I’ve been using myfitnesspal to track my food intake for just about a year now. When I decided I wanted to try doing a bikini fitness competition my coach gave me my macros (short for macronutrients)…what!?!? Macronutrients, in a nutshell, are the three main categories of food; carbohydrates, fat, and protein. In the past I had always tried to be somewhat “aware” of what I was eating and tried to make healthy choices but also indulged at times as well. I had absolutely NO IDEA how much of each macronutrient I was consuming nor did I have any clue as to what numbers I should specifically try to stick to to help me meet my goals. I exercised regularly and just tried to consume healthy foods and figured that should be enough. So needless to say, when coach gave me my macro goals I felt totally LOST in the sauce! This idea of tracking my food felt totally foreign to me and I remember being very anxious and frustrated when I first started out. How do I know if what I am putting in is correct? How am I ever going to be able to cook a meal again…how do you even go about tracking that? What happens when I get to the end of the evening and I went way over in one category and not enough in another? Am I going to have to type this in EVERY DAY?
I had so many questions and really just had to take it day by day and lots of trial and error. Eventually I figured it out and started to experiment with new recipes and played around with different food combinations to see if they would meet my macro goals. I would say now that I am glad I track my food and will continue to do so even when I am not competing. It helps give me and idea of what I am eating and helps me stay on track. When I am on prep for a show I stick to it as closely as I can each and every day. When I am not on prep I still track my food just so that I can make sure I am consuming enough protein and maybe not going way overboard on the carbs or fats. That’s not to say that you can’t enjoy yourself and go out to dinner, have a glass of wine or that dessert. But tracking it helps you be more mindful about what you are putting in to your body. I like to follow the 80/20 rule. If you stick to your target macros 80% of the time and the other 20% you enjoy yourself I would say you are doing pretty darn good. Life is all about finding a balance. Tracking food isn’t about restricting yourself and making you feel guilty. I t is just another way to help you stay focused on your fitness goals…whatever those may be.
Because I felt so lost and had so many questions when I first started tracking my food I wanted to create a video to help anyone new to tracking and more specifically to myfitnesspal. This is all about how get started with some basic tips on setting up number of meals, macro goals, sharing your food log, and much more. I hope that after watching this you feel more prepared to start tracking your food and don’t have the anxiety that I originally did. My plan is to do a series with two more videos addressing daily tracking and how to input recipes. Stay tuned for the next edition of the myfitnesspal tutorial series!
