Why "MyFitness Pal"

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Replies

  • KimertRuns13_1
    KimertRuns13_1 Posts: 702 Member
    Accountability
    Inspiration/Motivation
    Support
  • dlyeates
    dlyeates Posts: 875 Member
    I agree with what everyone says. 2 close friends recommended this to me and I figured what the hey.

    The reasons why I like this site/am successful (down 21 lbs and am 6 lbs away from my pre-baby weight):

    1. I am in control. No one is telling me what to eat or what not to eat. I can decide how much weight I want to lose and all they tell me is what calories I would need to achieve that weight loss. I can decide how much I want to exercise and I do since I'm trying to get healthier and I like to eat so I do want more food.

    2. The support on here is awesome!!! I've met such sweet and wonderful people who understand my frustrations and don't bash me. My hubby is highly supportive but doesn't always understand why I freak out if I gain 3 lbs during my TOM and tells me just to NOT WORRY....yeah right. The people on here get it and are going through it to. This journey is definitely unique.

    3. It holds me accountable. Even though (back to #1) I'm in control, the fact is that by logging what I eat I'm accountable for what I put in my mouth. It's all about me and the fact that I'm finally being honest and putting it on paper holds me accountable for my choices.

    4. It has taught me so much. After I gave birth to my children I lose 1/2 the weight I gained just by delivery (it happened both times). But with my daughter I maintained that weight loss (give or take a couple of lbs) for 15 months. I thought I was eating healthy and making healthy choices. By logging and having to see how many calories are in items I learned that I am really stupid when it comes to how many calories are in something......like at some of my favorite restaurants I thought I was making healthy choices and these meals were easily 900-1200 calories....FOR 1 MEAL!!!

    This is my journey and no one elses. I am doing this in a way that is sustainable and I'm eating whatever I want....as long as I can log my calories. I'm learning to make my favorites in healthier low cal ways.

    Feel free to add me as a friend!!!
  • I had a food/exercise tracker on my Palm Pilot, remember them? Worked great and this go around I started using MFP as a food/exercise tracker. But I think the difference and what I was missing is using the Friends, challenges and blogs to publicly declare your goals, successes and even failures.

    Keep with it every day - all the tools tracking, posting and reading others stories. I even set MFP as my home page on my computer.
  • Shausil82
    Shausil82 Posts: 218 Member
    Welcome to My Fitness Pal! :-)

