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    What has been the most useful tool in this app for you and why?

    Posts: 1 Member
    in Getting Started
    I'm new and trying to figure out this app during my free trial to see if I want to continue.
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    Answers

    • Posts: 962 Member
      The food logging, and the peer interaction via the recently-removed newsfeed.
    • Posts: 7,003 Member
      Well, the calorie counting aspect obviously. Linked to that, I'm a big fan of the weekly nutrition view to balance higher and lower intake days.
      And having my fitness tracker synced is a big asset.

      Also, the boards here help keep my head in the game.

      None of these things require a premium account, these features are available in the free version.

      The barcode scanner is a premium option, at least in some countries like the US. Some people like that feature. I'm only a partial fan, for my country (Belgium) the results are often wrong (wrong nutritional data or even the wrong product) or I even get zero results - with the manual search you at least get multiple results from which you can pick the correct one.
    • Posts: 962 Member
      Oh! Yes, automatically liking between apps is a big one. I use Runkeeper to track my walking/biking and it syncs over to here very smoothly.
    • Posts: 3,832 Member
      The food diary, without doubt. If I count calories I lose weight. If I eat with reckless abandon, I have trouble keeping my circumference less than my height.
    • Posts: 9,069 Member
      edited July 2024
      Calorie logging of course, but what turned it around for me was getting a fitness tracker and syncing it to MFP.

      That was when I learned the four or five laps around the neighborhood didn’t offset the sweets I’d be eating when I got home. Didn’t even make a dent.

      Learning the “cost” of food in versus the effort of calories burnt was…..epic and mind blowing.

      The two never would have converged with the ability to sync.

      I also took the time to log a few typical “before” days. I’d given myself a calorie allowance of 1470 to start. It was like the Roadrunner had dropped an anvil on my head and heart to learn I was easily consuming 10-12,000 calories a day or more.

      I’ve gone on to lose a substantial amount, from a 22W to a consistent size 4 and I maintain by logging every. single. day.

      Old me still rears her head once in a while- like when I ate almost a whole “pallet” box of ginger thins on the spur of the moment this weekend, but you know what? I also knew I had a ton of extra calories from earlier in the week I hadn’t used, so didn’t have a moment’s guilt over it.

      (Can’t say the same for the resulting tummy ache. New me can’t hack that behavior any more. 😅)
    • Posts: 1 Member
      What is the MFP?
    • Posts: 1 Member
      MFP = My Fitness Pal
    • Posts: 247 Member
      I’ve only ever used the free version, and it has everything I needed.

      For me, it was a) the ability to easily tot up my calorie intake and monitor it on a daily/weekly basis (using the database, my meals, my recipes etc), and b) reading this forum for advice and inspiration (particularly Success Stories) which got me through the tougher times, and I am still an avid reader. Compared to the challenges others have faced, it keeps me humble.
    • Posts: 9,069 Member
      AmunahSki wrote: »
      …reading this forum for advice and inspiration (particularly Success Stories) which got me through the tougher times, and I am still an avid reader.

      This!!!!!!! I’ve read every. single. post.

      And can identify with almost all of them! Agree, when the scale wouldn’t budge, that thread kept me going.

      I used to bank posts to read for those times.

    • Posts: 35,438 Member
      Food logging, and the MFP Community here. Tracking my food changed my life - improved my quality of life, because I could lose weight predictably once I learned how to use it. The Community, because I learned so much from the "old hands" when I was starting out.

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