MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal
If you’re struggling with your weight, either with gaining or losing weight, you should start tracking your food. Most people don’t have any idea how many calories they’re consuming and aren’t very good at estimating how many calories are in different foods. This can result in eating too much without realising.
Having clients track their food makes a massive difference for a personal trainer. It’s very hard to help a client with it if they won’t track their food, as I would just be guessing how many calories they need, and the client is just guessing how many calories they are eating. Most people will achieve better results if they track their food.
I always recommend MyFitnessPal. It’s on the AppStore and Android and is free. It has a huge database containing almost any item of food you can buy from supermarkets, takeaways and mainstream restaurants. It saves food you’ve previously eaten, so the longer you use it, the easier it is to use. You can even scan pre-made products barcode, and it’ll add the food into your diary for that day. It’s very, very simple to use, and takes less than a minute after each meal. These apps have improved so much in recent years. You can add friends and your personal trainer, so you can see each other’s diary and support each other. The app will do all the calculate how many calories you’ve consumed for you, and if you hit your target. It also will track your protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
Having clients track their food makes a massive difference for a personal trainer. It’s very hard to help a client with it if they won’t track their food, as I would just be guessing how many calories they need, and the client is just guessing how many calories they are eating. Most people will achieve better results if they track their food.
I always recommend MyFitnessPal. It’s on the AppStore and Android and is free. It has a huge database containing almost any item of food you can buy from supermarkets, takeaways and mainstream restaurants. It saves food you’ve previously eaten, so the longer you use it, the easier it is to use. You can even scan pre-made products barcode, and it’ll add the food into your diary for that day. It’s very, very simple to use, and takes less than a minute after each meal. These apps have improved so much in recent years. You can add friends and your personal trainer, so you can see each other’s diary and support each other. The app will do all the calculate how many calories you’ve consumed for you, and if you hit your target. It also will track your protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
Common Mistakes When Tracking our Food
Not tracking everything
So many people miss things out thinking it doesn’t matter. That orange juice you had, 120 calories. The two beers at night you didn’t track, another 420 calories. This could put you over your target by 640 over your target, and will explain why you’re not losing weight. Make sure you track everything that you eat, or drink.
Are you tracking the travel sweets you have in the car?
What about tracking calories from drinks?
Are you tracking the food you finish off kid’s or partner’s plates?
Are you tracking stuff you eat on the move?
Don’t miss something out because you feel guilty and don’t want your personal trainer to see it. I don’t expect you to be perfect, and I won’t ban you from eating anything. I will know if you’re not tracking everything anyway, and It makes it impossible to do my job and help you, and you won’t get the results you want, and will just be wasting your money.
Waiting Until The End of the Day to Log Everything
Don’t wait until the end of the day to record everything. Our memories aren’t that good, and the chances are it will be inaccurate. Log everything straight away.
Giving up once you make a mistake
Don’t stop tracking just because you’ve not eaten well one morning. You won’t eat perfectly all the time, and you shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to. You’ll learn how many calories are in junk food, and how you can get away with slipping up occasionally. Don’t make it worse by throwing the whole day, or week away. Get back on track straight away.
Eyeballing instead of weighing what you eat
If you’re just guessing how much of each food you track will be very inaccurate, defeating the whole point of tracking your food. Try and keep what you record to be as accurate as you can.
You might seem like a lot of work when you’re about to start tracking, but the MyFitnessPal app is so simply to use, it only takes around 5 minutes in total for the whole day.
It will be worth it when you start achieving the results you want
So many people miss things out thinking it doesn’t matter. That orange juice you had, 120 calories. The two beers at night you didn’t track, another 420 calories. This could put you over your target by 640 over your target, and will explain why you’re not losing weight. Make sure you track everything that you eat, or drink.
Are you tracking the travel sweets you have in the car?
What about tracking calories from drinks?
Are you tracking the food you finish off kid’s or partner’s plates?
Are you tracking stuff you eat on the move?
Don’t miss something out because you feel guilty and don’t want your personal trainer to see it. I don’t expect you to be perfect, and I won’t ban you from eating anything. I will know if you’re not tracking everything anyway, and It makes it impossible to do my job and help you, and you won’t get the results you want, and will just be wasting your money.
Waiting Until The End of the Day to Log Everything
Don’t wait until the end of the day to record everything. Our memories aren’t that good, and the chances are it will be inaccurate. Log everything straight away.
Giving up once you make a mistake
Don’t stop tracking just because you’ve not eaten well one morning. You won’t eat perfectly all the time, and you shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to. You’ll learn how many calories are in junk food, and how you can get away with slipping up occasionally. Don’t make it worse by throwing the whole day, or week away. Get back on track straight away.
Eyeballing instead of weighing what you eat
If you’re just guessing how much of each food you track will be very inaccurate, defeating the whole point of tracking your food. Try and keep what you record to be as accurate as you can.
You might seem like a lot of work when you’re about to start tracking, but the MyFitnessPal app is so simply to use, it only takes around 5 minutes in total for the whole day.
It will be worth it when you start achieving the results you want