Mastering MyFitnessPal

In part 1 of How To Make Your Perfect Meal Plan, we calculated your diet calories, and your macros.  Now we're going to turn that into something you can actually eat!

To recap, we ended up part 1 of the meal plan creation process with something that looks like this:

example macro breakdown

It is essential that you have your calories and macros calculated.  If you haven't got them done, head back to part 1 of How To Make The Perfect Meal Plan.  If you've got it, then let's move on!

Step 5: ​Input your calories and macros to MyFitnessPal

We've been using MyFitnessPal for over a year, and we've found nothing else that compares to it's ease of use for tracking food and (for us) creating meal plans.

MyFitnessPal tracks your calories and macros for ​every food that you input.  You can put meals in or you can put individual ingredients in or even just scan the barcode on packaged foods.  MyFitnessPal automagically inputs the calories and macros in for you!

​Customising Your Calories And Macros On
The MyFitnessPal Mobile App:

  • step 1
  • step 2
  • step 3
  • step 4
  • step 5

change your macros by clicking any of the percentages

customising myfitnesspal step 5

​Customising Your Calories And Macros On
The MyFitnessPal website (desktop):

click this link to open MyFitnessPal to the customisation page (make sure you're logged in first) - this will open a new tab for you so you can stay here too.

Once you're in, change your calories to your diet calories (1), then your macro ratios (2).  Then click "Change Goals"​ to save your customised goals.

customising myfitnesspal desktop

MyFitnessPal only allows macro percentage increments of 5%.  So if you have numbers that aren't multiples of 5, just round up or down and make sure they still add up to 100%

Step 6: Add Your Meals

Now that you have your calories and macros in MyFitnessPal, you just have to add in your meals that you want to eat.  This is where you can get creative.  Eat whatever you want, but make sure that the daily calories and macros match your goals.

adding food to myfitnesspal desktop

In the example above, I used a Big Mac Combo.  That was on purpose.  You can literally eat anything you want, as long as it fits within your macros, and your body composition goals will be attained.  You'll be shredded to the bone...

...But...

You may not be healthy.​  You'll look like a magazine model, but you'll feel like shit.

You'll look like a magazine model, but you'll feel like shit.

Click to Tweet

sooooooo....​

Step 7: Nutritionalise!

Once you've got your ideal meal plan, just swap out ingredients for healthier ones.  Keep going until you've got a plan that is delicious, filling, healthy and sustainable. 

We like to make our meal plans so filling that you'll literally struggle to finish them, and so nutritious that you, like Jamie, will feel 10 years younger.​

Bread and vegetables both fall into the carbohydrate category.  Swap bread for vegetables and you'll increase the volume of your feed dramatically, and the nutritional benefits will go through the roof!

That's a pretty obvious example, but here's one that you may not have thought of:

Swap spaghetti for zucchini

Print that out and stick it on your fridge!  (or you can just repin it!)

There are plenty of little calories saving food volumisers you can use and we recommend.

If you'd like us to do the work for you​

If you'd like us to calculate your calorie and macro needs, and create a meal plan that's customised just for you... your goals, your body, your food likes and dislikes, then click here to order yours now:

We love making meal plans, so click the link above if you want one for you.