MyFitnessPal Review: More Than Just Nutrition Tracking

MyFitnessPal App Standout Features

Food and Nutrient Tracking

First and foremost, MyFitnessPal is a nutrition tracker. With access to 18 million global foods, MyFitnessPal has one of the largest food databases, which includes restaurant items, fresh foods, and packaged foods.

You can log and track calories, macronutrients, micronutrients, water, and intermittent fasting data. Once added to the app, you can see a complete nutritional breakdown for each food, meal, day, and week.

Barcode Scanning

Looking up information on foods can get tedious. With the barcode scanner, you can use the camera on a compatible mobile device to scan a barcode label. Once scanned, MyFitnessPal will display the item, ask you to confirm it, and then add it to your Diary. While convenient and time-saving, Barcode scanning is only available with a Premium membership.

Exercise Logging

The nutrition tracking abilities of MyFitnessPal are outstanding. Beyond being a diet tool, this app is also a place to look up information about physical activity and store data related to your exercise minutes. Under the exercise tab, you can track your daily and weekly minutes, calories burned, and workout types. You can also integrate MyFitnessPal with various fitness apps and devices to automatically sync exercise data.

Community Support

MyFitnessPal features an active community component that helps inspire, motivate, and connect users with each other. You can access the community page message boards through the app or website. Topics are divided into three categories: health/wellness/goals (13 message boards), social corner (2 message boards), and general information (3 message boards).

While the interaction with other members is helpful, it’s important to note that the message boards are public and the boards are moderated by a team of volunteers and a few full-time site administrators who do not review content as it is posted. As a member, you can report a post, but it may take some time for it to be addressed.

Extensive Blog

The MyFitnessPal blog has articles pertaining to nutrition, weight loss, fitness, inspiration, and even recipes. One thing we really like about this blog is how up to date it is. Many fitness and nutrition apps feature some reader education, but it can be outdated or offer limited topics. The MyFitnessPal blog posts new articles weekly with topics ranging from how to read a nutrition label and travel-friendly bodyweight exercises to inspiration stories from real users.

Goal Setting

Users can set personalized health and fitness goals, such as weight loss, muscle gain, or maintenance. The app provides feedback on progress and suggests calorie and activity targets.

Sync Up

MyFitnessPal allows you to connect to 35+ health and fitness partners:

• 5K Runner
• Fitbit
• Garmin Connect
• Apple Health App
• MapMyFitness, MapMyRun, MapMyWalk, and MapMyRide
• Polar Flow
• RunKeeper
• RunTastic
• Strava
• Sworkit

What Does MyFitnessPal Track?

Tracking and storing nutrition, exercise, and other health metrics is what MyFitnessPal is known for. That’s why it’s a top pick for people looking for a simple way to record daily habits and measure progress. Here are some of the key things that MyFitnessPal can track:

Food and Nutrition

• Calories
• Macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fat)
• Micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients)
• Food intake by meal or snack
• Water intake

Activity and Exercise

• Calories burned from exercise
• Steps taken
• Distance traveled
• Exercise duration
• Exercise type

Overall Health and Wellness

• Weight
• Body measurements
• Sleep
• Stress levels
• Mood

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Is MyFitnessPal Easy to Use?

Yes, the MyFitnessPal is easy to use once you’ve spent some time navigating the features and practicing your inputting skills. Compared to other fitness and nutrition apps, we found MyFitnessPal to be on the easier side with quick navigation tools. If you’re using the free version, you’ll like the simple interface and user-friendly features that allow you to input, look up, store, and review all of your data.

One important thing to note: we recommend only adding food items that have been uploaded and verified by the MyFitnessPal team. Some users create their own food items, but they might not be accurate. You can also cross-reference the user-generated list with a credible website like MyPlate or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics site EatRight.

While we think MyFitnessPal is a beginner-friendly app with clear instructions and a quick setup, if you need some extra help, there are some excellent videos with how-to steps for using the app, like this one showing you how to find recipes on the app.

Who Is MyFitnessPal Best For?

As one of the true originals in fitness apps, MyFitnessPal has morphed into a platform that suits just about everyone. People looking to lose weight, fitness enthusiasts, nutrition-conscious users, people building muscle, individuals with health conditions, or anyone seeking accountability will likely find MyFitnessPal a helpful tool to meet their goals. Plus, it’s easy to use, making it accessible to all knowledge and experience levels.

"MyFitnessPal can be a helpful tool for someone trying to keep track of their calories, macronutrients, and exercise to help them meet their weight goals. It may help one stay accountable, motivated, and be able to tweak and change their habits to meet their specific set calorie and macronutrient goals,” says Michelle Routhenstein, MS RD CDECS CDN, a Cardiology Dietitian at Entirely Nourished.

You may also find MyFitnessPal helpful to pair with another fitness app, especially if you use the free version. I find that using MyFitnessPal alongside the Peloton app gives me full access to tracking tools, live and on-demand classes, inspiring content, food databases, recipes, and so much more than I would get if I only used one platform.

As far as downsides of MyFitnessPal, dietician Michelle Routhenstein says it does not offer support from an expert like a registered dietitian, which may not be ideal for certain people. She also points out that certain nutrients like potassium or calcium may not always be accurate in the database, so if you’re following a specific diet like a heart healthy diet that goes beyond tracking calories and macronutrients, you should share your report with your registered dietitian who can better verify your nutrient intake and give you more personalized guidance.

Dietician Routhenstein says MyFitnessPal can also cause some people to overly obsess about calories, which can contribute to eating disorder symptoms. “If you have a negative body image or a history of an eating disorder, these apps may not be a good tool to use," she says.

MyFitnessPal

Best for calorie tracking

MyFitnessPal enables users to set fitness goals, track progress, and connect with friends for motivation and support. If it's edible it's in the app!

• Comprehensive nutrition tracking

• UPC scanner to track packaged foods

• Sync steps, workouts, water consumption and more

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