My Fitness Pal

[rromeo923]

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/mobile/

This is a great app. I have lost 5 lbs in just over two weeks. It is a calorie counter and more. It is very interesting to see what foods are high in calories and how quickly these can add up.

Basically you put in your stats (age, weight etc), then put in your target weight and then it tells you how many calories a day you can eat so you will meet yourgoals. You can also enter exercise which can burn calories and then allow you to eat more that day.

In two weeks I have changed my eating habits and I don't think I will ever go back. I haven't been starving myself at all and actually feel like I am eating plenty. It has also made me drink less as alcohol has a good amount of calories.

In addition it tracks your daily nutrition goals ie. (Vit A,B,C, Potassium, carbs etc)
You can scan in any upc label and it will upload all the info.

Very useful and free app.

If anyone here wants to start using and add me as a friend (makes it more fun and effective), my username is the same rromeo923

[mantis]

I got it , its a nice tool to help. Keep up the good work.

[Upstatemax]

I've been using for a about a month as well, great app.

I have also changed how I eat and stay active.

Lost about 7lbs and I feel a lot better. I have not been "tracking" things for about a week and I need to get back to it!

Made me realize really fast that even things I thought were ok we're not at all.

[mantis]

If you guys really want to take it to the next level , check out beyond diet podcast in the iTunes store. Keith Kline is an amazing human being and has changed my life forever. You would believe what good information can do for your health.

[mdaudioguy]

Rick - I've been using this since the day you posted it - 2 weeks now. I'm practically addicted! Even though I'd been trying to watch what I eat for a few months prior, and have been working out pretty regularly, too, this has really helped me become more aware. Love the UPC scanner for simplicity. It gets tougher when something is not exactly in the database, but I guess a good estimate is better than not tracking it at all!

Drink less, or drink more Michelob Ultra...

Thanks for turning me on to this!! So how are you doing with it?

Ed

[rromeo923]

Ed,

Great to hear it. It really is an awesome tool!

I am doing well with it. Unfortunately I cracked two ribs the other day so I am not able to exercise (which sucks!) which is hurting my calories. Other than that I am eating more healthy than ever and like you said drinking less, or more Yuengling Lights here.

Rick

[Glowrdr]

Downloaded now. Thanks for the tip!

[cnh]

Looks like an interesting ap. But you all do know that most of us probably already know what we should be eating...it's not rocket science.

Hungry? Get out the vegetables and some fruit till that goes away and drink a lot of water with that. Unfortunately, we do NOT live in a society where such a diet is natural (pun intended) or easy. To adhere to such a diet you'd have to shop almost every day for fresh produce and who has the time for that? Most other foods are OK in "moderation". Portion control is key. If it looks like too much, it IS! Want to see how to eat; watch a thin elderly man and see how much he eats at a sitting. As you age, man, the metabolism slooowws done fantastically to the point where if you have a piece of whole wheat toast, a banana and orange juice and coffee for breakfast, well, maybe you ate TOO MUCH! lol

The battle of the bulge is almost impossible to win unless you have "phenomenal" genetics and just never gain weight!

cnh

[Toxis]

