When it comes to using the My Fitness Pal calorie and energy tracker, there is a reality we have to accept…
And that is, regardless of what we log in the app, the calories it tells us we are eating, the macro split we enter, the level of activity we claim we are completing, the results are shown in your body and its composition – how much of us is fat!
Now… If you log 1000kcals and are not losing weight, you are not eating 1000kcals, there is no point in wondering what is going on. You know what is going on. Your log is off! Way off!
Tracker numbers mean nothing.
The numbers mean nothing! They are essentially arbitrary.
The biggest problem with tracking your energy expenditure and energy intake is the inaccuracy of the tracker, data entry AND believing what is tells you to the point where you are confused, wonder why it’s all going wrong and then become demotivated!
Useful tools.
But this doesn’t mean a tracker is not a really useful tool. We just need to employ some objective thinking.
The ultimate marker for your weight loss success is how your body responds to the stimulus you provide it. Go there for feedback and adjust your tracking numbers accordingly, it doesn’t matter what they say.
If you are logging 1000 ‘kcals’ per day and are steadily losing 1lb a week, it doesn’t matter what is says. The 1000 figure isn’t kcals, you are eating way more, it is now just an energy unit you are achieving to reach your desired goal.
Find a way to suit you.
Your entry is totally inaccurate, but it is consistently inaccurate so you are making progress. You body is responding well and you have found a way to gain progress in a way that suits you!
And that is the most important thing, are you doing this in a way that suits you?
So if you are struggling to lose weight, you are not in a calorie deficit. You can log whatever you like, it changes nothing. You still need to get into a deficit by either logging more accurately or ‘logging’ less.
Your physique is the marker for your success, all the other tools are there to be manipulated to help you, use the numbers like arbitrary units if you have to as achieving progress is the goal, the biggie.
Focusing on the 30:30:40 macro split you have been recommended or that you are ‘struggling’ to log 1800kcals is completely secondary.
The answers are simpler than you think.
Big luv
Dan
If you want to know more about nutrition, contact us about Target’s Nutrition Management Program.
Target Active Fitness is a Tewkesbury based Gym, Personal Training Studio and Nutrition Centre. Teaching first rate, no nonsense, gimmick-free Exercise & Wellbeing.
