Customizing Your Profile and Goals
To make MyFitnessPal work best for you, the first step is to tailor your personal profile and nutritional targets. The default settings might not align with your specific diet, such as a low-carb or high-protein plan. Adjusting these foundational settings ensures the app provides relevant and achievable daily targets.
Updating Your Basic Profile Information
For the most accurate calorie and nutrient calculations, ensure your profile information is up-to-date. You can easily adjust your weight, height, activity level, and weekly goals.
On the mobile app:
- Navigate to the 'More' menu (•••) in the bottom right corner.
- Tap on 'Goals'.
- Edit your starting weight, current weight, and weekly weight goals. Tapping 'Activity Level' allows you to change your daily exercise estimate.
On the website:
- Log in to www.myfitnesspal.com.
- Click 'My Home' then 'Settings'.
- Choose 'Update diet/fitness profile' to change your details and save the changes.
Setting Custom Macronutrient Goals
For many users, tracking macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat) is just as important as monitoring calories. MyFitnessPal allows you to set custom macro goals, though the level of control differs between the free and Premium versions.
For free users (percentage based):
- In the 'Goals' section, tap 'Calories, Carbs, Protein & Fat Goals'.
- Adjust the percentages for carbs, protein, and fat using the on-screen sliders. The total must equal 100%.
- Tap the checkmark to save your new macro percentages.
For Premium users (gram or percentage based):
- Upgrade to Premium for the ability to set specific macro goals in grams.
- After subscribing, navigate back to 'Calories, Carbs, Protein & Fat Goals'.
- You can now manually enter specific gram amounts for each macronutrient.
Creating and Managing Custom Food Entries
Sometimes, the massive MyFitnessPal food database won't have an entry for a specific homemade meal or local food item. The app provides robust tools to create and save your own food items, recipes, and entire meals.
Adding a Custom Food
For a food item not found in the database, you can create a new entry with its nutrition facts.
- From your food diary, tap the blue plus button (+) and select 'Food'.
- Tap the 'My Foods' tab and select 'Create a Food'.
- Enter all the nutritional information and serving size details.
- Save the custom food, and it will be available for future logging.
Saving Custom Recipes
Instead of logging each ingredient of a favorite recipe individually, you can save it once and log it in a single tap.
- Website: Log in, click 'Food', then 'Recipes'. You can add ingredients manually or import a recipe from a web link.
- Mobile App: Go to 'More' -> 'My Meals, Recipes & Foods' -> 'Recipes'. You can then add the ingredients and save the recipe.
Remembering and Saving Meals
For meals you eat often, like a standard breakfast, you can save the entire meal as a single entry for quick logging later.
- Log the foods for one meal in your diary.
- Tap the three dots (...) or 'Quick Tools' and select 'Remember Meal'.
- Give it a name and save it. It will appear under the 'Meals' tab for easy re-logging.
Enhancing Your Tracking with Premium Features
While the free version offers significant customization, the Premium subscription unlocks advanced features for a more detailed and personalized experience.
Premium vs. Free Customization
| Feature | MyFitnessPal (Free) | MyFitnessPal (Premium) |
|---|---|---|
| Macro Goals | Adjust by percentage only, in 5% increments. | Set macros by specific grams or percentages. |
| Goals by Day | One set of calorie/macro goals for the entire week. | Set different calorie and macro goals for each day (e.g., high-carb on workout days). |
| Exercise Calories | Calories burned are automatically added to your daily budget. | Option to turn off adding exercise calories to your budget. |
| Meal Planning | Basic tracking and logging capabilities. | Access to expert-guided meal plans and customizable weekly meal plans. |
| Dashboard | Standard dashboard view with fixed metrics. | Customizable dashboard to highlight your most important nutrient goals. |
| Net Carbs | Not a dedicated feature. | Dedicated 'Net Carbs Mode' for low-carb diets. |
Optimizing Your Diary and Notifications
Beyond just tracking, MyFitnessPal allows you to customize the daily experience to better fit your habits and routines.
Customizing Meal Names
If you prefer to track more or fewer than the standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you can change your meal names or add up to two more meals.
- Go to 'More' -> 'Settings' -> 'Diary Settings'.
- Tap 'Customize Meal Names' and make your changes.
Setting Calorie Goals by Meal
Premium users can break down their daily calorie goal into smaller, meal-specific targets.
- Go to 'More' -> 'Goals' -> 'Calorie Goals By Meal'.
- Enable the feature and set specific calorie targets for each meal.
Managing Notifications
Stay on track without feeling overwhelmed by adjusting your notification settings.
- Go to 'More' -> 'Settings' -> 'Push Notifications'.
- Toggle alerts for weight, logging reminders, workout reminders, and more.
Conclusion
MyFitnessPal offers extensive customization options that empower you to create a tracking experience perfectly suited to your individual health journey. By updating your goals, creating custom food entries, and taking advantage of premium features, you can transform the app from a simple calorie counter into a powerful, personalized tool. Taking the time to explore and adjust these settings will make tracking more accurate, efficient, and motivating, ultimately helping you stay consistent and achieve your fitness objectives more effectively.
For more in-depth information on premium features and updates, you can refer to the official MyFitnessPal blog.
