Is Myfitnesspal relevant for people focused on health and fitness, not counting calories?

AdahPotatah2024

I like this quote "Calories do count, don't count calories, make every calorie count!"

AdahPotatah2024

Myfitnesspal is only helpful when tracking calories, but still somewhat relevant to those only interested in health.

https://youtu.be/rfUZKcENgQs?si=6cWhI3UaghonbOQf

chris_in_cal

Myfitnesspal is helpful for more than just calorie counting, but usually promotes and encourages fitness and healthy eating.

You might find a better fit on Strava.

Nearly all people on Strava are actively considering fitness, which is not so on MFP.

Nearly all people on MFP are actively considering excess weight, which is not so on Strava.

chris_in_cal

Myfitnesspal is helpful for more than just calorie counting, but usually promotes and encourages fitness and healthy eating.

@AdahPotatah2024 your account looks to be less than a year old. I am not sure where you are coming from writing "still relevant"?

That implies you have knowledge that in a previous time it was relevant, and currently you are questioning it.

At which time do you think MFP was relevant for people focused in health and fitness?

AdahPotatah2024

Myfitnesspal is only helpful when tracking calories, but still somewhat relevant to those only interested in health.

Thanks for your votes!
@chris_in_cal you must have been writing your comments when I fixed that.:)
I first wrote 'still relevant' more with my personal inquiry in mind, as is it still relevant for me if I no longer want to count calories, but then edited it to be more of a general question for everyone.

robertw486

Myfitnesspal is helpful for more than just calorie counting, but usually promotes and encourages fitness and healthy eating.

chris_in_cal wrote: »

You might find a better fit on Strava.

Nearly all people on Strava are actively considering fitness, which is not so on MFP.

Nearly all people on MFP are actively considering excess weight, which is not so on Strava.

I'm not so sure really. I know of quite a few less than fit people that use Strava simply for routes for biking, hiking, etc.

And though many of the forum posts here do concern weight loss questions, we also have quite a few very fit athletes, professionals in fitness industries, and modest beasts who don't claim to fit in any certain group.

AnnPT77

AdahPotatah2024 wrote: »

Thanks for your votes!
@chris_in_cal you must have been writing your comments when I fixed that.:)
I first wrote 'still relevant' more with my personal inquiry in mind, as is it still relevant for me if I no longer want to count calories, but then edited it to be more of a general question for everyone.

Relevant to you is situational. If your situation is improved by sticking with MFP, do that. If it is neutral, probably a waste of time. If unhelpful or annoying, drop it like it's hot.

I think MFP can be relevant for people who aren't calorie counting or don't want to calorie count, but it depends on the person. There are non-counters (at a healthy weight) who participate here, and I assume they have good reasons. Some of the formal groups and some of the Community topic areas are more of a fitness/health sub-community (not just people losing weight or calorie counting).

I didn't vote, because I find most polls here kind of baffling, TBH. In this case, answering the generic question (about something I think is individual) is baffling.

Personally, I still find MFP useful and relevant in long term maintenance for a variety of reasons. These days I'm mostly focused on fitness and health, but part of health (a big part for me) is healthy weight, and I'm still calorie counting because it suits me very well. (I'm a data geek, so I like science fair approaches). For myself, I can't pry apart health and weight management as goals. It's all one multi-factor interactive thing: Nutrition, calories, exercise, body weight, and more.

PAV8888

Count or do not count.

If you have no reason and have never had a reason to count... why are you counting? That would be a strange decision.

If you ever needed to count... then you HAD a reason. And it may (or may not) have been an unhealthy one, or it may have been a very healthy one depending on the hows, the whys and the how it worked outs.

If you ever did need to count (or if you were ever helped out by counting) and then you decide that you don't want (or need) to count no more.... time will tell whether this was a correct or incorrect decision for you. That's not something anyone else can answer.

To count or not to count... being as well as possible is all that counts.

Corina1143

I lost 60 pounds before I found my fitness pal. Kept 40 off for years. I lost 45 more with my fitness pal.
I will eventually lose 10 more--someday.
Mfp is VERY helpful to me--trying to ward off type 2 diabetes (runs in my family age 60's, I'm 74), and trying to lower triglycerides and ldl cholesterol (probably familial, heart attacks in family 80's and 90's).
I'm able, with MFPs help, to keep my saturated fat lower than it would be otherwise, my fiber higher, and my carbs adequately clothed.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who uses it primarily for health reasons.

