Quote Originally Posted by Irulan View Post
All I did was enter age,weight, weight goal, followed the settings. I did have some additional guidelines through a trainer at my gym for eating for recovery/exercise, portion size, exercise, high value foods and so on. I didn't and don't follow a "diet". I watch portion size, stay away from processed foods & junk, cook from scratch, make healthy choices and eat 4-5 small meals a day. The app allows you to see where you are at for balance, various nutritional components and I would just adjust accordingly.
This is what the boyfriend and I have been doing, and we've been at it for 2 months now. I'm down 13 pounds, he's down 19, and I wouldn't say we've been super diligent (there have been friday night fish fry dinners, happy hour afternoons, etc.)

What I love about MFP is that it keeps you aware, more than anything. If I have a glass of wine, I know what I've just put into my body, and that makes it less likely I'll have an entire pint of Ben and Jerrys ice cream. Even if the app over-calculates, I try to at least log the work I'm doing.

Also, as a vegetarian, I've been focusing on sodium and protein - pre-packaged foods often have way more sodium than necessary, and protein is hard to come by in veggies. So it's forced me to be more creative about my nutrition. I've learned to like kale, eggs, and beans a lot more than I thought I would.