Whether you are starting a new diet or simply trying to clean up your eating habits, you have most likely heard of the mobile app, MyFitnessPal. While healthy eating may seem like an uphill battle at times, downloading the app and understanding how it works can be an extremely useful tool to help you reach your health and fitness goals.

Looking back at my food diary, I have been tracking my dietary intake (the good, the bad, and the ugly) for over 3 years! From my personal experiences, I have come up with 10 key pieces of advice that I believe will maximize your success with the app, as well as your diet.

1) Pay attention to macronutrients

The three macronutrients, protein, carbs, and fats, are the main components of our diet and are essential for our bodies to function properly. In order to gain muscle mass or lose fat, it is crucial to pay attention to the ratio of macros in your daily diet. THIS RATIO IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE. Unfortunately there is no magic “cookie-cutter” program to follow to achieve your health goals. The truth of it is, some people simply require more or less of any one group than others. There are many macronutrient calculators online to help guide you in the right direction, but it may take a little bit of experimentation on your own to find what break down is best for you.