MyFitnessPal is an app that I have downloaded, deleted and redownloaded many times. I still get the occasional “don’t forget to log your lunch” notifications, even though I haven’t opened the app in months. Counting calories is a tricky thing as there are so many mixed opinions about it in the health world. Personally, I’ve come to the conclusion that it does way more harm than good and here’s why.
I was always insecure about my weight growing up, and yo-yo dieted many times throughout middle and high school, gaining and losing the same 10-15 pounds. (I could go on a whole tangent about why it’s problematic for young girls to be so obsessed with body image in the first place, but that’s an article for another day.) Freshman year of college is when I finally got in shape for good, but gaining a healthy relationship with food was a long process, and something I’m still working on today. With so many voices in the health world, it’s hard to know what’s actually good for you. There’s diet culture, telling you that weight loss is simply a matter of calories in versus calories out. Then there’s the intuitive eating community, saying you should fuel your body with what you crave and not think about the numbers. Both of these approaches and mindsets have helped me at different points in my health journey.
When I decided to get in shape and take care of my body, MyFitnessPal was my best friend. All the advice I got was from fitness Instagram accounts that made it sound so simple: consume less calories than you burn. I calculated my metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn naturally each day), set a calorie goal and logged everything I ate. And it worked. For me, this was a great place to start. I wasn’t “dieting” – I could still eat anything I wanted, as long as I stayed under my calorie limit. However, I naturally started leaning towards more nutritious foods, as I realized some of my daily diet consisted of “empty calories,” foods that were high in calories and didn’t fill me up or sustain me. I still got fries at the dining hall, but one serving instead of a plateful. I still had ice cream, but not every night. I still got Starbucks, but a tall instead of a grande. I made all these little changes with calories in mind, and they worked in helping me lose weight at first.
It wasn’t until I was at a healthy weight that calorie counting began to be problematic for me. I had gotten into a gym routine, I was eating healthy, no longer overeating and I was healthy. However, my relationship with food became unhealthy when I only saw food as numbers. Anytime I went over my calorie limit, I would look in the mirror and feel like I had lost all progress. I measured out serving sizes precisely. I didn’t like eating out, because it was harder to track the exact calories of restaurant foods. And I was weighing myself daily, taking little fluctuations way too seriously. That’s when I realized it was time to break up with MyFitnessPal. Since I stopped using it, I’ve been trying to focus on the nutritional value of what I eat. I’ve been cooking more and adding more fruits and vegetables to my diet. I’ve also followed more accounts on Instagram and TikTok that promote a balance between not being too indulgent or too restrictive in what you eat.
The title of this article may have been a bit misleading, because counting calories may be useful to some people who can do it without getting obsessive. The thing about counting calories is it’s a very fine line to walk. Those diet-promoting Instagram accounts aren’t wrong that calories matter in weight loss. But calories are just a measure of energy. What matters more is whether food is nutritious, whether food fills you up, whether you’re enjoying what you’re eating. Because you can be healthy and still be non-restrictive. I realize now that health is more than calories in versus calories out. Health to me is eating out with my friends and having a good time, it’s listening to my body when I’m craving certain foods and it’s eating foods that make me feel good. So now, MyFitnessPal is deleted for good.