MyFitnessPal Blog

A number of people have asked whether they could change their username without losing all of the diary entries they've created.  Well, now you can!

I added the ability today to change your username ONE TIME ONLY.  I limited it to only one change per account because I didn't want people to be constantly changing their username and confusing other members of the community.  But you can change it once, so make sure to choose wisely when you pick your new name - you won't be able to change it again.

 To change your username, go to "My Home", then click "Settings", then "Change Username".

A lot of folks have also wished they could change their starting weight or other old measurement entries so that their weight loss badges are more accurate.  So today, I added an area where you can edit your old measurement entries as well as your starting weight. 

Just go to "My Home", then "Check-in", then click on the "Edit Previous Entries" button.  You'll be taken to a page where you can see all of your past entries and delete them or add new ones as you'd like.

Finally, I modified the way we were calculating your weight loss on your weight loss badges.  Previously, the way I had been determining how much weight you had loss was to calculate the difference between the very first weight entry you had entered on the site and your current weight. The problem with this method is that if you ever gained weight and exceeded that initial starting weight, you wouldn't get credit for losing it back. 

For example, if the first weight you entered on the site was 200 lbs., but you stopped using the site, got into some bad habits, and peaked at 220 lbs, then got back on track and now weight 180lbs, your weight loss would only be displayed as having lost 20 lbs (200lbs - 180lbs).   

I've now changed the badges to show the difference between your highest weight and your current weight.  So in the example above, your weight loss would be shown as 40 lbs (220lbs - 180lbs) which is more motivating and more accurate.

If you have any problems or questions about using these new features, just let me know. Thanks! 

Hi folks,

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday season!  I know I haven't posted for a while, but it's because I've been spending all my free time working on a major update of the site which I just released today.  Here's a quick rundown of the new features:

MEMBER PROFILES

You now can create your own profile page on MyFitnessPal.  Use it to share a little bit more about yourself with the rest of the community, including why you want to get in shape, what/who your fitness inspirations are, and any other information about yourself you'd like to offer.

To see your profile page, click on the "My Home" tab, then click on "Profile".  You can also go directly to any user's profile by visiting:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/[USERNAME]

...but replace [USERNAME] with the username of the person whose profile you'd like to see. 

MAIL SYSTEM

I've added a messaging system to MyFitnessPal so that you can send each other private messages.  You can send encouragement or motivational messages, tips, and more.  To send a user mail, just go to their profile and click on "Send Message".  To view your own mail, go to "My Home", then click on "Mail".

When you receive a new message, you'll be notified by email that a new message has arrived.  If you want to turn off these notifications, just go to "My Home" > "Settings" > "Change Email Preferences". 

FRIENDS

As part of your profile, you can add other MyFitnessPal users as friends.  Once you've established a friendship, you can leave comments on their profile.  In the future, friends will also be able to do things like view each other's diaries, and more.

MORE ON THE WAY

All of these features are hopefully just the beginning of a much better way for our community to help each other.  I'd like to add things like dieting groups where members can create their own interest-oriented groups like "Getting married", "Over 50", or "South Beach Diet Addicts".  I'm also planning on adding progress pictures as part of your profile so you can take pictures of yourself over time and see the weight coming off.  And I've got a whole bunch of other iimprovements planned, many of the ideas for which came from your suggestions.

So stay tuned!  More is definitely on the way!

In the meantime, if you have any questions about any of the new features, just let me know here or in the help forums.  Hope you are all enjoying the site! 

I've gotten a lot of requests for a way to see more of the nutrients that we track in your food diary, as well as an easier way to print your diary so it can be shared with a nutritionist or doctor.

Well, at long last, you can now do both!

Tonight, I added a new "View Full Report (Printable)" button at the bottom of both the Food and Exercise diaries.  Click on it, and you'll see a view of your Food Diary which contains almost all of the nutrients we track on one page.  And best of all, it's all displayed in a nice printable view that you can easily print out and show to whomever you'd like.

You can also change the date range you are viewing so that you can, for example, see a week's worth of diaries at once and print them all easily.  You can even customize your view to not show your Food Notes or Exercise Diary if you prefer.

