All of these fitness gurus have made so many different styles of eating for the average joe telling them what to and not to eat. I’m here to tell you that no matter what, eating should be made easy. Over the past 4 years, I have done so many different “diets” and eating plans.
I believe there is a one size fits all approach to eating. Using a Calorie Counter app can make things easy. However, it does take some initial effort and consistency on your end. We will discuss a simplistic approach to eating and how you can become happy while still burning fat/weight and retain muscle simultaneously.
Tools needed:
- A Food Scale
- MyFitnessPal (or any food tracking app but we recommend MFP)
- An Open Mind
The Calorie Counter App + Food Scale
For this approach to a healthy lifestyle, you will need a food scale to understand your portions, because you would be surprised the difference between an actual serving of peanut butter versus what you think would be a serving of peanut butter.
We are talking about hundreds of calories of a difference just by a few grams. Therefore, by tracking portions, we know EXACTLY what we are putting in our body so we can manage our day around that.
When you use your food scale, it gives you a very accurate reading of what you will be putting into your body. Therefore, you can put it into a calorie counter app like MyFitnessPal and develop automation in your lifestyle.
What Does A Calorie Counter App Do?
Well….. I am sure you can assume this. However, there are so many dimensions beyond calorie counting that are extremely useful to the user. Some of the basic features of the MyFitnessPal calorie counter app specifically include:
- Count Calories (duh)
- Track Macronutrients
- See Progress over the life of the app
- Set Goals
- Engage in the community
- Many Many More
MyFitnessPal, Ranked #1 among all other apps in terms of performance and interface. We will highlight some of the benefits of the calorie counting app here.
Counts Your Calories
Obviously, the main purpose of the app is to know how many calories are going in your body. However, some people might either be too focused on tracking or barely able to track anything. Take it from me, I have been using the app for many years and have found the easiest way to track your calories is before you eat the meal.
Therefore, you give yourself an amount that you are going to eat and you have a much better chance of sticking with it.
So an example might be, if I know my breakfast might consist of 1 avocado, 2 eggs, and 1 piece of wheat toast, I would put in the eggs on the MFP app. (since they are easiest to track) After that, if I have not already, I would scan the barcode for the bread. That way, I know the exact brand that I am using.
Then in the future, this data will be saved in the software. And if you cannot find the food item online, (which might be difficult with the 13+ million food items) just get as close as possible.
Then, with your food scale, I would weigh the edible amount of avocado that you will eat. (only weight what you eat) And there you go! You now have a well-balanced breakfast in the system ready to be eaten.
Track Macronutrients
In addition to calorie counter apps, tracking your macronutrients should be your best friend. This gives you a guilt-free approach to eating since you can have your cake and get fit too! The style I am referring to is flexible dieting.
This method states you can eat junk food, AS LONG AS YOU MAINTAIN BALANCE IN YOUR DIET. There becomes a give and take with this.
For example, if you consume 45 grams of fat at breakfast, and your diet allows for 80 grams for the day, then you get 35 more grams of fat to work with. In total, there are many different allocations of macros that people like.
The one I personally use is 45% Carbs, 30% Protein, and 25% Fat. This means that out of all the calories that I eat, 45% goes to carbs, 30 protein, and 25 fat.
The reason it makes sense to track your macronutrients lies in the logical thought that our diets need balance. If we consume only fats, carbs, or proteins, we would not be able to function at our maximum potential.
The balance in a diet creates an optimum performance for the masses. Where there could be a variation for the individual who plays sports, 50/25/25 might be more appropriate.
The point being, carbs allow the body to sustain energy longer than proteins and fats can. Proteins retain muscle and allow muscles to function properly. Fats allow for the body to absorb vitamins and nutrients more efficiently.
Track Your Progress/Set Goals
A cool feature on MFP allows for users to not only put in their current body stats in. (weight height age) But the app also allows users to accurately see just how much their weight has changed since they have started!
This lets users see and motivate themselves whether their goal was to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain the weight they have.
Personally, this feature might be simple but I love it for the times when I feel like I want to eat just a little bit more than my daily amount lets me.
In terms of goal setting, MFP does a great job of utilizing an eating plan around your current statistics.
When you start out, they ask for your weight, height, and age. Then they will ask what your goal is. This could be to lose .5, 1, 1.5, or 2 pounds. To maintain weight, or to gain .5,1,1.5, or 2 pounds.
They use this data in their algorithm to figure out what caloric amount your body might be recommended for.
So anytime you input your new weight for the week, the data changes. Therefore you get a new daily calorie amount and macro amount if your calories change. Also, you can then see the bar graph add your new input into the system allowing for accountability and motivation.
Engage In The Community
This has to be one of MyFitnessPal’s major strengths. It has basically become a mentor to me in any situation where I need some advice or help with a situation. I go there when there is any question about almost any personal help topic. Their discussions include; fitness, workouts, leg workouts, core workouts, diets, recipes, personal success stories, and even games that people play.
The community has well over 25,000 people in it who are all wanting to help people be the best versions of themselves. If you have ever felt like you struggle to do things on your own and might need some support from some other people, this should be your group!
Calorie Counter App MyFitnessPal Conclusion
There is so much information that we would want to include in our post but we will save the more specific topics for another post. Currently, we want to provide insight as to what the app does and how we have seen success in our lives.
The app covers anything you would need to better your health and fitness. The only thing left is a food scale. But there is no progress without consistent, dedicated action. Let us know if you have any questions and we will be happy to answer them.
Also, I will post a link to some books that have dramatically helped us in our fitness life and financial life, please check them out if they interest you.
Thanks for reading and stay amazing!
- Eric
