I have tried other fitness websites in the past. I can't even recall the first one I tried a couple of years ago. I know I tried livestrong.com briefly and was using that site when a friend, Sue Cozzetta, pointed me in the direction of MFP. I liked the interface right away and found it to be far easier to use than the livestrong.com site. So, I made the move and have never looked back.
MFP is more than a calorie and exercise tracking site. Far more. One of the best features of the site is the social aspect and the supportive relationships that are built. I mentioned this before, but while I think this aspect of the site is incredible, it is not the reason I like the site. I am not a big rah-rah kind of guy. I don't need someone telling me how everything is going to get better. I don't need a barrage of cliches to help me through my struggles. But, a LOT of people do. And, I think it's great that this site provides that... especially for those folks who really need that support.
If you are thinking about a site for your own personal weight-loss journeys, I highly recommend MFP. Here are some of the things it offers...
- calorie tracking - With a huge library of foods, it is easy to track the nutritional values of just about anything you can think of. Other than homemade meals with unique ingredients, I have rarely found an item that wasn't in the database. In addition, MFP has added a new feature for building the nutritional data for a meal based on the ingredients that go in to making that meal. The calorie tracker includes frequently used items, recently used items, and a personal meal database. You can also complete a day and MFP will estimate your weight if you were to continue with similar days over a five week period.
- exercise tracking - It is always difficult to put a generic value on the calories burned for any activity because of all of the variables. But MFP has a nice database of activities that at least give you ballpark figures.
- recommended values - MFP provides recommended nutritional goals based on your weekly weight-loss goals, your weight, and your non-exercise activity. These values are continually updated as requested or after every 10 pounds lost.
- reporting - The site provides plenty of useful reports. My favorite is the detailed nutritional values of your meals.
- other tools - There are other tools to calculate such things as Body Mass Index and Basal Metabolic Rate and nifty little widgets for creating tickers and badges.
- Facebook integration - Several items can be automatically posted as your Facebook status as they are updated in MFP. I have chosen only to update my weight loss because I think that is arrogant and obnoxious enough and nobody wants to see every single thing logged in MFP. But, you have that option!
- social networking - MFP provides messaging capabilities, a place for blogging, a community forum, and the ability to add friends.
- community forum - This forum is filled with any weight-loss question you can imagine. It also has recipes and advice. One of the more popular sub-forums is called Motivation and Support. Inside of this forum are several support groups, including the Fab Four group to which I belong. All of these groups have different challenges, timelines, requirements, etc. But, they manage to bring like-minded individuals together and offer tons of support.
- iPhone app - MFP has an iPhone/iPad app that allows you to update your information remotely.
- The best part about MFP? It's free!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38625333#38625333
Here's to myfitnesspal.com and the wonderful service they provide to me and countless others just like Tamara...
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