Last Updated on May 24, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
MyFitnessPal is a free system that has great potential to help you get into shape while monitoring food intake. One of the biggest reasons I like the system so much is because of the social element it presents. It can keep you connected with a wide range of people while engaging those who already follow you on Facebook. Since it’s capable of connecting to other apps as well, it can be used as a central hub for your fitness.
The Social Aspects of MyFitnessPal
Using MyFitnessPal is relatively straight forward. Once you connect the apps you want to use, such as logging in with Facebook, it can keep everyone apprised of your progress. I like this idea because it helps me keep honest with myself as well as friends and family. Although you can always lie and not record eating an entire bag of Oreos, you’re only truly hurting yourself. Here are some of the social elements I like about MyFitnessPal.
It’s Own Social Network
You can meet all kinds of great people on MyFitnessPal. You can directly interact with virtually anyone on the system from anywhere in the world. You can peruse the forums for information or engage others in one-on-one conversations. Those who are in your group of friends will see your updates as you will see theirs. For instance, you’d see every update to my weight and food submissions if you were to follow me on the site. Not that you have to, but I would welcome the invite. 🙂
Blogging
I enjoyed creating blog posts on the site when I first started using the system. That was before I decided to take it a step further and create Crossing Colorado. It’s a basic editing system, not anywhere as advanced as WordPress. However, it does provide a lot of tools if you want to engage others on the site. You have control of the basics, such as color and font sizes. However, I haven’t use it since I started using WordPress for just about everything now. It’s not a bad system, it’s just limited for what I personally want to accomplish. On the upside, MyFitnessPal can be set to update Facebook and Twitter anytime you create a new blog post.
Facebook Updates
Since I connect using Facebook, I have everything set to share publicly. Anytime I lose pounds, it’s automatically posted to the social hub. In your “Settings” area, you can change how information is shared with your Facebook account. For example, you currently have the ability to post on Facebook when:
- You post a status update
- You’ve lost weight
- You log an exercise
- You create a new blog post
- You complete a diary entry for the day
Personally, I share status, weight loss and blog posts, even though I don’t use the blog system anymore.
Twitter Updates
MyFitnessPal can also be used to update your Twitter account automatically. Essentially, it will use the same settings as Facebook when you want to share specific information. I currently don’t have a lot of followers on Twitter, but they’ll see the updates as soon as I save them in MyFitnessPal. If you’re trying to build a fitness blog based on your activities, this is also a great way to keep the site and social accounts active when you don’t log into Twitter and Facebook as often as you’d like.
Why Would You Want to Be Social?
From my point of view, being social is what keeps me motivated to continue. I show all my stats as a way to keep me honest as well as demonstrate to myself and everyone else that I can do this. I welcome the criticism as it helps me focus on maintaining my efforts to drop down below 200 pounds. I still have a long way to go, but it’s those who see the content who are driving me to succeed.
Meeting New People
I also enjoy the aspect of meeting new people and sharing success stories. Systems like MyFitnessPal make it easier to find a buddy that is in the same situation as yourself. Those friendly connections can be more profound to your success than you might realize. I don’t have a lot of friends yet, especially since so many people keep dropping off the fitness track. It’s OK though…the ones I do have are quality individuals.
Out of all the tools I have for fitness at my disposal, MyFitnessPal is probably one of the most utilized. I track my food throughout the day and my other apps feed workouts and calorie burn into it automatically. If you take advantage of the social element of the application, it may be greatly influential to your own fitness progress. Connect with others in any app you use. Even hermits like myself need social connections every now and then.
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