A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon one of the most helpful, fun, and totally free fitness resources I’ve ever found, and thought I’d share it with you just in case you haven’t already discovered it for yourself.
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal enables you track anything and everything related to your fitness – weight, measurements, food and water intake, exercise, etc. – all in one place, and keep a historical record for future reference. Based on your current profile (height, weight, activity level, etc.) and goals, it works with you to determine the nutritional and fitness targets that will help you reach or maintain those goals, and adjusts the targets accordingly as your stats change.
MyFitnessPal is provided via web site and as an excellent app for all the most popular platforms (although a few of the non-essential “extras” are missing from the app). Everything you do is integrated through one login, so if you enter something on the app you’ll see it next time you log onto the web site, and vice versa.
In addition to fitness tracking, community support is a fantastic and extensive feature of MyFitnessPal and is available through friends, message boards, niche-specific groups, and individual blogs. It’s unbelievable to me just how much support and encouragement I’ve received from people who up until two weeks ago were total strangers, and also how much information and perspective I’ve gained from certain posts and blogs!
The settings on MyFitnessPal allow you to make the resource as private or as public as you wish it to be. Whether you prefer to keep all of your information (weight, food diary, etc.) totally personal and private, or share some (or all) of your information and take advantage of the community support available, it’s all up to you.
MyFitnessPal isn’t just for people who wish to lose weight. I have several friends on the site who are already a healthy weight and are using the resources to stay that way. Others are bodybuilders or working towards fitness goals such as running a marathon. Really, it’s for anyone who wishes to be aware and intentional about their fitness.
I like MyFitnessPal so much that I actually switched over to it from Weight Watchers Online (which I’ve been following with great success since November). I find that MyFitnessPal offers me a similar (if not actually better) experience… and did I mention that it’s free?! I only wish I’d found it sooner!
If you haven’t already discovered MyFitnessPal I encourage you to check it out and give it a try! (And if you decide to join up and wish to add me as a friend, my username is alphabetsalad.)
You are worth it!
