HEALTH

Healthy Heather: Details make the difference with tracking apps

Heather Fuselier

When working on a weight loss goal, using apps and websites like MyFitnessPal, Lose It, the Health app for iPhone, and others like it can help you stay accountable, aware, and engaged in your progress. Research shows that people who keep track of portions and eating patterns lose more weight faster and keep it off longer. But sometimes these software programs can make what should be a straightforward process seem complicated and confusing. Here’s how you can maximize the time you spend managing your nutrition by paying attention to the details.

The first thing you’ll do when using a meal tracking app is set up your profile, which involved answering standard questions like your gender, age, height and current weight. The software uses this information to calculate your calorie needs and then makes a recommendation for weight loss or maintenance. This is the first detail that needs attention, because your recommended calorie range will be based on the information you provide about yourself. This is not the time to be conservative. Enter your starting information accurately, so you have a recommendation that is appropriate for you. No one has to know what you typed in.

The next detail to confirm is your goals and reported level of activity. I recommend setting your goal to weight maintenance at a sedentary level of activity. Why? When we tell a program that we are going to exercise or want to lose weight, it takes that information into consideration when creating your calorie goal. As a result, you may end up with a calorie range that is too low for someone who ends up exercising more than expected or too high for someone who hasn’t quite established that gym habit yet. Being the control freak that I am, I prefer to work with facts and then manipulate the data on my own.

To do that, simply record your exercise and see a “credit” (more calories) added to your goal for the day. This gives you a more accurate number to work with because it reflects that day, not what you entered in two months ago. To lose weight, you need to have calories left over at the end of the day. A modest 250-400 calorie deficit after exercise has been recorded is reasonable. Do this consistently and you should lose a little more than half a pound a week.

The final detail that needs your attention is how your body changes over time. As our weight changes, calorie needs also change. If you have lost a significant amount of weight but not gained much muscle mass, you likely have a lower resting metabolic rate which needs to be taken into consideration when calculating calories needed maintenance. Record your weight loss progress as you go and watch that calorie goal change as you do. Skip this step, and you run the risk of regaining weight because you are eating calories based on the needs of a larger body!

Stick to the basics when using a calorie tracker to avoid confusion and misinterpreted data, and to ensure that your plan is based on what’s actually happening day-to-day in your health, not what you expected or hoped would happen. With consistency, diligence, and honesty about your habits, your optimal health will be a fact that is not open to interpretation.

Heather Fuselier is a certified wellness coach and personal trainer. Learn more at WellnessWithoutPity.com.

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