Read on to find out my thoughts on this My Fitness Pal review.
My Fitness Pal premium gives you more flexibility and customization than with the free version. If you’re serious about tracking your food intake, I think it’s worth it to invest in the premium version of My Fitness Pal. I used My Fitness Pal for free for years before I decided to upgrade. I’m so glad that I did though because I found the extra features really useful.
In terms of cost, My Fitness Pal premium is $50 USD annually or $9.99 USD each month. If you use it on a daily basis I think the annual fee is a great deal. I’ve used it to track my food and lose weight. It’s super easy to use and it’s so convenient because I can add food so quickly using the app on my phone. Below you’ll find my My Fitness Pal review.
Features of My Fitness Pal premium
Specific macro goals
You can set your macros (carbs, fats, and protein) to any number you want. With the free version, the percentage has to be a multiple of 5, but with premium you’re free to set it at any number.
Set macro goals by gram or percentage
You can only set your macro goals by gram if you pay for the premium version of My Fitness Pal. This is really useful if you’re trying to reach specific macro goals each day.
Add times to meals and snacks
This feature is especially helpful if you’re trying to track how hungry you get throughout the day. It helps me to look back over my day of eating and realize that it was 7 hours between lunch and dinner and that’s why I was so hungry. It’s such a little thing but it makes a big difference.
Quick add
You can add just the macros (carbs/fat/protein) to any meal or snack instead of specific foods. This is really helpful if you have nutrition information for a food that isn’t in My Fitness Pal’s database – think local restaurants or independent grocery stores. I’ve used this feature before and it’s a lifesaver when I can’t find a match in the database.
Stop adding exercise calories to remaining calories
With the free version of My Fitness Pal, you have no choice – it automatically adds any calories that you’ve burned from a workout back into your remaining calories. It can be frustrating if you don’t want to eat those calories back. With premium you can change this in the settings so that they’re not added back in. This was a huge perk for me.
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Enough said!
Set calorie goals by meal
You can break down your daily calorie goal by meal and snacks. For example, you can allot 500 calories each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and 250 each for afternoon and evening snacks. This is really helpful for me to keep my calories in check throughout the day.
Macros by meal
In addition to calories, you can also see your macros by meal or snack. Once again it’s a great way to keep yourself on track throughout the day and keep an eye on how you’re doing.
Foods highest in each macro
The premium version of My Fitness Pal allows you to see which foods are the highest in each macro. This is helpful if you’re wanting to eat more or less of a specific macro. You can get a better idea of what to eat more or less of.
Change calorie goals daily
You can set different calorie and macro goals daily, depending on if it’s a workout or rest day. While I don’t use this feature, I can see how useful it would be if your intake varies depending on your workout (or lack thereof).
Is My Fitness Pal premium worth the money?
For me it is. Using the free version of My Fitness Pal was okay when I just wanted to watch my calories, but as I got more interested in my macros, I’m really glad that I upgraded. Could I have done it without paying for premium? Yep, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as easy to track and it would have required a lot more planning to stay within my macro ranges.
If you want to learn more about My Fitness Pal I’ve written another post all about tracking food with it. You can find it here. I also have a post all about my favorite apps for healthy living. Interested in reading more posts about fitness and healthy living? Check out my Fitness page.
Do you use My Fitness Pal? What do you think of this My Fitness Pal review?