Pal to all my weightloss clients. Many of you have had great success. In fact
Pat who lost 107lbs used it faithfully with her fitness program. So I thought
to myself, perhaps I should actually use this app myself to be able to explain
to my clients/friends how to use it in the event they have difficulty. I
downloaded the FREE APP and was ready to go.
First thing I found was that it was very user friendly and actually kind of fun!
The app allows you to enter all the food you ate for the day and calculates
calories, fat, protein, carbs etc for you. They have a "search" section to type
in the food you ate. For instance, I ate an egg and cheese on a wheat bagel
from Dunkin Donuts. I typed Dunkin Donuts egg and cheese on wheat bagel and
poof there it was along with a list of similar Dunkin Donuts food! It also has
a really cool feature where you can just scan the bar code of the food you ate
and all the information is entered for you! You can also enter in the cardio and
strength training workouts you've completed and it will subtract calories for
you! And get this, My Fitness Pal will also let you connect with friends using
the program to update each other on progress etc.
So... after I entered all my information as it prompted me, I discovered at a
weight of 217lb and I wanted to weigh 230lb (Yes I want to gain weight). The
app gave me a target of 3220 calories each day to reach my goal weight in three
months. I thought to myself, there's no way I'm going to be able to consume
that many calories in one day... I'm going to be force feeding myself all day!
The first day was Sunday May 26th. I added the foods I ate (which I didn't not
alter from my normal eating pattern) and was blown away by the numbers!!!! I
thought I ate generally healthy. I love pizza and always eat cheese pizza. I
found one slice of Dominos cheese pizza has a whopping 380 calories! I had five
slices!!!! Then I also ate a pasta primervera bread bowl from dominos... 1340
calories!!!!! Dinner alone I ate 3240 calories! I hit my daily goal in just one
meal! My total caloric intake for the first day using the app was a staggering
4870 calories! I thought to myself, "Holy Crap... I ate almost 5000 calories in
one day... I'm a pig!" I ate what I generally eat in any given day. I thought I
generally ate well with a cheat meal here and there. This app really opened my
eyes to just how many calories there really are in the food I eat daily. I also
realized I drank a lot of diet coke and coffee! I have since seen the error of
my ways and now am aiming to drink a gallon of water a day (so if you see me
walking around the gym with a gallon of water, you'll know what I'm up to), and
also noticed I don't consume any real fruit! I shared this information with Pat
who's response was "Well... Duhhhhh." ha ha.
I'm pleased to announce since the first day, my calories, protein, carbs and
fats are more in line with my goals and other than having to "pee" a lot from
all the water, I am starting to feel better as well!
Do yourself a favour and download the app on your phone, tablet or computer. I
know this sounds like an infomercial but I was blown away at my nutrient intake.
And, now that I'm recording everything that I consume, I'm less likely to eat as
much junk because I don't want it showing up on my reports it gives!
I encourage you to try the free app yourself. It's free and easy to use. Even
if you use it for just one week, you may be surprised at how many or few
calories you consume and may also find the reason you may be struggling with
your weightloss goals.