Cake over Keto: Episode 4 - My Fitness Pal is not your pal

If your pal hangs around like a bad smell, sucks the life out of you and doesn’t actually care about you, would you stay friends?

Health apps like My Fitness Pal are more popular than ever, particularly since the pandemic lockdown. But we have evidence to suggest that a high proportion of users (specifically those with eating disorders) perceive MyFitnessPal as contributing to their eating disorder. When we factor in the recent NHS Health Survey (2019) reported more than 2 Million adults screened positive for an eating disorder pre pandemic (with numbers now likely to be much higher post pandemic), we can’t ignore these tools can contribute to poor health outcomes in the vulnerable.

In this episode I touch on the benefits that some may experience from tracking food, exercise and weight but I focus more heavily on the downsides, and the reasons why some users find them detrimental to their health.

I also share three tips to help reduce food and number obsession….you might guess the first one?

Lastly I have a moan at Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid in my Pick n Mix about their complete lack of common sense approach with putting Calories on menus policy. Bloody hell.

I hope you find the resources below helpful too.

Content warning: I mention body weight and may mention Calories and the O word. There will always be context –but please be mindful if you are triggered by these.

Resources

Research Paper: The Use of General Health Apps Among Users with Specific Conditions: Why College Women with Disordered Eating Adopt Food Diary Apps by Elizabeth V. Eikey (2018):

Research Paper: My Fitness Pal calorie tracker usage in the eating disorders by Cheri A.Levinson (2017):

Mel’s Instagram

Rating of Hunger and Fullness cues

Open letter by Hope Virgo and co:

Free eating disorder recovery appropriate apps:

Rise Up + Recover: An Eating Disorder Monitoring and Management Tool for Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating, and EDNOS (I use this with some of my clients)

Recovery Record: Eating Disorder Management. A smart companion for managing your journey to recovery from eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, obsessive eating disorder, binge eating disorder, ARFID, and compulsive eating disorder.

Please note, an eating disorder app is not a replacement for professional therapy. It can, however, be a supplemental tool to help you work through negative thoughts and behaviours as part of your recovery plan. It is best to discuss your needs with a professional to help you determine which app and approach you may benefit most from.

Come and wave to CakeOverKeto on Instragram: @cakeoverketo

You’ll find Mel at www.wakemannutrition.com

Instagram: @mel_wakeman_rnutr

Patreon: patreon.com/melwakeman

or you can drop her an email at mel@wakemannutrition.com.