Null66

Please post your impressions...
Are there food and activity calorie estimates reasonably close? Are their daily targets roughly right?

Originally, my goal was just as a food log while trying to maintain a non judgmental "it is what it is" attitude. But I seem to have started attending to their calorie and such targets...

scrming

I'm currently using the myfitnesspal app and using it pretty successfully...

I would say the food information is good.

However for me the activity calorie count for things like cycling appear to be way to generous... seems most apps, like mapmyride, seem to give you too way much credit for calories burned. For activity calories i use the numbers from my HR monitor which are a lot lower than the apps.

Overall though i view myfitnesspal as a really good tool

bassjones

Use it every day. The food calories are spot on, BUT you really need to weigh and measure your food instead of guesstimating. 10% either way, all day long, could leave you well over your caloric goals and you'd think you were spot on. The calories burned numbers are WAY too high, so I just ignore them and go with my HR monitor.

IBOHUNT

I'll agree with the food calorie counts and like the fact I can scan bar codes.
What I find is the #EpicFail (How you like that @Black wallnut) is that it will use the calorie count from my Garmin and not the kJ. That could be substantial depending on how hard and how long I ride; e.g.: ~500 difference last night for a 2 hour spin. YMMV

Null66

Thanks guys.

My intention with my new monitoring activities is to mostly establish a baseline, though in a nod to Heisenberg, I can't help but make some changes... I find that just recording changes what I do regardless of intent.

I don't know if this makes sense. But looking for long term type changes, so using "quality" type principles from work. First determine goals, baseline current state, introduce tools, measure, set targets, rinse repeat...

I kept my weight (253) stable, even during an injury induced 2 month layoff. I need to knock down BP (diastolic), but react badly to various drugs so far... Need to get back to commuting once weekly (50 mile ~2k ft climb rt) I also want to complete within time limits the local 200k in April. It has about 7800 feet of climb.

So in general, I have short term goals of dropping 13lbs, improving fitness, and most importantly not re-injure ankle... Not tying goals to tools until at least end of month.

I understand that estimating quantities is gonna be way off, and likely to be very optimistic!
Mostly using it as a rough food log. But the other features are enticing. I eat a lot of fruit and nuts, so quantities are really rough.

Interestingly I've found that there's WAY more calories in several foods (such as my cream and sugar coffee). So I'm making a few changes... like sweetening with xylo something and no 1/2 and 1/2... Though today tried a bit 2% milk (recorded a cup, but likely 1/2, if that)...

Calorie estimates.
Well, my Garmin 500 with hear monitor (wahoo Tikr) is way off.
For a 25 mile ride (admittedly, I'm god awful slow reads as 25 calories). So not using calorie expended estimates, as I presume the calories from "steps" recorded by vivosmart is way too high...

jefft72

It's a tool that can help you towards your goal.

I used it several years ago with success to go from 200 to 170, which I have been able to maintain. The app helps to retrain your brain to know what proper portion size looks like and the impact of having an unhealthy snack during the day. When I was using the app I was not actively exercising and simply using calorie deficit to reach my goals.

I certainly recommend the app as it makes the menial tasks of calorie counting to dang easy. But you have to put in some work to keep your diet interesting. There is only so much salad and chicken breast that you can eat and you will want variety. Having someone along for the ride that buys into what you are doing will help a ton.

Good Luck!

Judi

I use SparkPeople, which is pretty similar to MFP. The food calorie counts are accurate. The exercise calories burned doesn't seem as accurate. I use Google's My Tracks when I ride, and I use the calories burned that it shows based on my weight and actual riding speed, which is usually lower than what Spark estimates. I use the machine readout on the elliptical, which is usually much higher than Spark's estimate because I use the more difficult programs on the machine.

I think the activity calorie estimates are only important if you're eating back part of your exercise calories, but if you exercise too much and don't eat some extra calories to compensate, then it can stall or really slow your weight loss. I've had months where I only lost 2lbs, and then when I cut back on exercise or eat a little more, I go back to losing a little faster.

spdracr39

I like all those apps but when I was in weight loss mode I did not use my excersicse calories to eat more I just used them to lose faster so I didn't care if they were accurate. I have not found any app that doesn't exaggerate calories burned.

