Best weight loss Apps: MyFitnessPal

(Ad) Even in today’s saturated market of health, weight loss, and fitness apps, MyFitnessPal stands out from the competition. Find out what makes MyFitnessPal one of the best weight loss apps out there. 

Best Weight Loss App: What is MyFitnessPal?

Weight loss is about much more than counting calories, and MyFitnessPal gives you access to a full range of features that will help motivate you and keep you on track as you lose weight healthfully. MyFitnessPal lets users track calories, macronutrients, micronutrients, exercise, water intake, and more. Plus, the MyFitnessPal app offers users a support system: a blog, recipes, tips, content, and real connection to a community of users who share your goals. All of these motivating and encouraging features are aimed at increasing your motivation to succeed– which is why the MyFitnessPal weight loss app has a community of over 250 million users.

Key Features of the MyFitnessPal Weight Loss App

• Personal Food, Water, and Exercise diary

MyFitnessPal users can log their  food in their personal diary in order to track and analyze daily, weekly, even monthly eating. Since studies show people who keep a food diary are more likely to reach their goals, this can be a key feature for any weight loss plan.

• You can track more than calories

The MyFitnessPal weight loss app goes beyond counting your calories. Drawing from a database of over 19 million foods, MyFitnessPal will calculate calories as well as the macronutrients, or macros (fat, protein, and carbohydrates) that are essential to proper body function. You can also track micronutrients like iron and sodium using the app, as well as caloric expenditure through exercise. Armed with detailed information about not only your caloric intake, but the full picture of your nutrition, you can begin to make better choices about the foods you eat, and form better habits for your overall wellness. 

• A huge selection of recipes

MyFitnessPal has a wide selection of recipes, including ones selected by a registered dietitian. Choose from low-carb, vegetarian, gluten free, high protein, low sodium, and more. It’s easy to see if these foods fit into your eating plan, since each recipe includes nutritional information. And, if you actually cook and eat a MyFitnessPal recipe, you can simply click the “Log-It” button on the app and the information will automatically transfer over to your personal diary.  

• In-App plans

MyFitnessPal’s in-app plans provide you with actionable tips, and education that can ultimately help you form better nutrition habits. These plans include everything from New Year inspiration to sustainable eating content, and are aimed at helping you achieve your individual health and fitness goals.

The MyFitnessPal weight loss app comes in both a free and Premium version. With the free version, users can access the “MyFitnessPal 101” plan; with the Premium version, you can choose from “Building Healthy Habits,” “Reaching Your Calorie Goal,” “Healthy Kickstart,” among many others.  

• Barcode Scanner:

Premium members can also use MyFitnessPal’s barcode scanner to use their phones to scan the barcode of packaged foods. Thanks to the 19 million plus items in the MyFitnessPal food database, the app delivers the nutritional values of scanned foods, which makes shopping, cooking, and eating for a weight loss diet much easier. 

How does MyFitnessPal work?

MyFitnessPal is one of the best global weight loss apps because it delivers personal insights on your daily eating and nutrition, yet it is incredibly easy to use. 

The process is simple:

1. Based on your goals, MyFitnessPal will generate a daily target for you to achieve weight loss healthfully.

2. Using that target, track your calories, macros, and micronutrients as well as your exercise throughout the day.  MyFitnessPal will calculate the number of calories you've consumed as well as those you’ve burned from exercise at any given point, so it’s easy to know how many calories (as well as which nutrients) you need for the rest of the day.

3. MyFitnessPal remembers the foods you eat most, as well as the exercise you engage in most often, which means food and exercise logging becomes easier the more you use the app. It’s also very simple to adjust your personal profile to reflect weight loss or gain, and your MyFitnessPal target goals will automatically adjust. 

4. You will soon begin to understand both the nutritional quality of the food you eat as well as how your personal habits contribute to your health and fitness goals.

How accurate is MyFitnessPal?

Thanks to its extensive database of over 19 million global foods, MyFitnessPal is one of the most accurate trackers in the business for total energy intake, macronutrients, sugar, and fiber, as confirmed by independent research.  

Pros and Cons of MyFitnessPal Weight Loss App

Pros

• Customized to each person, and customizable for different goals 

• Tracks calories in and out, macro and micro nutrients, and water intake

• User-friendly, intuitive interface. Food logging gets easier and faster with use as the app begins to remember your favorite items

• Provides for accuracy in recording with different measurement options, such as tablespoon, cup, and ounce, as well as sizes, such as small, medium, and large. 

• Provides content for planning healthy meals and forming healthy habits

• Connects users to a large MyFitnessPal community with recipes, tips, discussion forums, and motivational content. 

• MyFitnessPal has one of the world’s largest databases of food: 19 million plus international and national foods (popular and small brand items as well as many well-known restaurant signature dishes for easy, accurate logging). 

• The App is simple to download on both Apple and Android, and the app's features work on both platforms. 

3.7 Million 5-star ratings and millions of users around the world. Consumer ratings place MyFitnessPal among the top weight loss apps at the Apple Store. At the Google Play Store, MyFitnessPal was featured in the Editor’s Choice corner. 

What do users say about MyFitnessPal's weight lost app?

We found thousands of positive comments about the MyFitnessPal Weight Loss App. Here are just a few that we found online:

• “Great app for people serious about losing weight,” 

• “Not only are the tools super helpful, the customer service is insanely awesome!”

