What did you learn using MyFitnessPal that changed your habits?

Betty

Let’s Hear About It: Your ‘Ah-ha!’ Moments

MyFitnessPal’s nutrition insights have the power to spark all kinds of positive change. By using this data to better their habits, members have overcome health conditions, improved sleep, boosted moods, and gained confidence.

For many members, success starts with an ah-ha moment:

A surprising tidbit from a single meal (that salad I always order has HOW many calories!?)
A revealing pattern over days (oof, my diet is seriously lacking in fiber)
A telling long-term trend (my energy is way higher when I eat low-carb)

What were your ah-ha moments—and how are they helping you live a healthier, happier life? Share in the replies below!

Please Note: We believe there’s power in every story! By commenting or replying in this thread, you acknowledge and agree to the use of your name, comments, replies and/or entries, whether in whole or in part, by MyFitnessPal, including for the purpose of generating and distributing marketing materials to help inspire others.

Off-Topic posts are subject to deletion.

jkh29

ATPT going well so far

Luluetduet8

I definitely had a lot of aha moments. Especially with the calories in avocado, nuts, and hummus. I was surprised at how they could easily send me soaring over my goal for the day just by a couple of handfuls here or there or scoops without measuring.

I’m also realizing that I’m not as “healthy” as I used to tell myself I was. I find I go for a lot of snacks over meals but that leaves me with a lot to be desired in my diet in terms of having variety.

At the moment I’m just focusing on a maintaining a quick cut after my vacation and then I’ll likely be focusing on habits for food selection and macro management. I just don’t want to do it all at once yah know? I’m letting myself lean into lifestyle changes.

Finally I think this app has made me recognize how much the people I surround myself with influence my success. My friends like to eat out and unfortunately that makes tracking near impossible. I don’t mind eating out every now and again but im definitely looking to build new relationships with active people to help me stick to my goals. Environment is everything after all!

MargaretYakoda

Tracking my calories led to me realizing that on a regular basis I wasn’t eating enough. Which led to binges, and thus weight gain. Counterintuitive. But that’s my AhHa moment.

MrsDogLady

Once I realized that my goal has no end date and is essentially for-life, something clicked and I was able to get past the mentality that I NEED to be a certain weight BY a certain date. I got serious about regaining my health and well-being. Now it's just the journey.

Safari_Gal_

When I realized that maintaining a nice physique after 30 was easy with discipline and that anyone that tells you it is harder at a certain age is a MYTH.

stjoe56

Years ago I lost 125 lbs on the eat less, exercise more diet. From 325 down to 195. I kept it off for about four years and then my back went out. I had two failed surgeries and I am fused from T2 to my pelvis. I could not exercise (well not as much), was in a lot of pain and I gained almost all of the weight back.

My doctors kept tell me to lose weight. I could not as I was not motivated enough. Then the last doctor strongly suggest bariatric surgery. I agreed and started the process. Then my "ah-ha" though hit me. In the end the purpose of the bariatric surgery is to limit the amount of food you eat. So why not order a bariatric food plan and religiously eat only the food supplied. So I am. The weight is falling off. I do cheat a bit. I eat a lot of vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, and the like. No butter, no oil, but some mustard. And once a week, I treat myself to a "nice" meal.

I don't know where this process will end. But if I can lose 10+ pounds a month by the time the surgery is scheduled I will not qualify as my BMI will be too low.

oldskool56

How do you add ppl Help thanks in advance

Machka9

I had a choice. Spend a bundle on a new cycling jacket in a larger size or lose weight. Losing weight seemed the more economical way to go.

Mangoperson88

oldskool56 wrote: »

How do you add ppl Help thanks in advance

Click on the username of the person whom you wish to add and then click again and you will get the 2 people sign on the right. Click on that to send a request

Mangoperson88

This app made me fall in love with strength training. Users here made me realise with their progress pics that lifting weights as a woman won't make me bulky. Now I look forward to it more than cardio

Idontcareyoupick

I had repeated lessons learned about portion sizes, especially for snack foods where I thought I was only eating one or two and ended up being 3 or 4. I also learned that I can eat stuff like that in moderation just not to oblivion like I used to

sarah7591

I learned that as a vegetarian I was not getting nearly enough protein. Started to drink protein shakes. It has made a big difference in how I feel.

naebolt2000

I am finally looseing my weight after I had my tubes removed and getting off my depo. For 3 1/2 years I had hard time lossing my weight. Every time i ate heathy and exersied i seem to gain weight, Now I am off depo for the last month I have lost 5.6 lbs.

ldaltonbishop

When I was thirty-one I realized I had gained two pounds in the last year, and was inclined to congratulate myself on the limited gain. Then I realized if I gained two pounds a year for the next fifty years it would add up to a hundred extra pounds.

fionadonovan69

I've moved away from Slimming World and on to calorie counting - SW just wasn't working for me any more, although you can see from my pic that it did work really well. I put 3 stone back on and retried SW, but with a combination of mindset, menopause and a lot more exercise, it wasn't shifting.
I'm a week in to MFP so lets see how it goes!

BuddhaBunnyFTW

Weighing food in grams; learning than my body loves lentils. My gut seems to do better with dry lentils than even dry beans. I like beans but lentils don't make me feel gassy. Also fiber makes me feel full.