Hopefully this will make it much easier to see a more complete view of your nutritional intake and exercise history and share it with whomever you like.

If you experience any problems with the new report, just let me know.

Hope you're all enjoying the site! 

Do you have a blog or website? Want to show your visitors a glimpse into your progress on MyFitnessPal? Add one of our new weight loss badges to your site!

It's simple to do - just copy and paste the code we provide you into your blog, MySpace page, or website, and we'll automatically update it for you everytime you check in your weight.  

We'll be adding more designs and sizes shortly.  Let me know how you like them!

Get your own personalized weight loss badge now

Just added a few new brands to the food database tonight:

• Kashi
• Healthy Choice
• Hershey's
• Starkist

Enjoy!

Currently, I'm working on adding nutriional information for many more brands and restaurants including:

• Healthy Choice
• Subway
• Kashi
• Starkist
• Uncle Ben's
• Newman's Own
• M&M's
• Land O' Lakes
• Powerbar
• JIF
• 8th continent
• Hunt's
• Boston Market
• Klondike
• Breyers
• Wendy's
• Life Cereal
• Quaker Oatmeal

If you have any requests for specific brand names or restaurants, just let me know in the comments below.

Enjoy! 

Some of you may have noticed the new "Tools" tab on MyFitnessPal.  The tools section will eventually contain a variety of utilities designed to help you in your weight loss goals. For starters, I've added a BMI calculator which can help you determine your body mass index and consequently, a target healthy weight range to shoot for.  I've also created a BMR calculator so you can see just how many calories your body burns just to stay alive.

If you have any feedback on the current tools, or any other tool requests or ideas, be sure to leave them in the comments below.

Thanks, and hope you're enjoying the site!

I made a couple of small feature updates today: first, you can now view the nutritional information of any food item just before you enter it into your diary.

After you've selected the food you want to enter, just click on the "nutritional info" link below the description and a pop-up window will appear which will show you the nutrition facts for that item.  Hopefully this will be a lot more convenient for folks to see what nutrients the food you're going to eat contains.

I also have created a system to help ensure that the nutritional information in our database is accurate.  One of my primary goals is to vastly expand the food database so that you won't have to enter so many foods yourself.  A few weeks ago, I added an option where you can share the food you've entered with other MyFitnessPal members, and there's been an overwhelming response: we've already had over 8,000 foods submitted!

The only issue is that I can't keep up with checking all of the items submitted to ensure they are accurate.  So, instead, I'd like to ask for everyone's help.  

Foods submitted by members are now shown with an asterix(*) in your search results.  When you select one of these items, you can also get a sense of how accurate the information is because we'll show you how many times the nutrition facts for that item has been confirmed by another member.  A confirmation simply means that another member has compared an actual nutrition facts label to what has been entered into the MyFitnessPal database and has verified that the information is accurate. 

If there have not been any confirmations yet, you can help us make sure the data is accurate by viewing the nutritional information yourself and comparing it to the information on the label.  If you can confirm that the data is correct, just click the "Yes" button in the pop-up window.  

If, on the other hand, it's not accurate, click "No".  I'll review all foods that get No votes and correct the information.

Hopefully, this new system will let me add foods much faster to the database while also making sure that the info we have is always accurate.  

Thanks, and hope everyone is enjoying the site! 

Think you know the facts about getting fit? You may be surprised to learn how many are really fiction.  Check out this list in another great article from WebMD.

Fitness Myth No. 6: If you're not working up a sweat, you're not working hard enough...

Top 9 Fitness Myths -- Busted!

Find yourself constantly feeling tired and drained?  WebMD has a great guide on how to avoid fatigure by improving your diet and energizing your spirit. 

Every day, 2.2 million Americans complain of being tired. Most of us chalk it up to having too much to do and not enough time to do it in, especially during extra-busy periods. But often the true culprits are our everyday habits: what we eat, how we sleep, and how we cope emotionally.

Lots of great tips on what to eat and how often, but there are also some suggestions you might not expect like letting go of a grudge or uncluttering a corner. 

Your Guide to Never Feeling Tired Again