I’ve been in lift/strength/muscle building mode for months. I have been lifting consistently and I feel pretty good with my progress.
Not sure how it happened but during my obsession with lifting weights, I began following a handful of vegan bodybuilders on YouTube. Mostly it was for inspiration and to get some recipe ideas.
One thing I noticed immediately was that every one tracked their food or macronutrients (macros). It’s not surprisingly as some of these bodybuilders compete and need to be on point. It got me to thinking – maybe I should track my macros.
I have never bought into the calorie-counting math, which is generally associated with weight loss, so keeping a food diary opened a whole new world to me.
Giving it a try
I signed up for a trial version of MyFitnessPal for a month. With the premium trial version, I could scan food barcodes, create recipes and save meals. At first it was a lot of fun. A few friends have been using the app sporadically over the years so I was able to tap into their knowledge.
One of my main goals was to really dive down to what I was putting into my body as a semi-active trail runner. Was I eating enough for my activity level? Was I getting enough protein, carbs and fats to stay healthy? Was I just a complete disaster? Would this be a complete waste of time?
My thinking going into this challenge? I eat a mostly whole food based vegan diet. My blood tests come back fairly clean every year. I shouldn’t be deficient in any nutrients but if I can improve my diet in anyway I am ready for the cold hard facts.
How it worked
Setting up my profile was easy enough. After putting in the basics: weight, height and age, I chose my activity level: not very active, lightly active, active and very active. Then I set my weekly goal from losing half a pound to two pounds; maintaining weight and gaining half a pound to gaining one pound per week.
I chose very active and a goal to lose one pound per week.
You could set fitness goals such as number of workouts per week or minutes per week. I didn’t bother with this setting because Strava (and my strength notebook) tells me everything I need to know.
It was the nutrient goals that I found most interesting.
You could set your carbs, protein and fat by percentages (or grams) then the app calculated your allotted calories for the day. So for example, if I wanted to eat 50% (228g) carbs; 18% (81g) protein and 32% (65g) fat, the app would set me my calorie goal for the day was 1,821.
I could see immediately how this could get obsessive. The website was even more fun because it has a library of educational articles on everything from working out to motivation and recipes.
I am eating more calories than I thought
So with anything new, I quickly started using all the functions in the app. I dutifully logged and tracked every ounce of my food. I created a few recipes and added to my profile. I even bought a food scale to log my stuff in grams. It was fun!
After the first real shocker – realizing that peanut butter was so high in fat calories – I began changing some of mindless eating habits. (Gone were the days when I got snacky and I just dipped a banana in a jar of peanut butter or ate a couple of very generous spoonfuls.) Felt like I needed a treat at the store? I began consulting the food labels for more than animal bits. I wanted to ensure the nutrition/calories would fit into my day.
Quirky function – move more, eat more
I synched my Garmin with MyFitnessPal. It would calculate any calories I burned during the activity. Then it would tell me how many more calories I could eat in addition to my “calorie goal” for the day. I thought that was odd because it felt like you were being rewarded with food every time you moved your body. I quickly changed that setting so I wouldn’t see the numbers.
But I know the more active you are, the more you should eat – which comes to the next lesson. I was clearly not eating enough after a long run or a challenging lifting session. I started having a protein shake/smoothie after my runs and workouts. The difference has been incredible. My recovery times have definitely improved and I am feeling so much better.
When it comes to protein
I eat enough protein to maintain a healthy vegan diet for the average person. However when you are an active person trying to gain muscle, you need to up your intake. I vastly under-estimated the amount of protein I have been eating – still enough but I thought I was getting more.
I started adding more protein in the form of tofu, seitan etc. to my daily food intake. Honestly there have been days when I simply have toast (with peanut butter) for dinner and call it a day. The app has really put things in focus. Let me tell you it was hard to keep stuffing food in my face but it was worth it. I feel great.
After I tracked my food for a month (or when the premium trial expired)
Years ago I earned a certificate in plant-based nutrition from T Colin Campbell School of Nutrition so it’s not like I don’t know what to put in my body to maintain a healthy lifestyle. However it’s fun to refocus especially if you feel like you need a wake up call and change the way you are eating.
I am not under the illusion that this app or any food tracking app is 100% accurate. I really questioned the suggested daily calories for someone who is very active. (Honestly I probably ate about 300 calories over than my suggested intake. I kept changing the goals and the app still put me under 2,000 calories/per day most of the time.)
I haven’t used MyFitnessPal since the trial ran out. I liked tracking my food – I got a little obsessive with weighing my food and logging into the app. I changed a few habits for the better but I don’t need another app to track a part of my life. I will take some of the insights and be mindful of what I am eating.
All these apps that track everything from your mood to your sleep patterns is a bit disconcerting. Is all this quantification necessary?
Have you ever tracked your food? Do you count calories? I would love to hear from you in the comments.