Jarrett2

I started using LoseIt (similar to MyFitnessPal) on April 1, 2013 and lost around 150 lbs. following its advice.

In September 2014, I bought a Garmin Edge 1000 and it syncs with Garmin Connect which also syncs with MyFitnessPal. At that point, I switched over to using my MyFitnessPal because it syncs with Garmin Connect. So I could do a bike ride or go to the gym wearing a Vivofit and heart rate monitor and when I got done, my heart rate derived calorie burn would automatically sync into MyFitnessPal. I found this to be a lot more accurate that than telling LoseIt what exercise I had done and taking its estimate.

All of that let me dial in my calories in/out even more so I didn't have to starve to as much to lose weight. Because of that I like using the Garmin products with MyFitnessPal.

But either MyFitnessPal or LoseIt will work if you follow the plan and track daily.

gjhsu

I can't seem to stick with myfitnesspal. Mostly because I do try and cook a lot, and inputting recipes is a pain (universal for any calorie counting app, I think).

Jarrett2

I feel ok about my Garmin Edge calorie estimations. Last night I did a 27.5 mile ride at 15.5 mph with an average heart rate of 130 with an elapsed time of 1:46:37 and it estimated me at 1,244 calories. Strava estimated the same ride at 982 calories. Somewhere between 1000-1200 sounds about right. Despite that I was only a couple hundred over on my intake yesterday meaning I was 800-1000 calories under on my net yesterday, so of course I showed a loss on the scale this morning.

I never try to hit net zero, I always shoot a few hundred into the negative if I want to lose weight that week.

Jarrett2

I cook as well. A lot of the things I cook come out of a package that has a bar code. So I scan it into MyFitnessPal. Then combine the measured ingredients into a saved meal in MyFitnessPal one time. Then as long as I follow that recipe, I can add the same (saved) meal to my daily intake over and over. Easy to do once you have saved it one time.

For example, I'm about to make an egg white omelette. I do the same each time. And each time I eat it, I add my egg white omlette saved meal into MyFitnessPal. Makes it really easy to do.

dr_lha

My problem is that I just can't see it working in my use case: in our house we cook using fresh ingredients and don't follow recipes, just do things by memory and/or what is in the fridge. I certainly don't weigh and measure ingredients that are going into the saucepan or onto the plate. That would get irritating pretty damn quickly, and I guarantee I would stop bothering after a few days.

It's OK though, because eating the same amount of food as I always have, but adding on top of that an hour+ of cycling/training per day has resulted in weight loss. We'll see how things go for the rest of the year if I actually have to start "dieting" as well to continue the progress.

ray.garza

I like the app and the ability to look up the menu at restaurants to find out what I can eat or stay away from. Where I have problem is the home cooked meals. I get home and there is food that was cooked. I have no idea what was put into it other than the obvious. It's those hidden items that pack the calorie/sugar/salt punch that I can't account for.

TrojanHorse

Not for me - I have strava synced with MFP and it takes the calories from strava (which are directly related to the power I used) and syncs that with MFP. The baseline calories burned from MFP are always significantly higher than what my power meter tells me I burned.

Yeah, sometimes you just have to wing it. If I monitor my eating, even imperfectly, I'll lose wait or maintain it. My wife made wonton soup last night and I have NO idea what she put in it, other than a bunch of veggies and some wontons. I just found some wonton soup in the list and gave myself a little more than I thought I had. As a rule, I try to miss my daily calorie target by 200+, and if I exercise, I will try not to eat back what I burned.

Frankly, I think that's going to be as good as it gets for me, unless I start eating nothing but packaged food. I do the same thing Jarrett2 does with the pre-fab breakfast and lunches. I frequently eat the same thing, so I take time to get those right and hope for the best with dinner.

Judi

I put my recipes in once and then save them as favorite meals, which makes it easier. The first time I cook something, putting the recipe in is a pain. I don't have trouble estimating fresh ingredients, but I keep meaning to buy a kitchen scale to make things more accurate.