• “The barcode scanner makes it easy to log food, and the extensive food database is a great resource. I've been using MyFitnessPal for over a year, and it has been a game-changer for me. The app is user-friendly and has helped me track my food and exercise. I love being able to set goals and see my progress over time. The barcode scanner makes it easy to log food, and the extensive food database is a great resource,” 

What do users love about MyFitnessPal's weight lost app?

• Ease and convenience of the MyFitnessPal interface: you can easily access your dashboard to log foods or search for a food to get its nutritional and caloric breakdown. 

• Your diary keeps track of not only calories in, but calories out through exercise as well as the nutritional quality of your food and even your water intake.

• You have access to a regularly updated newsfeed with relevant articles and recipes

• You can plan meals and  workouts in the plans section.

• The MyFitnessPal community offers motivational stories, tips, and a social network of support.

• The blog feature includes posts by experts in the field, as well as highlighting user stories. Read the experiences of other people on their weight loss journey or start your own to share your experiences.

• With the Premium version, the unlimited barcode scanner makes logging and choosing food fast, simple, and accurate.

• MyFitnessPal offers great integration technology. With over 40 connected fitness partners, you can connect devices and apps like FitBit, MapMyRun, MapMyWalk, and Glow, (plus many more) for seamless tracking of weight, steps, and workouts. 

How much does MyFitnessPal Premium cost? 

If you opt for the Premium plan, you have two options: 

• A monthly Prepremium subscription costs $19.99 per month.

• A one-year Premium membership costs $79.99, which is 67% less than a monthly subscription would be after 12 months.

FAQs

How long does it take to lose weight using MyFitnessPal?

Weight loss involves a healthy diet and exercise and results may vary from individual to individual based on a complex combination of factors, everything from age and sex to the amount of exercise you do in a day. When you create your profile, MyFitnessPal determines the calories required to maintain your current weight based on the information you provide. You’ll also be asked how much weight you would like to lose per week, and based on your answer, MyFitnessPal will create daily calorie and nutrient targets to help you achieve your goals.

The MyFitnessPal weight loss app can help make managing weight easier because your daily calorie goal accounts for your stated intent to lose weight at a particular rate. That means that following your plan and tracking your food regularly and accurately can help you achieve your goals.

Will I need to use MyFitnessPal forever?

It depends. MyFitnessPal is designed to help you develop better habits in your eating and exercise, habits that once formed will serve you for life.  Some users that have been with MyFitnessPal since it launched in 2005, cite the ease and practicality of tracking food and exercise, and the importance of a supportive community. In the end, it will be up to each individual person to decide how long they want to use MyFitnessPal.

Which apps can MyFitnessPal connect to?

MyFitnessPal allows easy integration with apps and products in four categories. Below is a list of some of those partnerships. For the complete and most current list, check out the MyFitnessPal website: 

Scale Partners

• Fitbit 
• Withings Health mate
• VeSync
• Renpho Health
• Wahoo 
• Qardio Scale

Individual Cardio Exercise Partners

These products monitor your workout activity, and the results are updated in your MyFitnessPal Exercise Diary:  

• 12WBT
• C25K 
• Digifit
• Expresso Exercise Bikes
• FINIS Swimsense
• FitStar
• LFconnect
• MapMyFitness
• MapMyRide
• MapMyRun
• MapMyWalk
• Netpulse
• PEAR Sports Training Intelligence
• Polar
• Runtastic
• Sworkit -Circuit Training
• Wahoo

Total Energy Partners

These products monitor your day’s activities and MyFitnessPal uses the results to update your Net Calorie goal.

• Fitbit 
• Garmin Connect
• Misfit 
• Withings Health Mate
• Polar
• Samsung Health
• Google Fit
• Health Connect
• Apple Watch

Glucose Monitoring Partners

On Android, users can sync their Glucose information from Dexcom G6 app to Google Health Connect and view that information in the MyFitnessPal App.

Sleep Partners 

• Users tracking their sleep and nutrition can now access the ‘Sleep’ section of the app which shows sleep data from the day before presented, alongside their food diary and nutritional information. Premium users will also have the ability to see time-stamps associated with logged food entries. 
• The Sleep feature on MyFitnessPal can be accessed when users pair the app with Health Connect (for Android users) or Apple Health (for iOs users). MyFitnessPal Sleep displays the data from Health Connect, pairing with Google Fit/Pixel, Oura, Whoop, Fitbit, and Samsung, while Apple Health users can pair their Apple iPhone and Watch, Oura, Whoop, Sleep Cycle, Pillow, Withings, Sleep++, and Auto Sleep.

Is MyFitnessPal Woth It?

MyFitnessPal is one of the best options for any person seeking a comprehensive system for tracking and managing weight, fitness, and personal health goals. MyFitnessPal is highly-rated by users who enjoy the one of the world’s largest databases of foods, the supportive and motivating community, recipes, workouts, easy integration, and more. 

And remember: there is both a free and a Premium version of the MyFitnessPal App. The free version tracks calories and nutrition, records your exercise, calculates your daily water intake, and lets you connect with fitness and nutrition devices, apps, and products that you may already be using. Meanwhile, MyFitnessPal Premium adds unlimited barcode scanner, an ad-free experience, customization of macros, and more! One year of Premium costs less than you'd  spend booking one hour with a dietician or nutritionist.  

Because of its simple interface and outstanding features, MyFitnessPal is one of the best apps to assist you in your weight loss journey, and is your partner in building habits that will contribute to lifelong success.