Dietary Analysis Using MyFitnessPal
EXER 105 Assignment 3
Despite much debate and many popular fad diets, “Calories in vs Calories out” has been
consistently shown to be the primary driver of successful weight management. A
valuable tool for this strategy is calorie counting or nutrition tracking.
For this assignment, you will keep a detailed dietary and activity record for a minimum
of 2 days us a free app, MyFitnessPal. The 2 days that you select to record your diet do
not have to be consecutive but should represent typical days. The accuracy of your
results will be dependent upon the accuracy of the amount of all food and beverages
that you record. You may enter physical activity manually or use the built-in activity
tracker in the app or other trackers such as FitBit.
Assignment Details
1. Create a free personal profile on MyFitnessPal (www.myfitnesspal.com). Download
the app for your phone and log into the account. iOS and Android apps are available
in the app stores. You do not need a premium account for the assignment. The app
will offer you a free trial, you can click past this page.
2. On the webpage, click “Apps” and then “BMR”. This is your estimated calories per
day. Compare this number to what you calculated in class.
3. Track your food intake for 2 full days. Enter in all meals, beverages, and snacks. To
be more accurate, enter immediately after eating to avoid missed meals or snacks.
4. Track your physical activity in the app. You may be able to sync automatically with
other apps such as Fitbit, Garmin, Polar, or Samsung Health if you already have
accounts to track activity/steps with one of those companies. Apple currently does
not automatically sync with MyFitnessPal.
5. Analyze your diet as an average of the 2 days using the Food Tracker and analyze
your activity using the Physical Activity Tracker.
6. Use the MyFitnessPal Reports tab to review the Nutrition Reports for your 2-day
diet. Reports are available for calories, fats, carbs, activity, etc.
Using the resources on the Myfitnesspal website, write up a 1-2 page summary report
(500-750 words) of the findings. Questions to address in your report may include the
following questions:
What percentage of your kcals came from carbohydrate, protein, fat?
What are the nutrient excesses and deficiencies in your diet?
What changes do you believe you could make to improve your diet and how could you
implement them? What food groups do you need to work on?
What is your intake of carbohydrate, protein, and fat expressed as grams per kilogram
body weight?
How does your physical activity compare against the Physical Activity Guidelines for
Americans?
How does your calorie intake compare to your calorie burn or your estimated caloric
need?
What is your overall opinion of the tool (pros, cons, ease of use)?
Due Date – Tuesday, November 19th at midnight, submitted on Moodle!
Submission must include the written summary report and the daily logs from MyFitnessPal.
Grading Rubric
2 days of Food and Physical Activity Logs from MyFitnessPal – 20 Points
Detailed tracking of food intake, macronutrients, micronutrients, etc.
Detailed tracking of physical activity
Written Summary of Food Logs and Activity Logs – 25 Points
Written report summarizing the data collected.
Understanding of the nutritional values.
Reflection of findings and personal diet.
Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, etc – 5 points
