In the world of elite fitness and high-performance health, precision matters. When you’re investing in premium personal training, you deserve a nutrition strategy that matches the level of expertise and exclusivity you experience in your workouts. That’s where MyFitnessPal comes in. This powerful tool can help you gain insight into your eating habits, fuel your body for optimal performance, and track your progress with the same level of precision and customization that we bring to your personal training sessions. It is also an invaluable tool for injury recovery, ensuring that your body gets the nutrients it needs to heal effectively.
This guide will show you how to use MyFitnessPal like a pro—efficiently, effectively, and with minimal hassle—so you can focus on what truly matters: becoming the strongest, healthiest version of yourself, whether you’re optimizing performance or navigating injury recovery. Although there’s a paid version of the app, the free one can work perfectly well for your progress tracking needs.
Step 1: Setting Up MyFitnessPal for Success
Before jumping into macros or calorie tracking, let’s get your MyFitnessPal account set up correctly for elite-level results.
1. Create Your Account
Download the MyFitnessPal app on your smartphone and sign up. Choose the premium version if you prefer an ad-free experience. Or get started with the free version now, you can always upgrade later.
2. Set Your Goals with Precision
Forget generic weight loss or muscle gain presets. You have specific goals, and MyFitnessPal allows you to customize them, which is why I like it. Work with your personal trainer at The Athleticus to determine your ideal caloric intake and macronutrient split (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates). If you are recovering from an injury, your calorie and protein intake may need to be adjusted to support tissue repair and muscle preservation. Enter these details manually under “Goals” > “Calorie & Macronutrient Goals.”
3. Incorporate InBody Data for Accuracy
For the most precise tracking, we use InBody body composition analysis at The Athleticus. This device provides detailed metrics, including skeletal muscle mass, body fat percentage, visceral fat levels, and segmental lean analysis. By integrating your InBody results with MyFitnessPal, you can tailor your nutrition strategy based on real data, ensuring that your calorie and macronutrient targets align with your unique body composition and fitness goals. Additionally, tracking your metabolic rate from InBody data can help refine calorie intake to match your energy needs accurately, which is particularly important for injury recovery when energy demands may fluctuate.
4. Sync with Other Fitness Apps
If you’re using an Apple Watch, Fitbit, or other fitness trackers, sync them with MyFitnessPal. This ensures accurate activity tracking and allows for automatic calorie adjustments based on your energy expenditure, which can be particularly useful if you’re modifying your training during injury recovery.
Step 2: Logging Your Meals Like a Pro
Accuracy is key when tracking your nutrition. Here’s how to do it with efficiency and minimal effort:
1. Use the Barcode Scanner
Eating high-quality, whole foods? Great. But when you do consume packaged items (protein bars, supplements, etc.), use the barcode scanner feature for instant logging.
2. Weigh Your Food—At Least for a Week
Yes, it might feel tedious, but weighing your food (instead of estimating) for at least a week helps you understand portion sizes. Once you’ve calibrated your eye, you can estimate more accurately moving forward. You can buy a cheap food scale, like this one from Etekcity, which was $18 on Amazon at the time of this writing. We’ve all heard the “size of your palm” and the “deck of cards” references, but most people still underestimate the quantity of things they consume by about 1/3. If that’s the case, you are likely to be actively gaining body fat instead of losing it. We don’t want to do that! Of course you do not need to bring your food scale with you to work dinners or dates. But when you are at home, get comfortable with weighing food and portion sizes, it’s extremely helpful. What gets measured gets improved!
3. Create Custom Meals and Recipes
If you frequently eat the same meals, save them as “Custom Meals” in the app. For home-cooked dishes, use the “Recipe” feature to enter ingredients once, so tracking is effortless moving forward. I take this one step further and add serving sized so that I don’t constantly have to do division.
4. Track Immediately, Not Later
Avoid the “I’ll log it later” trap. Logging right after eating ensures accuracy and keeps you accountable. Make it part of your routine—just like brushing your teeth. It takes very little time, and the act of logging really helps to stay on track.
5. Use InBody Results to Adjust Caloric Intake
Your InBody scan provides a breakdown of your lean muscle mass and fat mass, which helps determine the most accurate calorie needs. If your body composition changes significantly, update your MyFitnessPal calorie goals accordingly to continue progressing effectively. If you’re in injury recovery, ensuring adequate calorie intake is crucial to prevent muscle loss and support tissue regeneration. This is agreat topic to bring up with your coach!
