My Fitness Pal

She really is my fitness pal, even though the post is about a different type of fitness pal.  :)

I'm sad to say, but my mom pretty much kicks my butt at anything to do with the iPad or the iPhone.*  She's also pretty much a health and fitness rock star, so when she told me about her new favorite app, I knew I had to try it.

My Fitness Pal is accessible on the iPad, the iPhone, and the computer (and, I'm sure, on any other device Internet is available).  And, it syncs.  So, if I upload what I ate for lunch at school on my iPhone, I can access it on my iPad at home.  Or, I've found the recipe database to be easier to access on an actual computer, so I'll enter something that way and have it *magically* show up on my phone.  It's great.

The food/recipe database is absolutely ridiculous.  The only thing I've eaten in the last four days that I've had to enter myself was the Peanut Butter and Blueberry Pancake from the Abs Diet Cookbook.  And, I probably just didn't search hard enough for that since all of the other Abs Diet recipes are already entered.

The only trouble I've had so far with the app is adding workouts.  It's super easy if I want to add a run (like I did on Sunday), but it's a lot more difficult when I want to add kettlebells (like I did yesterday) or various abs exercises (like I did today).  While I've been updating my fitness as much as possible via the app, I'm not sure how accurate it actually is.

Another feature that I really like is the breakdown of nutrients:

I like the above chart so that I can see the basics.  And even though it looks like I enjoy carbohydrates a little too much, it's telling me that I need to actually eat more carbs and less protein.  Very interesting.

Finally, I appreciate that it gives me a little lecture when I don't do what I am supposed to:

I clicked on "complete entry," and I hadn't eaten my allotted calories.  (The top of the screen showed how much I'll weigh in five weeks if I keep up my eating and exercise behaviors, but I hid that for now.  If I'm pleased with my progress in five weeks, I'll give you the numbers.  Deal?  Good.)

I will likely eat a graham cracker before I go to bed (although it's obviously not a "complete" meal/snack per the Abs Diet guidelines), so that'll help.  However, I'm also sick right now and just not super hungry.  So, there.  Don't lecture me.

Anyway, I have been using My Fitness Pal for less than a week, but so far I have entered every single thing I have eaten, and I am more than pleased with the app.  I definitely recommend it.

What programs, techniques, organizational tools, etc. do you use to track your diet and exercise?

*I'm still teaching her the tricks of Blogger, though.  :)