APP MONDAY: My Fitness Pal

It’s summer time, for many of us we’re expected to head to pool parties and participate in physical activities. For many of us that spend extended hours in front of a computer maybe writing, or editing spread sheets, or filing TPS reports… whatever it may be you might have a few inches you want to slice or a couple pounds you’d enjoy losing.

Normally I find this type of thing to be irritating, evasive, and generally a reason that I can’t drink any of my favorite beverages. But My Fitness Pal puts everything together in a way that makes tracking your intake enjoyable, and consistently encourages you to keep on keepin’ on. If that’s not enough positive to say about it, the social side makes what you’re eating and doing visible to your friends on the app, which in my case is the entire office. You can also challenge other members to eat healthier than you, or exercise more etc.

The interface is pretty simple, but it does vary from device to device. Something I found notable for the application is that it is available on WP7, Android and, iOS, and the only drawback is for those of us using different platforms. (For example, iPad and Galaxy Note). But that aside it is quite easy to track your intake. Upon initial setup the app will ask your age, current height, weight, and gender and how active your job is. Once your stats are entered you are given a daily calorie amount to stay under, and then you simply begin tracking your food. Food is entered into the app by searching, creating, or simply scanning a barcode off of the package. If the occassion arises that the food you’re eating isn’t in the application whatsoever, (like many small town restaurants seem to be). You are able to simply build the meal based on its contents, or get the nutrition information and add it to their data base.

Ten days into the using the app and thus far I’m feeling alright, I’m definitely no Magic Mike, but overall I have more energy and feel better. So there’s my recommendation folks, the nerdy way to track your eating habits. Give it a go, worst case scenario it gives you just another item to tinker with during meetings.