As a registered dietitian who uses MyFitnessPal frequently—for tracking myself and with my clients—I’ve seen how time constraints can make consistent logging a challenge. But MyFitnessPal’s new Voice Log feature really simplifies the process, making it faster and easier for busy users.
For example, I’ve used the feature to follow my usual breakfast: two scrambled eggs, a slice of whole wheat toast, chicken sausage and avocado, with a cup of coffee.
Talking and reviewing that in the app takes about 15 seconds— A period of time that even the busiest people can manage!
Read on to learn more about MyFitnessPal’s new Voice Log feature and how to get started right away.
What is the voice recording feature?
Voice recording is a Premium feature and is new to the MyFitnessPal app. Not a Premium member? No problem! Try Premium free for 30 days.
This feature allows you to record various foods, meals and serving sizes. Instead of typing and searching for items by hand, all you need is your voice (and a couple of taps).
Watch the magic in action:
Step-by-step guide: How to log meals using the Voice Log feature
If you are a free membersee if you’re eligible for a free 30-day Premium membership to try out the new Voice Recorder feature (plus, get access to Barcode scanning, Lunch scanand more!)
If you’re already a trialist or a Premium memberyou are ready start using the voice recording feature! Simply follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open the MyFitnessPal app.
- Step 2: Click the add button (+) in the bottom navigation bar of the app.
- Step 3: Select the “Voice Recording” option.
- Step 4: If this is your first time using the feature, you will need to allow MyFitnessPal access to your microphone, and grant MyFitnessPal permissions to access the speech recognition functionality.
- Step 5: When you see the gray arrow, log in to describe the meal (or meals!) you want to register. The more details, the better! Enter brand names, serving size descriptions, and record your desired meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks). You’ll know it’s the app listening when the arrow turns blue.
- Step 6: When you have finished describing the meal(s), press the blue arrow.
- Step 7: Best matches will be auto-populated. From here, you can choose to delete an item, click “Try again” or tap “Register” items and/or meals in your Agenda.
Advantages of using voice recording for monitoring
The voice recording feature offers several benefits for tracking meals in MyFitnessPal:
- Portion sizes make it easy to guess: It is difficult to know how much food you have consumed in ounces, grams or other units of measurement. Now describe your portions using your hand. For example, “I ate a portion of chicken the size of my fist for lunch.” Or “I had a bunch of blueberries for a snack.” (See our handy guide to portion sizes below!)
- You save time: Voice recording replaces the need to type food items into search, which can make tracking meals and snacks faster and easier. You can record multiple foods at once by describing your meal aloud. Even better, you can register multiple meals at once! Come to the end of the day, open your app, tap Voice Log in the log menu, and describe your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Review, review if needed and register!
- It allows you to log in anytime: Multitasking? There is no problem. This feature is perfect for making sure you log your food, even if you only have a few seconds to spare.
- It can increase consistency: Finding a way to log food that fits easily into your routine will help you stay consistent. And when you’re consistent with your health habits, you’re more likely to meet your goals.
MyFitnessPal Voice Session FAQs
You can log the food and drinks available in the MyFitnessPal database (which is one of the largest). Weight, workouts, and personalized food and recipes cannot be logged using voice commands. Water can be registered, but only as a breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack.
It works best when you describe what you ate (or drank), what size it was, and what meal you ate (or drank). For example, “A glass of plain Greek yogurt, a drizzle of honey, a handful of blueberries and a small cup of coffee for breakfast.”
Voice recording is available on iOS and Android devices, but may require updates to be fully compatible on all models. To make sure you’re using the most up-to-date version of the app, go to the app store.
No, the MyFitnesspal Voice Logging feature requires an internet connection to process voice commands.
The Voice Recording feature is currently only available in English and availability is limited to the US market.
The mail How to use the NEW Voice Recording feature in MyFitnessPal appeared in the first MyFitnessPal Blog.