I have a buddy at work who was up to 260 and he downloaded this app. After tracking his meals and started running damn near daily, he ended up losing 90lbs in 10 months. He looks a ton better, and almost too skinny since we were used to him being bigger. I downloaded the app but never really used it for quite a while. Then one day I was thinking about it and everyone has the "I really should lose some weight" thought here and there. This was the day I realized that I'm too OK with being fat. Yes I'm a confident person, happy with who I am and never had an issue with it. Talk about being an American. Did I just think that I'm OK with being fat?? I also started mountain biking too as a hobby, not as a weight loss tool not long before that day. When that crossed my brain, I changed my clothes and hit a paved trail to get some cardio (which has tremendously helped my trail riding too!). Then when I tracked my food for that day and my exercise, I realized how the app works. Since that day I haven't missed tracking a meal. Almost 3 months later (just hit 85 days consecutive of signing in), I am down 34lbs and feel great. People are noticing that I'm losing weight and my clothes are fitting MUCH more loosely. I'm fitting in shirts that almost looked painted on and now they're comfortable. Another 10lbs and I'll probably have to buy new work pants! So now I have a goal, started training for some mountain bike races and now I've become "that guy" who only talks about riding, eating and weight loss. I'm also starting to take vitamins and supplements a lot more. Luckily my brother is a fitness and health guru to help me with this, as well as gets me a discount on Advocare products. I find myself researching nutrition online and keep altering my eating which helps with loss as well. A couple weeks ago I was talking to my step mom who told me she had a plan to lose some weight by mid December for an England trip they're taking. "They already think Americans are loud and fat. I'm already loud, I can't be fat too!" Hilarious. So she said she wanted to lose 50lbs by then. I was hoping to be at about another 40lbs by then (somewhere about 70-75lbs total) so I said I'll push it to 50 and make it a competition. We are WAY too competitive to not want to compete and win against each other. So now we are friends on MFP and are watching each other every single day. She's about a pound up on me now but I did hit a 10 day plateau that I finally broke. And it continues...

So anyone looking for a way to lose weight, change their lifestyle and reach their goals, I highly recommend My Fitness Pal. It's helped me. At 5'3.5", I hit 240lbs. This morning, hit 206. Not bad for such a small time frame!

[mdaudioguy]

^^^^^ Great story Toxis! I can't believe what I've learned about myself and my habits that I didn't already know. My story is similar, although I had actually lost a good bit just prior to using this app. However, I was worried that my loss wasn't sustainable. Now that I've been using the app daily for five weeks, I no longer have that worry. It's not for everybody - you've gotta want to do this. But, if you want it bad enough, and are willing to be honest with yourself and are determined to reach your goals, this app sure can be an excellent tool.

[Toxis]

Anyone still using MFP and having success? I'm like a whole new person! I'm over 200 days of continuous checking in and am now down 63lbs! I look and feel great. I have another 11 before I win the competition with my step mom (story in post above) and I'm whooping her ass now. Haha. So once I get about 17 more down, I'll be at 160lbs and then I'll just want to maintain weight. It'll then transform into building muscle and toning up. They say 80% of getting cut muscles is dieting so I'm already used to watching every meal...

So yeah, anyone else looking and feeling amazing?

[F1nut]

I'll be at 160lbs

I'd be nothing but skin and bones at that weight.

[jeremymarcinko]

The battle of the bulge is almost impossible to win unless you have "phenomenal" genetics and just never gain weight!

cnh

Hard work and dedication trumps genetics everytime.

Keep up the great work guys, You will reach your fitness goals. Consistency is key, most diets work, most training programs work. You just have to keep doing it, dont quit. Check out www.bodybuilding.com tons of information there regarding training, nutrition and motivation.

[joeparaski]

I hope you took some "before" pictures as a reminder. Hey, why don't you post your before and after pictures here?

[Toxis]

For me only obviously, I have pictures of me without a shirt to see the progression but my first photos/before shots were deleted accidentally so my first photos were already down 20lbs and then every 20 I take more pictures. The only other photos I have are at functions with some face shots here and there. I might upload them at some point. Can't do so easily from my iPad.

[joeparaski]

For me only obviously, I have pictures of me without a shirt to see the progression but my first photos/before shots were deleted accidentally so my first photos were already down 20lbs and then every 20 I take more pictures. The only other photos I have are at functions with some face shots here and there. I might upload them at some point. Can't do so easily from my iPad.

That's cool. Keep up the good work. I too did a transformation of sorts recently by entering a body transformation competition. It was 98 days. I was never a big guy to start with but I still wanted to get in the best possible shape I could. I logged all my measurements weekly. I started out at 16.5% body fat and brought it down to 8.04% by day 98 and lost 14.16 pounds of fat. Needless to say that my before and after pictures look quite different.