Post Gall Bladder Week 1 - Using MyFitnessPal

Today marks just over 1 week since I lost my Gall Bladder.  Tuesday I finally felt good enough to eat something more creative than soda crackers and sports drinks so I renewed my quest for an almost-no-fat diet.  Right now my body has a very limited ability to process fatty foods.  For the next couple weeks I need to keep all fat intake to a minimum to let my liver adjust to losing its sidekick.  I figured I would see how practical fitness gadgets can be for a very specific health issue such as this.

This week I used what appears to be the most commonly used fitness app: MyFitnessPal.  The technology is solid and user interface is straight forward.  It can be used in a web browser or as a smart phone app.  For my purposes the smart phone app was the most practical due to my lack of mobility.  After installing the app I created an ID and a profile.  Do not worry about filling it out perfect.  I was able to go back and edit the profile after the fact.

Once I was set up it was just a matter of adding food.  I started searching for almost-no-fat food and was pleasantly surprised to find it is the first macro-nutrient listed:

I realize this is pretty much industry standard but it was still incredibly exciting for me.  It has made my quest relatively easy and quick.

To add food I can either type it in as a searchable item or scan a bar code.  I was surprised by the number of bar codes stored in the data base.  It has your standard national pre-packaged brand names, of course, but it also has  some more obscure items such as Cuties!

Although currently low on my priority list, a user can also add exercises.  Right now I can very quickly add... nothing.  But for those of you watching calorie intake it is very useful.  The MyFitnessPal Home Screen shows target calories for the day, number of calories consumed and number burnt through activity.  The more calories you burn, the higher your goal number goes!

The only thing I found I did not like was trying to add resistance training to the exercise totals.  It would be nice if there was a category for Resistance Training: Light, or Resistance Training: High Rep or something similar.  Trying to add each exercise individually was tedious and I eventually gave up.

Overall I think MyFitnessPal has a hit.  The user interface was simple to use and gave me the information I needed most.  I realize this program is primarily for recording food but I would like to see them put a little more time in to logging exercise beyond cardio.   Most of my clients do some sort of resistance training along with cardio and watching what they eat and they definitely deserve credit for it.

What do you think of MyFitnessPal?  Do you use it?  Has it helped you reach your Fitness Goal?  Comment below with any comments or questions.  Next week I will take a look at Loseit! and see how it stacks up in my quest for almost-no-fat food.

Eating right without a gall bladder: Low Fat, No Spice, High Anxiety!

As I approach 40, I have realized what most other 40+ year-olds already know: regardless of what I do, how well I eat, or how much exercise I get, my body is eventually going to betray me.  It's most recent coup comes from the digestive system.  My gall bladder has decided to create stones, eject them in to the common bile duct and cause bouts of extreme pain!  So, on Thursday, out comes the would be saboteur.

My doctor, whom I trust implicitly, has strongly suggested an ultra low-fat, no spice diet.  She claims eating these things will "anger" the gall bladder and may cause it to produce more stones or simply cause the existing stones to migrate to critical areas.  These things sound, bad.  So I have committed myself to this new form of eating until Thursday.  It has not been easy.  I work in the fitness industry.  I get it. Less saturated fat.  But NO FAT?  That means no oils, almost no beans (no humus!) no avocado, and no peanut butter!  I have had to embrace a diet of grilled or broiled poultry, fish, egg whites, rice, veggies, and fruit.  It is a next to impossible task if you want any flavor or variety in food.  

For all you fitness fanatics saying, "That is the way you should eat every day all day!"  No.  That is not actually true.  Our bodies need fatty acids for many things including utilization of fat soluble vitamins and, most obviously to me these last couple weeks, satiation!  But for the time being my gall bladder get's to win the fight even though the war will belong to me.  No fat and no spice.

I have been informed even after my surgery I will need to gradually increase my fat intake back to normal human levels.  I have been advised against visiting the local greasy spoon this weekend and pizza is a truly poor decision.  I decided this would be a great time to review three popular apps for weight management and food intake.  It SHOULD help me build variety in to my otherwise bland world. I will take a look at MyFitnessPal, Loseit!, and Fooducate. Starting Friday May 30, I will review one each week and do a head to head to head comparison on week 4. I will look at pros and cons for each app, what I find useful, what I find lacking and which one works best for the every day exerciser.

If there is anything specific you would like covered in the reviews please comment and I will take a look next week and let you know what I find.  Wish me luck!