MyFitnessPal Guide
MYFITNESSPAL
MyFitnessPal is a calorie and macro application with an enormous database of foods. It is the most effective tool to use to track you calories and see change in your body composition. I would track in the application, but still input your daily numbers into the Powherful Journal so you can easily reflect on them.
Set up Myfitnesspal by downloading the app and following the prompts. Set up with the maintenance calories the app recommends and you can change them based on the next section.
Now you can alter your calorie and macro goals. Myfitnesspal often underestimates if your goal is fat loss so I would recommend getting an estimate from a website such as https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator to start with. This is a great estimator for daily recommended calories, depending on your goal.
For maintenance, eat at your maintenance calories, with a ballpark of around 200 calories.
For fat loss, eat at a 10-15% deficit
For muscle gain eat at a 10-15% surplus.
To change your calorie goals in the app go to More>Goals>Calorie, Carbs, Protein and Fat Goals>Change the calories and tweak the percentage to be similar to your calculation. I usually do 40% carbs, 30% Protein, 30% Fats.
Stick with your calorie target for your goal until your next check in, then see if you have made progress towards your goal. You will have to redo the calculation if your weight or lifestyle changes or if you choose to go for a new goal.
TRACKING
The key to success on MyFitnessPal is consistent tracking. There are a few things to keep in mind when tracking on MyFitnessPal:
The more you track, the more likely you are to reach your goals.
Tracking gets easier the more you do it.
It’s always better to track something versus nothing at all.
You can build the habit of tracking by logging one meal at a time.
When you can’t find an exact match for what you want to track, pick something similar.
As you track, you’ll learn about your eating habits and how to make healthier choices. It is the perfect way to eat flexibly and sustainably and still hit your targets to achieve your goals.
The key is to weight out your food on a food scale.
To understand why we are tracking calories and macronutrients, we must also understand what they are.
CALORIES
A Calorie is a unit of energy. Calories are the best way to change your body composition. In the simplest form, you must eat less calories than you eat to reduce your body fat, eat at maintenance to maintain your weight or eat in a surplus to gain muscle and weight.
In Australia we technically use kilojoules, but I find the calorie is more universally understood. A Calorie is the amount of energy it takes to boil water one degree. All food has a caloric content that can be measured and is tracked.
Daily calories are needed to keep you alive, for respiration, body function and completing daily activity and exercise. Knowing your daily intake is important to make sure you are eating enough to give your body energy and to support healthy body processes. And also important to make sure you are not overeating which will cause unnecessary weight gain that can have health implications.
If you are wondering why it is necessary to know about calories it is very important to understand that, at the end of the day, body fat stores and building muscle is affected greatly by the basic equation of energy in and energy out. To maintain your current weight your energy in = energy out. To lose body fat your energy in < energy out. If you want to gain muscle and size your energy in > energy out.
While this is very simplified and not absolute (ie you can't just keep eating less and losing more body fat due to hormones), you must have a ballpark target and measured figures to be able to understand how much to eat, how it is affecting your body and what is balanced for you. This will get you familiar with how much food your body needs to function and to achieve your goals.
Firstly your body needs a basal amount of calories to stay alive. This is called your Basal metabolic Rate and this is what your body would burn at rest all day. Then on top of that, you need daily calories to sustain daily activity and extra exercise on top of that.
It is important to note that different factors change how much your body burns per day. If you have more muscle mass, you are recovering or growing you will burn more calories at rest. If you have a hormonal imbalance such as insulin resistance or hypothyroidism or have chronically dieted on low calories for a long time unfortunately that can slow your metabolism down. When this food is ingested many factors come into play such as fibre, digestive health and hormones that affect the final caloric value.
However it is always best to track and measure your food so you KNOW what you have been eating and how it is affecting your body so that you can register how it is changing your body, how your energy is and what works best for you.
Your caloric intake can be manipulated to achieve your goals, whether it be fat loss, muscle gain, or maintenance. For a good estimate of your recommended daily calories head to the guide at https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator and click the “high protein” option at the end.
MACRONUTRIENTS
All food is made of three macronutrients: fat, protein, and carbohydrate.
Each is important in the body, and any diet that aims to eliminate or minimize one will be unsustainable long-term. An optimum balance of overall intake and balance of macronutrients will vary from person to person depending on factors such as hormone status, gender, age, dieting history, and activity levels.
Each macronutrient is very important for different roles in the body, so I do not encourage diets that cut them out!
PROTEIN
4 calories per gram
15-30% of daily intake or 1-2g/ kilo of body weight
Growth (especially important for children, teens, and pregnant women)
Tissue repair
Immune function
Making essential hormones and enzymes
Energy when carbohydrate is not available
Preserving lean muscle mass
FATS
9 Calories per gram
25-30% of daily intake or 0.6-1.5/kilo of body weight
Normal growth and development
Energy (fat is the most concentrated source of energy)
Absorbing certain vitamins ( like vitamins A, D, E, K)
Providing cushioning for the organs
Maintaining cell membranes
CARBOHYDRATE
4 calories per gram
50 - 65% of daily intake or to add up to daily calorie intake.
The body’s main source of fuel.
Easily used by the body for energy.
All tissues and cells in our body can use glucose (the smallest form of carbohydrate) for energy.
Needed for the central nervous system, the kidneys, the brain, the muscles (including the heart) to function properly.
Can be stored in the muscles and liver and later used for energy.
Important in intestinal health and waste elimination.
MICROS/WATER/FIBRE
Although macronutrients are very important they are not the only things that we need for survival. Our bodies also need water (at least 8 glasses a day), fibre and micronutrients. Micronutrients are nutrients that our bodies need in smaller amounts, and include vitamins and minerals. Eating a variety of whole foods including vegetables, fruits, lean meats, healthy fats, legumes, and whole grains should support most micronutrient needs. Seek advice from your medical professional if you feel you may have a deficiency.