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“How Can Technology Finesse Your Fitness?” – Tatyana Fish – Class 1 – Round 2 Podcast

These past weeks, my group, Fitness Finesse, and I have been working on a podcast that speaks to listeners concerning topics surrounding fitness apps and gamifications that can be used in order to help one meet his or her fitness goals. The app I chose to discuss throughout my segment of the podcast was MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal is a downloadable application that allows one to keep a diary of food in exercise habits.

Pros of MyFitnessPal

Easy and free to download. Easy to use. Convenient setup. Allows you to share your progress and overall journey with friends.

When you first sign up you will make a profile and fill out information concerning your height, weight, goal weight, activity level, etc.

Many applications available…

  1. Weight Goals
    1. Lose, gain, or maintain.
    2. Set goals and track progress
    3. At the end of every day after you complete your food and exercise diaries there is a “If everyday were like today, in 5 weeks, you’d weigh ____ lbs” popup.
    4. Helps alleviate possibility of eating disorders while using the app
      1. If your caloric intake is too low when you complete your diary for the day it will not display your 5 week weight projection.
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  2. Food Diary
    1. Allows you to track caloric intake
    2. Set goals and try to meet them
    3. Breakdown of nutrition (see percentage of carbs, protein, fat, etc. you’ve consumed)
    4. Easy setup, log breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and water intake.
    5. Almost all foods/meals, homemade or out to eat, are encoded in the app.
    6. Barcode feature
    7. Caloric Goals
      1. Set up a daily intake goal
      2. Displays “Goal – Food (caloric intake) + Exercise  = Calories Remainig”
  3. Exercise Diary
    1. Step tracker
    2. Can log your cardio (most forms of cardiac exercise are available options in the database)
      1. Log how many minutes performed and it shows you accurate calories burned based on your weight and other factors.
    3. Can also log strength training workouts.

Cons of MyFitnessPal

When logging strength training workouts there is no generation of “calories burned”.

Overall Take on MyFitnessPal

I believe that MyFitnessPal is a great way to meet health goals. Being able to track your progress is a motivational factor that also keeps you personally accountable. I use MyFitnessPal myself and it is very easy to use and keeps me on track. I am not currently “dieting” but using the app does help me to eat healthier and in moderation. I also enjoy logging my exercises because it makes me feel accomplished. I think that everyone should give this app a try!

Podcast

To aid us in making a quality podcast, I tuned in to Ben Greenfield Fitness to gain further insight on what a podcast segment should behold. I took away great feedback while listening. I knew that my group and I should aim to match the sound quality and flow of this podcast. Also creating a high energy, engaging environment would be beneficial to our performance. Taking real topics and making them fun, exciting, and interesting was our main goal. Ben Greenfield demonstrates confidence and knowledge concerning the topics he discusses and that is something my team and I strived to emulate.

Listen to our podcast below to hear more about MyFitnessPal, and other apps and gamification techniques that may help you finesse your fitness. Listen to Tiff and I discuss the pros and cons of the MyFitnessPal and Fitbit apps, Doris and Karebo discuss gamification, and Tyler talk with callers concerning their take on our methods of finessing your fitness!

Pictured here are my group members: Tiffani (top left), Karebo (bottom left), Doris (bottom middle), Tyler (right), and myself (top middle).

 

 

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