Automatic Meal Planner vs Calorie Counting
In theory, weight loss should be simple: you need to burn more calories than you consume, what is often referred to as the “calories in vs. calorie out” principle. But, the tricky part is often figuring out how many calories you are actually consuming. Calorie counting apps have done an excellent job in that respect but they don't help with another key problem...
What is a Calorie Counting App?
A calorie counting app is any service that someone uses to keep track of the number of calories they consume each day. Users enter the type and quantity of foods they eat throughout the day, and the app calculates how many calories are in the foods they choose to eat. Most apps calculate the other macronutrients (fat, carbs and protein) as well, and sometimes include micronutrient information so users can keep track of their vitamin and mineral intake.
Calorie counting websites can be helpful tools to assist people stay on track with their health and fitness goals and more closely monitor what they are putting into their bodies. Sometimes foods have more calories than you would expect, such as nuts or breads, and you are unknowingly consuming an excess of calories even if you think you are not eating a large quantity of food. The majority of people actually underestimate how many calories they eat on any given day, not to mention the calorie bombs that are alcohol and other beverages. Having the information in front of you from the app not only educates users about the true calorie content of their meals, but helps people be more conscious of what they are putting in their bodies, helping to establish healthier eating habits. Calorie counting apps can also be useful prior to eating when planning a recipe as an easy way to check the calories in a recipe before you spend the time making a surprisingly unhealthy meal.
However, counting calories is not the only important thing when it comes to dieting. Calories are extremely important, but counting them will not do you any good if you are unsure what foods to eat in the first place. Plus, for the information in calorie counters to be accurate, users must know the exact quantities of the food they are eating. Taking out a scale before every meal is a complicated extra step, and very few people know how many grams of food are in front of them. But, without this information the calories counted in the app may not even be accurate. In many cases, having meals planned out for you can make all the difference when it comes to effectively dieting, especially when it comes to correct portioning. You do not want to spend time typing in the details of what you are eating only to find your quantities have been wrong, and thus the caloric information has been wrong as well. This is a waste of time and energy. This is where meal planning services such as My Diet Meal Plan come in.
What is an Automatic Meal Planner?
Automatic meal planners are different because they actually construct personalized meal plans for a client without the hassle involved in planning recipes with a calorie counter. High quality meal planning services such as My Diet Meal Plan allow clients to enter in specific preferences including their weight loss goals, which could be simply maintenance or fitness focused for muscle growth, specific diet type (i.e., paleo, vegan, Atkins, etc.), number of meals and snacks per day, food allergies, religious exclusions, and more. My Diet Meal Plan even allows clients to select specific ingredients to leave out of their meal plan, creating a completely customizable planner. Automatic meal planners are an amazing tool for people who need help figuring out what to eat in order to reach their weight loss and health goals.
Rather than simply entering all of your food into a calorie counting app, utilizing an automatic meal planner takes things one step further by providing recipes and meal choices for the week. This makes it incredibly easy to eat healthy food and stay on track with your diet. The service is completely customizable, and if you do not like the original recipes designed for you, you have the option to keep tweaking your preferences until you find the perfect meal plan for you.
Why Should I Use an Automatic Meal Planner?
As discussed above, many people greatly underestimate how many calories they eat throughout the day. Calorie counting apps help alleviate this problem by making it easy to track calories and search for the macronutrient content of your favorite foods. Having the information in front of you makes it easier to make good choices and lose weight, rather than simply guessing how many calories you are eating.
But, consistency is key when it comes to weight loss and general health. Calorie counters show you how many calories you are eating, but offers no help sticking to the proper number of calories for your weight loss goals. An automatic meal planner takes the effort out of dieting by providing you with customized weekly meal plans specific for your ideal diet.
Many people give up on their diets because it is too much work to come up with healthy, but appealing, recipes day after day. My Diet Meal Plan does the hard work for you, so you never have to waste time trying to find recipes that fit your needs. This is especially useful for anyone following a specific diet, such as the Atkins diet. An automatic meal planner will save countless time that would have been spent searching for recipes, many of which may even include ingredients you do not like. My Diet Meal Plan presents you with recipes specific to your preferences, leaving out any ingredients you dislike or cannot eat. This ensures you will not give up on your diet for lack of being able to find new exciting recipes that make sticking to your diet appealing.
Who Should Use an Automatic Meal Planner?
The best thing about a high quality meal planning service such as My Diet Meal Plan is that it can be tailored to fit the diet needs of anyone. My Diet Meal Plan is not just for people who want to lose weight; it is also useful for anyone simply looking to maintain their current weight, or those looking to build muscle and improve their fitness. My Diet Meal Plan does have options to create recipes for specific diets, but also includes a flexible dieting option designed for people simply looking to take the stress out of finding healthy, delicious recipes and have a pre-designed weekly meal plan to simplify their life (we believe a flexible plan is actually the most appropriate for the majority of people).
An automatic meal planner is also a great choice for people following a specific diet that may not have as many recipes available on mainstream sources, such as a protein sparing modified fast (PSMF diet).
It is also of use for people following a vegetarian or vegan diet, both of which are options on My Diet Meal Plan. Oftentimes, people following this diet struggle to find healthy sources of protein, as many vegan recipes will simply be vegetable based while neglecting the need for a source of protein. My Diet Meal Plan ensures that even people following a specialized diet eat all of the necessary macro and micro nutrients to meet their goals and remain healthy, while eating delicious meals specifically catered to them.
