We're sure many of you have heard the saying - "it's not the tool, it's how you use it." Well, the same holds true for using MyFitnessPal (MFP) or other calorie counting apps.
We’re here to help set things straight with a few of our top tips for tracking as correctly as possible. This will ensure that if you invest time and effort into tracking your food, you will obtain a higher return on that investment in the form of accurate data and results!
When in doubt, remember this acronym for tracking: R.A.G
Raw weight
Accurate Entry
Grams
🔹 Be specific with your entries and how you’re weighing them. For example, per 100g serving, the hydration component of meat and grains can vary greatly depending on whether they’re weighed raw or cooked, which in turn significantly influences their caloric and macronutrient content calculated in MFP.
🔹 Use reliable and verified entries within the MFP database, such as “nuttab” or “usda”. This will ensure that you track the correct number of macros and calories for all single-ingredient foods (fruit, veg, meat, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes etc.). Otherwise, if you’re tracking a multi-ingredient food (e.g. yogurt, bread), ensure the macros and calories on the packet match those in the MFP entry.
🔹 Try your best to take advantage of a kitchen scale and weigh your food in grams. This is opposed to using measuring cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, estimated serving sizes or subjective portions (e.g. small or medium pieces of fruit or cuts of meat)
Macro tracking is a skill, and just like any skill it requires practice and refinement to become efficient and accurate. Downloading and using the app is one thing, but becoming proficient is a whole different ballgame.
As you can gather from the examples above, the difference between using accurate vs inaccurate entries for just three daily food sources such as chicken breast, greek yogurt and pasta could have you either hundreds of calories over or under your actual daily requirements. This is significant, and overtime could easily and unknowingly cancel-out and energy deficit, or gradually create an unintentional calorie surplus.