Our health app of the month

We are bombarded with dozens of sales pitches every day.

Buy our amazing product and you will lose 10kg without moving from your couch. Drink this tea and the fat will melt off….

Sorry to tell you, but these things DON’T WORK.

To lose weight, you need to maintain a calorie deficit across an extended period of time. What does that mean? It means eating less calories than you burn. If you have no idea how many calories you eat everyday, it may be worth tracking what you eat. Our staff recommend the MyFitnessPal app to help you with this.

MyFitnessPal is a smartphone app and website that tracks diet and exercise. It helps you determine your optimal caloric intake (how much you should eat) so you can achieve your goal.

You can either scan the barcodes of various food items or manually add them in the database of over five million different foods. MyFitnessPal also works with over 50 devices and apps including Fitbit and Garmin wearable devices so you can synchronize your health data to MyFitnessPal.

How to use tracking apps for success

Track EVERYTHING

Not tracking something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The more honest and consistent you are in your tracking, the more useful the app becomes because you start to see patterns. Only you can hold yourself accountable and doing so makes it more likely you’ll be able to meet your health and fitness goals.

Be realistic

Thinking you can undo years of habits in a week only leads to frustration. A series of small, attainable goals helps you stay motivated to reach your bigger goal.

Learn about portion sizes

Portion control is key to accurate tracking. The more you log, the more you’ll be aware of serving sizes and the more practice you’ll have eyeballing your portions, which leads to better tracking.

Set yourself reminders

When you’re busy, you can forget to track what you’re eating. Setting yourself reminders will ensure nothing slips through.

Do it with a friend

When you add friends on MyFitnessPal, you’re more likely to succeed since you have an extra layer of support, motivation and accountability. You can decide your privacy levels and whether your friends can see things like your weight, diary entries and amount of weight lost.

Victories don’t just happen on the scales

Progress toward your goals is everywhere: Did you climb the stairs with ease? Skip the donuts at work? Reduce your blood pressure? Make sure you’re reflecting on how your healthy habits are having a positive impact on your life.

Want to give it a go? Download the app on your smart phone today.