Why MyFitnessPal Is Your Worst Enemy

Why MyFitnessPal Is Your Worst Enemy 

MyFitnessPal, simply put, is an app that allows users to track calories with the goal of weight loss. Upon downloading, a user is prompted to Input his/her age, weight, height, and amount of weight loss desired. Each day, users plug in the number of calories consumed and burned through cardio exercise to keep themselves on track with weight loss. Sounds great, right? 

WRONG. I downloaded MyFitnessPal and have been using it RELIGIOUSLY this month. I never saw a significant difference in my mental or physical health or even a lower number on the scale. Instead, here’s what I noticed: 

MyFitnessPal doesn’t consider a number of factors in calorie counting.  

Calorie needs are based on more than just age, weight, and height, which are the only three things MyFitnessPal asks for. Things like BMI, medications, genetics, medical history, and even sleep, illness, and stress impact metabolism and individual calorie needs. Calorie needs can even change daily for each person. Therefore, it ultimately doesn’t matter what you tell MyFitnessPal; it won’t determine your calorie needs correctly anyway. 

 

MyFitnessPal creates restrictive eating and guilt.  

We live in a culture of immense fear of calories and overeating, especially in college where it’s harder to find healthier and low-calorie options. However, tracking calories, especially at an age where we are more prone to suffering from eating disorders, obsessively tracking every calorie that goes in or out only creates guilt and restrictive eating. This was definitely the case for me, and I only found myself binging every night more so because I was HUNGRY than anything else.  

What I learned through a month of MyFitnessPal is that it’s really just best to eat how much you feel your body needs in the first place. This changes day to day, but the fact that food is fuel never changes.