Then my weight creeps up, so I log food again to bring it back down.

    I go for months without logging though, I can maintain for a while until I start getting too complacent and eating like an idiot.

    I still am active with my friends though even if I'm not logging and that helps me too - to keep accountable I suppose!
  • sofchak wrote: »
    Appears as though I’m in the significant minority here, but I guess it depends on how you define “using” MFP. I used the tracking tool for over 2 years, but eventually realized I was becoming obsessive and making life choices based on calories rather than relationships.

    Still on MFP almost daily, but haven’t used the tracking in over a year. Now I use it for the community support and recipe builder. I manage rough calorie counting in my head now.

    I agree with you. I think some personality types get affected more than others. If you've got OCD, counting calories is all the excuse your brain needs to go overboard. Life is easier when you don't count calories, but are aware of what you can eat and what portion sizes are appropriate, but you'll always be at risk for your weight creeping back up.

  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    psychod787 wrote: »
    This is nothing more than a version of cognitive restraint..... research shows people who use some form of restraint or tracking have far better long term success... I'll take my odds with this tool.

    Can you link me to one of these studies? Now I'm curious. :o

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4777230/
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,902 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    I've been on and off MFP for years now (I periodically take a break from it because I spend waaay too much time on the forums :p ). I'm several years into maintenance and it's nice to have a place to 'hang out,' where there's others who have similar diet/nutrition interests and goals etc. I don't have that with anyone in my real life and it can be a bit isolating at times.

    Yes it certainly can. Almost everyone in my family circle is at least a little overweight, some by a lot with the exception of one coworker.

    It would be awesome to have one or two....my youngest daughter used to be my workout partner, then she had to go get married and have kids lol. :)
  • RovP6
    RovP6 Posts: 108 Member
    Once you've been tracking for a long period of time, ie anything up to a year, you've already formed the good habits that will probably stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. That said, there's nothing wrong with going back to tracking after a break if you need to correct either body composition or weight. We've never had it so good these days with so much good nutritional information and tools to help us track and affect our body composition our metabolism and our overall weight. If it feels good then do it, if you get fed doing it then stop, if you stop and it feels like it's all going wrong again you can always start tracking again. I'm 114 days into my second period of tracking, but this time I'm tracking macros rather than pure calories.