I initially lost 30 lbs gained back 20 over the last year but that's because I didn't walk as much and stopped eating mostly vegan. Since I lost my weight initially using MFP; I knew if I repeated what I did before I would lose weight again.

Ranyru

fionadonovan69 wrote: »

I've moved away from Slimming World and on to calorie counting - SW just wasn't working for me any more, although you can see from my pic that it did work really well. I put 3 stone back on and retried SW, but with a combination of mindset, menopause and a lot more exercise, it wasn't shifting.
I'm a week in to MFP so lets see how it goes!

Iv just done exactly that! Dropped SW and started this 👍👏👏

Evamutt

when I started using mfp, it really opened my eyes. I didn't think I could ever lose weight because: i didn't drink soda, very rarely ate fast food or eat out, rarely ate "junk food" or sweets at home, ate mostly chicken but also liked sausage, pork etc ate vegetables & rice, I loved potato chips & would get a bag every couple weeks, did eat pasta sometimes but it made me sleepy so not too often, I liked ramen noodles & also have been going to the gym for years because I really enjoyed it & am active in general so I thought what can I change? It was so frustrating so I accepted my overweight self ( I was 200lbs) and was okay with it. Then a friend lost weight through counting calories so I decided to try it but not expecting any results. Wow, I saw that rice I was eating most days was full of calories, the chips I ate occasionally too, ramen noodles, pork & beef sausages. I had no idea so I substituted turkey sausage, ate rice occasionally & weighed everything. I lost 50 lbs. The most change was adding foods I didn't eat before which was exciting to discover new foods.

carla4068

How many empty calories I was consuming on oils and full fat sauces, as well as learning good portion control now without feeling hungry!
Switched up most oil use for fry light!! Game changer,
Swapped out full fat sauces for lighter versions! Easy and simple changes 💪🏻🦵🏻

hediliz

How much sugar is in almost Everything now days. I avoided eating sweets like cakes and candies and drinking soda, but I didn't worry about checking for it in other regular foods and drinks. This app showed me what I was eating also had a lot of sugar in them.

coblujay

I knew counting calories and logging meals was important but what has made the biggest difference for me so far is the community, including those who have walked the talk, lost weight and continue to keep it off. Everyone is so supportive and willing to share what worked for them and to encourage those of us still working at it. I finally believe I can do this.

Beautyofdreams

Before I started MFP, I lost a significant amount of weight by guesstimating calories, resistance training 6 days a week and walking or jogging everyday for 3.5 miles. I regained almost all my weight back when I injured myself. Last March, I joined MFP and started calorie counting, weighing, logging and exercising. I lost 80 pounds. Since April, I have been injured and have to stay off my feet. I have been able to maintain my weight loss just by weighing my food and counting calories. Learning how to create a calorie deficit and maintain without exercise has been a real eye opener for me.

LauraPelt

My Ah-ha moment came when we were out of town for my husband's heart surgery and had to eat in restaurants. I realized that I *knew* what to order to stay on my anti inflammatory eating plan.
Without MFP, I wouldn't have been able to do it-I would have ordered whatever sounded good. By logging everything I eat, I knew what foods were best and could easily look up the nutritional info and see if it was in my plan that day. I made good choices and although I didn't lose any weight, I didn't gain either. That's a win in my book.

rahcar

Months of diet plans and tiny losses or plateaus...and then I discovered my fruit intake was adding 600kcal per day....EEK!!!!!

Brooklyn_Born

My AHA moment happened in December 2008. I had just run my slowest 5k time ever and still at age 61 I won my age group and was being cheered. After all I was an "old lady" I knew I couldn't train any harder and I was already drinking only water as my beverage of choice. Could it be the 25 extra pounds I was dragging around? Exactly, the shock of using MFP's nutrition tracker and buying a food scale proved that I could not "outrun my fork".
11 months later, 25 pounds lighter, I ran 3 minutes faster and I've been in maintenance ever since
Thank you for the wake up call.

PopGoesTheCoyote

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

Tracking my calories led to me realizing that on a regular basis I wasn’t eating enough. Which led to binges, and thus weight gain. Counterintuitive. But that’s my AhHa moment.

I had this too.

PAPYRUS3

Years ago I didn't use a scale to measure anything...I would use measuring spoons/cups, etc.,
Getting a scale sure opened up my eyes to how much I was actually consuming!

mmasontaylor

Fitness pal made me more aware of what I was eating especially carbs. It has helped me to stay on track of my goals. I have lost 12 pounds in 6 weeks and gave up sugar.

missmotta13

hediliz wrote: »

How much sugar is in almost Everything now days. I avoided eating sweets like cakes and candies and drinking soda, but I didn't worry about checking for it in other regular foods and drinks. This app showed me what I was eating also had a lot of sugar in them.

Sugar really is in everything! I'm trying to cut it out of my life, slowly but surely.

Sand_TIger

So many "aha" moments! Many revelations came when I started seriously tracking what I ate and realized how it would have been impossible to balance all those calories with physical activity. A more positive "aha" moment came when I realized that I really CAN lose weight and take charge of my own destiny, that it's not impossible! It's not even all that hard if you are consistent!