SafariGalNYC

I think internally on the community boards, I know many who use MFP as a calorie counter. In all the marketing I see regarding MFP, the team markets it as an all in one tracker. Whether you want to log fitness, water intake, tic tacs, calories, nutrition, macros, whatever.

I think it really depends on the usefulness of the tool. I like focusing on recipes and nutrition.. calories are secondary for me personally as weight loss is not my focus.. I also have a bunch of friends I like interacting with..

In a way.. relevant is what one makes out of it.. Has the tool served its purpose? Does it still.. subjective. I liked your quote @AdahPotatah2024 - I do try to make every calorie count!

kshama2001

AdahPotatah2024 wrote: »

https://youtu.be/rfUZKcENgQs?si=6cWhI3UaghonbOQf

I find the "You can't have a healthy relationship with food if you count calories" school of thought annoying.

Does this make any sense: "You can't have a healthy relationship with your budget if you count money?"

Now, I don't currently have to track my spending closely. (I'm frugal and comfortable.) Likewise, when I had little access to or interest in high calorie hyper-palatable food, I didn't count calories. When I'm in a relationship, I cook differently, and there's less room for error. Counting calories reveals my calorie budget. Likewise, when I had less money, it behooved me to monitor my spending closely.

Have you seen the countless posts by people who are wondering why they can't lose weight? They think they have their "healthy habits" dialed in, but clearly they don't, or they'd be losing weight. Of all these innumerable posts in 10 years, there's been only one who baffled me. The others had tracking issues, or they were not willing to share enough information for that to be ruled out. (So, tracking issues )

AdahPotatah2024

Myfitnesspal is only helpful when tracking calories, but still somewhat relevant to those only interested in health.

Thanks for all the votes/comments. I definitely agree that it can be relevant for some non calorie counters and not relevant at all to others. That's why I thought the poll might be interesting.
I think it's mostly a calorie counting app, so I can completely understand most people using the app to be calorie counting.

I have started to notice that it doesn't really motivate me to eat healthier, though. I like that I can sort of track sugar and fat without really worrying about calories, but would love an app that counted the # of vegetables I eat per day or something like that!

AdahPotatah2024

Myfitnesspal is only helpful when tracking calories, but still somewhat relevant to those only interested in health.

That being said, I could tweak my settings from breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks to be green vegetables, citrus, whole grains, etc. 🤓

AnnPT77

AdahPotatah2024 wrote: »

Thanks for all the votes/comments. I definitely agree that it can be relevant for some non calorie counters and not relevant at all to others. That's why I thought the poll might be interesting.
I think it's mostly a calorie counting app, so I can completely understand most people using the app to be calorie counting.

I have started to notice that it doesn't really motivate me to eat healthier, though. I like that I can sort of track sugar and fat without really worrying about calories, but would love an app that counted the # of vegetables I eat per day or something like that!

FWIW: I count veggie/fruit intake just by logging in grams and adding up the grams daily (not always with precision). It takes very little time to do that, like less than a minute in most cases. I'm shooting for a minimum of 400g, ideally 800g+.

But that's just counting total volume, not diversity, and just counting veggies/fruits. I know there are some sources now saying we should have X different plants per week, or Y different fruits/veggies. (IIRC, I've seen X=40, Y=30, but my memory isn't that fab. .)

I did spot check one typical week. and was a bit flummoxed about how to count. When I count veggies/fruits, I don't usually count things like sauerkraut, jarred marinara, etc., even though they're technically mostly veggies.

Some of the sources/sites recommending both volume and diversity count differently, and do count herbs, spices, teas, coffee, chocolate, etc., that are plant-sourced. Depending on how I counted, I got somewhere in the 30-35 or so range, but not all the way to 40. It was close enough that I decided not to overthink it, though.

YMMV.

ETA for context: I'm more oriented to looking at my routine eating patterns, less to micro-managing every single day or week. I figure if my typical days/weeks are in good shape via routine daily habits, that's good enough. I don't worry much about the odd rare day when something unusual happens on the eating front.