I haven’t always been super health conscious. Before I started my fitness journey, I didn’t really care about my nutrition or cardiovascular strength; I was only worried about the number on the scale, how big my thighs were or what size jeans I was fitting in to.

I knew that I wanted to lose weight, but I didn’t just want to be thin. I wanted to be healthy… I knew that meant balancing a healthy diet and exercise, but that can all seem very daunting to a beginner who is still purchasing their first sports bra.

This is where MyFitnessPal changed everything for me.

There were so many diets, weight-loss pills, exercise machines, “wonder-fruits” and other magical remedies that were supposed to make me drop thirty pounds in one month.

MyFitnessPal was Different

It wasn’t like the crazy diets or celebrity work out plans that I had previously trying, but instead offered a more personalized approach to my weight-loss problem.

MyFitnessPal took height and weight into consideration
When calculating the ideal amount of calories to consume in a day MyFitnessPal also inquires about the amount of moving done in a day on a scale between highly-active to highly-sedentary. The app calculates the amount of calories that you should be consuming on an average day based on the predetermined weight-loss goals of the user. 

They Count My Calories For Me

Easily one of the hardest things about eating healthy, for me,  is portion control. Before I started using MyFitnessPal, I couldn’t be bothered to count calories in my head and didn’t know whether or not what I was eating was sufficient unless I was full.

MyFitnessPal counts the calories of the food for me and takes into account the amount of calories I need to consume based on the amount I exercise during that day. It even breaks down the quality of food I eat based on it’s nutritional value. 

This was huge for me, and allowed to better understand how many calories my body actually needed, and helped me realize how much food I was consuming that was actually unnecessary.

MyFitnessPal Offered a Community

This community aspect also played a huge role in my personal fitness journey. MyFitnessPal offered a unique option to connect to other apps, and other users who also had weight loss goals. Forums upon forums of people who were looking for support, tips, recipes, and even more forums filled with others offering up the wanted advice.

A community of thousands who were just as passionate as I was about losing weight who were all there to support all of us who were just getting started and looking for motivation.

Not to Mention the Daily Blog Posts

Everyday there were new and interesting articles posted by likeminded bloggers about all sorts of topics health and fitness related, including everything from the “Benefits of Yoga”, to reasons why you lose more weight the less you stress, there was always something for me to learn and plenty to scroll through.

It turned logging my food and exercise into an experience and activity; not a chore.

I can say that since I began using this app in 2012 I have successfully lost 22 pounds. I’m sure I would have been able to do it without MyFitnessPal… But I know that it certainly wouldn’t have been as manageable without something like MyFitnessPal keeping me on track.