I'm diabetic which I think has made me more motivated to stick with calorie counting, because I really need to count my carbs. When I tried to track my food before my diabetes diagnosis, I could never stick with it very long. This time, I've been tracking daily since Feb 2014 and have lost 180lbs. After a certain point, the weight loss itself becomes motivating enough to keep you going. I think I'll be counting my calories for the rest of my life, probably.

ray.garza

Great job!

ray.garza

I should start it up again. There can be a lot of guessing and sometimes you can be way off. Overall, it's good to do a food diary of some sort.

nymtber

Been using MFP for year straight now (used it on and off before that) and I've lost nearly 50lbs.

It works. Don't make up for the calculated "burned" calories, though I usually end every day with 4-900 calories left to eat, which includes the exercise I've done.

If nothing else, it keeps me from eating too much.

TrojanHorse

Wow, great job! And I quoted this part because I think for most of us here, that's just the way it's going to be. It gets just a little bit harder every year too.

You know, when I get on enough of a roll and thing I'm good and stop counting... well, you know how that story is going to end. My weight doesn't fluctuate by that much (currently at 225, have been as high as 245 and as low as 211) but every year I didn't pay attention that high number got higher. It's all lying to myself too - pretending I'm just "big boned" or that this extra bag of chips won't matter. Ugh. Everything matters.

Jarrett2

Wow, 180 lbs in less than a year. That's amazing!

I'm hoping to reach that amount lost this year. Possibly next.

TerraCottaGamer

I use MFP and absolutely love it.

The caloric counts are dead on - usually. When you scan bar codes and such it is perfect. But with any app....you get out what you put in. Meaning, don't 'guess-tamate'. Be precise with what you do. Scan bar codes whenever possible and enter recipes if making food at home. When you enter or search for food make sure you are entering the right amounts and serving sizes. If you are serious about watching what you eat then you will take the time to be precise and truly, a week or so in and it gets easier and quicker.

Regarding the exercise part, I link MFP with Strava. By all measures a biker riding 10-12 mph will burn 12 calories a minute. So a 30 minute ride will yield about 600 calories burned. Of course the small guys burn less than us Clydes but the totals are remarkably close.

Bottom Line: MFP is a tool. A great tool that when used properly can be extremely helpful to weight loss. But it is not the be all end all, nor is it a 1 stop shop for all things fitness related. Basically, it is a lot like your bike. If you use it right and are consistent in its use, it will help you lose weight. If it sits in the corner and never gets used, or used only sparingly - it will do nothing for you.

READ ON (AT YOUR OWN RISK) FOR MORE BORING INFO ON HOW THE APP WORKS.

The suggested amounts are totally based on 2 factors: your current weight and the number of pounds you wish to lose per week (max entry is 2 as this is the safe zone recommended by doctors).
Therefore it is basic math that works like this:
1. 1 pound = 3500 calories
2. A 300 pound guy needs roughly 3500 calories intake per day to maintain weight.
3. So a 2 pound weight lose in 1 weeks means there must be a 7000 calorie deficiency.
4. The suggested target will then be around 2500 calories per day.
5. MFP presents the target calories + exercise - intake.

While the basic formula is, well.....basic. There is really a lot more to understand to make it work in your favor as not all calories are created equal. For instance, 100 calories found in 1 apple is way better for you, your metabolism and much more, than 100 calorie candy bar. So eating the right things is also very important. MFP really doesn't help with that much except in the nutrition window. A nice graph is presented that tries to help you keep your carbs/protein/fat intake all balanced.

jsigone

I like them for the calorie library. Even has off brand stuff I get in the Asian markets in there using the bar code scanner. Problem is I forget to log stuff half the time and forget about it on the weekends LOL.

Activity calories used...I wouldn't use their number but would fudge the # so they are similar to the calculator on strava which is tied to my HRM. I'd swing a 10-15% accuracy bat on the strava calculator w/o power. Maybe 3-5% if on power.

dr_lha

Sorry, but that sounds overestimated to me, unless that 12 mph is a Clyde going uphill. Also 12 cals/min * 30 minutes = 360 cals.

ray.garza

I agree. A power meter for your bike is really the only way to get accurate (or more accurate) calorie burn. I've seen my friends get all excited over burning 1700 calories (what ever Strava or MapMyRide reports) on a 20 mile social ride and then go spend their calorie deficit at some restaurant.