MyFitnessPal
Reddit take
AI summary of the Reddit excerpts below — not a quote
MyFitnessPal is a long-standing calorie and macro tracking app frequently recommended for its extensive food database and recipe-saving capabilities. While it remains a popular tool for building nutritional awareness, user sentiment is increasingly divided. Recent discussions highlight frustration with a bloated user interface and the decision to move previously free features, such as the barcode scanner, behind a subscription paywall.
Pros
- Extensive food database that simplifies calorie and macro tracking.
- Robust 'create a recipe' feature that allows users to calculate and divide servings for meal prepping.
- AI-powered functionality to parse nutrition labels from photos.
- Effective for identifying unnecessary eating and spending habits.
Cons
- The interface is frequently described as bloated and difficult to navigate.
- Core features like the barcode scanner have been moved to a paid subscription tier.
- Using the app can feel like a 'chore' due to its complex layout.
Caveats
- Many users now view the app as 'stuck in the past' compared to newer competitors like Cronometer or MacroFactor.
- The transition of features to a paywall has led some long-term users to seek alternatives.
Best for
- Meal preppers who need to save and track custom multi-portion recipes.
- Users who prioritize having the largest possible database of food items.
- Individuals looking for a tool to help set and track specific weight loss goals.
Avoid if
- You want a streamlined, minimalist tracking experience.
- You are looking for a fully-featured free app (barcode scanning is often cited as a paid feature).
- You find complex app navigation frustrating.
This summary uses balanced time weighting with about a 6-month half-life. The evidence is older, with a median source age of 575 days, which may affect the accuracy of current feature availability and pricing in this fast-changing app category.
Sentiment
15 positive (71%) · 2 mixed (10%) · 4 negative (19%)
Trust + time weighted score: +51% · raw score 52%
What redditors said (10 of 21)
MyFitnessPal has really gone backward. Or perhaps it's just stuck in the past while better platforms appeared.
cronometer for nutrition tracking because myfitnesspal is bloated now
the app itself has great functionality and I love the food database, but it's hard to remember where all of the stuff is in the app to the point where it feels like a chore
Also, using myfitnesspal works too
track your calories on something like myfitnesspal
I tried out apps like MyFitnessPal and later NutriPal, and both made me aware of how much unnecessary stuff I was buying and eating.
MyFitnessPal barcode isn’t free though I believe
I use MyFitnessPal, and have been for years. They have a "create a recipe" tab that I use weekly. You can input all the ingredients and then divide it by servings, which I would put into different containers.
I use Cronometer for food/health tracking (it's like an improved MyFitnessPal)
If you are trying to eat healthier, you can put your ingredients into something like MyFitnessPal and see if the macros (protein, carbs, fat) or nutrients (cholesterol, fiber, saturated fat, etc) could be tweaked to help meet your goals.
Compare
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