    I was obese from age 8 to 28, and was bullied out of my school because of my weight. I zig zagged with my weight through college, and after college, I gave up on losing weight. Everything I tried didn't work, and whenever I stopped losing weight, I gave up.
    In August of this year, my friend Heather told me about this site, and I thought I'd give it a try. The first few weeks, I didn't lose weight, but, I was losing inches off of my body. Then I started to lose pounds. I love the fact that I can eat whatever I want, as long as it's within my calories, carbs, protein, fat, and sodium numbers. I love keeping track of my workouts. I've lost over 25 pounds because of this site. My body has changed dramatically, and I never feel as if I'm going without anything. I never feel like I'm starving. My blood pressure has become normal, and I've broken out of the obese category, and I'm in the middle of the overweight category of the BMI.
    The people on here are incredibly supportive. We are all in this together, and people are there for you when you need them. When I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, people helped me with recipe ideas that are gluten/wheat free. If you plateau, people encourage you to keep going.
    I don't think of this site as a diet site. It's a lifestyle change site.
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    Because I am strongly against diet food restrictions. I strongly believe, for me, that is not about reducing my complex carbohydrates, reducing my artificial corn syrup, removing all processed food, nonorganic foods are the devil, etc. For me, its a number game, keeping my calories burned higher than my calories consumed. So if I want pizza, ill get pizza. If I want sushi, ill get sushi. Its just about monitoring the quantity
  • skinnyme47
    skinnyme47 Posts: 802 Member
    I guess My Fitness Pal because it works. It not only tracks calories, but also sodium among other things. You have people that are going through weight loss problems also. You can ask what works. When you make friends on this site it really helps to motivate you and you can do this at your own pace. Just log in everything, everyday, good or bad. It also helps to open your diary to your MFP "friends". Good luck with your journey. :smile:
  • jresh
    jresh Posts: 7 Member
    Why My Fitness Pal?? Because keeping a food diary makes me painfully aware of how many calories I was eating! This great tool has gotten me back on track! Thank you!!
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
    Well I've been on many diets but MFP just has too much to offer. I was trying to find something my husband would use and this was it, me too of course. But now I love it, especially the recipes function. I can use it to figure out of a recipe is ok or not. I used to fall off my diet because I got tired of the hours of looking up dietary data on everything and then figuring out my daily totals. MFP takes all that guesswork out of dieting and made it easy for a very busy person to diet and get it all done :love:
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    Simple. This #*@^ WORKS!
  • Newf77
    Newf77 Posts: 802 Member
    MFP makes it simple to track what you are putting in your body and the efforts you exert to burn those calories. You are able to look back over the day and see where you might have over indulged on fun sized candy bars. You need to put in the effort of be honest with yourself and log what you are eating but MFP makes it easier to accomplish. As compared to WeightWatchers {I think I just vomited a little in my mouth}, walking in to a meeting and stepping onto a scale made me feel more like a slab of beef than a person, they were more focused on a number and did not take into account the fitness. My Fitness Pal accounts for fitness; here they are not just focused on the weight number. As you can tell from your post there are a wide range of opinions out there and you will find somebody who is close to your experiences and you can support each other.
  • 519harley
    519harley Posts: 241 Member
    I agree with this!:flowerforyou:
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I like tracking my food and exercise and this is a great tool that I can use anywhere.
  • i_love_vinegar
    i_love_vinegar Posts: 2,092 Member
    i love it because of my awesome friends i have made here who i can support, and who support me.

    i love it because it is a good distraction from food, although addictive.

    i love it because i have lost weight with it. :smile:
  • ProudDaddy
    ProudDaddy Posts: 80 Member
    Its different because you have the same types of people on the same boat that you are..We are all different but we have 1 thing in common. We are trying to better ourselves, for whatever reason..You will recieve support and encouragement from the friends you pick. it keeps track for you, you just input the info. Its an awsome site if your trying to lose 10 pounds or 110 pounds.. Feel free to add me as a friend if you like.. I hope you reach your goal
  • JoJo1953
    JoJo1953 Posts: 182 Member
    I love that I can eat whatever I want as long as I'm mindful of how it adds up. No one is telling me 'don't eat this' or 'don't eat that', but logging my foods has motivated me to improve my choices anyway, w/o any program rules telling me I have to do it like its a homework assignment. LOL. Plus it works. If you put in all your info correctly and do what MFP suggests, you get results w/o starving yourself or feeling limited in what you're allowed to do.
    ^^^^^ This

    I totally agree and that's why I love this site. It is also great for maintaining your weight loss, which is what I am doing now.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    we could all go on and on, but just look at the tickers: the proof is in the numbers.





    VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV see?
  • Roni_M
    Roni_M Posts: 717 Member
    Well I am new and love this place for all the reasons already mentioned (real food, support, friends, etc).

    I also love the fact that if at lunch I mess up and have a Big Mac, no one is telling me how I'm sabotaging myself and making me feel horrible about it! I just eat a lower calorie dinner and get some extra exercise in and I'm good to go...still right on track!

    It's simple math...burn more than you take in, and try to keep your intake around the daily nutrient values!
  • SarabellPlus3
    SarabellPlus3 Posts: 496 Member
    I'm not a believer in doing something short-term. I have friends who do shakes, or eat grapefruit instead of food, and I just wonder-- are they going to replace food with this stuff forever? No thanks, I think that's kind of silly.

    I downloaded the droid app to keep track of what I'm eating, and how much I'm working out, as well as any WL progress. I used it for a while like that, now I use the app as well as the boards. The boards are great for info, though you have to cycle through a lot of blathering and bullying and other nonsense.

    In a nutshell, it works, short-term and long.
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