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Man Drops 100 Pounds Using This One Fitness App

One popular trainer and YouTuber explains how he used MyFitnessPal to reach his body goals.
FACT CHECKED BY Alex Daniel

It's no secret that the app store on your phone is literally bursting with fitness and health apps. There are meditation apps, workout apps, anti-anxiety apps, HIIT timers, weight-loss apps, sleep trackers, pedometer apps, apps that connect hyper-obsessive running and cycling communities, and even apps that are devoted to motivational quotes and pump-up speeches.

Some are better than others, of course, and, if you're looking to make some meaningful changes to your life, it may feel daunting scrolling through them all to figure out the one that's right for you. (For what it's worth—and call me a traditionalist—but I swear by the good-old J&J Official 7-Minute Workout App. For more on the man who created it, see here.)

However, if slimming down in a big way is your primary goal, one popular trainer says that you can do far worse than downloading one specific app. After all, he claims that it helped him drop an astounding 100 pounds.

Jackson Desjardins is a YouTuber with more than 43,000 subscribers who follow his steady flow of practical life tips, fitness tips, and body positivity tips that are almost entirely rooted in his own weight-loss experience. In a recent video, he explains how he used the MyFitnessPal as an essential component of his own body transformation.

Desjardins is a firm believer that you need to be a calorie deficit in order to meaningfully slim down. That, of course, means that you need to eat less than you're burning every day, which is something that is only easier if you devote yourself to actually tracking what you're eating.

In the video, he explains how he uses the app to track his goals.

"If you're brand new on your fitness journey, I recommend just tracking your calories," he says. "It gets really hairy if you're trying to track all of your macros. I only track my calories and protein, because I try not to get too obsessive about it."

Before doing so, he recommends that use a total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) calculator to figure out exactly how much you should be eating every day. "If you want to lose weight, subtract 500 calories from that number," he says.

Then, "you're going to want to plan out everything that you're going to be eating," he says. "I like to plan out an entire day of eating beforehand so I know what I'm shooting for and there is no gray area."

He also recommends that you buy a food scale so you can be far more exact about your numbers. "Your calorie consumption for the day should be treated like a financial budget," he says. "So, how much do you have in your budget, now what are you going to spend your budget on throughout the day? I like making an example day because it takes the mental strain out of wondering what I'm going to eat for the day."

If you're curious to learn more, see the above video. And for some ways you can use exercise to help you reach your body goals, don't miss The One Exercise That's Best for Getting a Lean Body, Says Science.

William Mayle
William Mayle is a UK-based writer who specializes in science, health, fitness, and other lifestyle topics. Read more about William
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