Step 3: Mastering Macros for Elite Performance
For high-achieving clients like you, nutrition isn’t just about calories—it’s about macronutrient balance. Here’s how to refine your tracking:
1. Set Macronutrient Goals Based on Performance & InBody Data
Using your InBody analysis, we can determine your optimal macronutrient breakdown based on lean body mass and metabolic rate. This ensures that your protein intake supports muscle growth, your carbohydrates fuel performance, and your fats maintain hormone balance. During injury recovery, protein intake should be increased to promote tissue repair, and anti-inflammatory fats can support healing. We have lots of protein options that we can recommend, including vegan and vegetarian ones. Each coach has some personal favorites, so don’t be shy about asking more than one of us!
2. Monitor Fiber and Micronutrients
Beyond just macros, pay attention to fiber intake (25-30g/day) and key micronutrients like magnesium, potassium, and vitamin D. MyFitnessPal Premium allows you to track these. Certain micronutrients, such as vitamin C and zinc, are particularly important during injury recovery. I have found that fiber is a big one for me. Since I always try to get upwards of 140 grams of protein, consuming enough fiber is always a challenge. I have to be honest, I don’t really like the taste of any of the supplements. The one I have been using most consistently and I “like” best is Bulletproof Unflavored Innerfuel Prebiotic Fiber Powder.
3. Don’t Obsess Over Daily Perfection
Look at your weekly average instead. Some days you may eat more, others less—it’s the overall trend that matters. For some people it helps to think of a weekly protein and calorie budget rather than a daily one.
4. Adjust Macros Based on InBody Changes
If your InBody scan shows a decrease in muscle mass or an increase in fat mass, it may be time to tweak your macronutrient ratios. Your personal trainer can help fine-tune your diet based on these changes, particularly if you are working through an injury recovery period and need to adapt to lower activity levels.
Step 4: Avoiding Common Tracking Mistakes
Even the most dedicated clients make mistakes when tracking. Here’s what to watch out for:
1. Relying Too Much on MyFitnessPal’s Database
Not all database entries are accurate. Always verify macros and choose entries with a green checkmark (verified). I occasionally Google foods just to see what macros values and calorie numbers come up, and compare.
2. Forgetting to Log Oils, Sauces, and Extras
Small things add up—olive oil, salad dressings, and condiments can add hidden calories. So do small add ons like cheese, nuts, dried fruit, and crumbles. Restaurant salads are notorious for these, so watch out!
3. Overestimating Exercise Calories
Avoid eating back all “exercise calories” MyFitnessPal adds. These are often overestimated, and you may not need to adjust intake unless advised by your personal trainer. Some people simply do not count any exercise calories in their calculations, thus assuring a calorie deficit. If one of your goals is fat loss, consider doing that, or allowing yourself only a small (50 calories or so) adjustment on days that you work out.
4. Ignoring Changes in Body Composition
If your InBody scan shows stagnation or undesired shifts in muscle or fat levels, reevaluate your calorie intake and macros to ensure continued progress. If you’re in injury recovery, monitoring these shifts is especially important to prevent muscle loss and excessive fat gain. What’s great about working with a trainer and using these apps is that you can change, pivot and adjust. If things do not work well, we can make a shift, monitor and adjust. This is a personal journey and it takes a bit of experimentation to find out what works for you now. Because there may have been things that worked before and are not working now. Don’t get discouraged – there are techniques and approaches that an edicated trainer can help you find.
Step 5: Making MyFitnessPal Work for Your Lifestyle
You have a busy, high-level life. Tracking shouldn’t be a burden. Here’s how to integrate it seamlessly:
1. Pre-Log Your Meals
Plan ahead by logging your meals in the morning. This helps you stay within your goals and eliminates decision fatigue. This really helps me out! I plan out my day in the mornings, playing with portion sizes and different snack options until I hit my ideal calorie and macros list of food. Then I use it to eat throughout the day!
2. Use Voice Logging for Quick Entries
If typing feels tedious, use MyFitnessPal’s voice entry feature to log foods quickly.
3. Leverage Reports & Insights
Use the app’s reporting tools to track trends over time. If your weight, performance, or recovery isn’t aligning with expectations, compare the data with your InBody scans and consult your personal trainer for adjustments.
4. Give Yourself Flexibility
80/20 Rule: Aim for consistency, not perfection. An indulgent meal won’t ruin progress if your weekly average stays on track. Just make sure it’s truly 1 meal, if you’re like me it can be a slippery slope!
Step 6: The Athleticus Approach—Using MyFitnessPal & InBody as Data Tools, Not Diets
By pairing MyFitnessPal with InBody analysis, we remove the guesswork from nutrition. Whether optimizing performance or navigating injury recovery, tracking your intake with precision ensures the best possible results.
So track wisely, train hard, and let’s make every meal count toward your best physique yet.
