Put that burger down! MyFitnessPal’s AI coach tells you what to eat next to stay in shape

Chances are you’ve probably got a nutrition app like MyFitnessPal on your smartphone. If so, good. They’re amazing at keeping track of what you’ve eaten. Heck, I used one myself to lose around 38 kg. But figuring out what to eat next is usually where things get trickier. I spent countless nights staring at a jar of peanut butter and a bowl of celery, wondering what I was doing with my life. For example.

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MyFitnessPal is hoping to change that with AI Coach – an AI-powered feature that analyses a user’s logged meals, calories, macros, and nutrition goals to provide personalised recommendations. Rather than acting as another generic chatbot, the tool apparently works from information users have already entered into the app over time, using their own eating habits as the starting point for advice.

Available through a dedicated Coach tab, the feature can answer natural-language questions or offer suggestions through preset prompts. According to MyFitnessPal, users can ask for healthier restaurant choices, meal-prep ideas, ingredient swaps, or ways to hit protein and macro targets before the end of the day.

The coach also factors in remaining calorie allowances, nutrition goals, and logging history when generating recommendations. The idea is to bridge the gap between collecting nutrition data, and actually understanding what it means.

The company says that more than 280 million people worldwide use the app, giving it access to one of the largest nutrition datasets in the industry. Its food database now contains more than 20 million items, while the company says two decades of nutrition expertise have helped shape the feature.

Elsewhere, the company also states that AI Coach can provide contextual insights into eating habits, recommend food swaps and recipe ideas, help users close protein or macro gaps, and even explain how to get more from MyFitnessPal’s existing features.

Of course, the real test will be whether the advice actually feels useful, rather than simply repackaging information users could already find elsewhere in the app.

The weight loss journey is littered with failed attempts and shameful Pop-Tart wrappers. I know. I’ve been there. Any tool that promises to aid you should be approached with caution, given the snake oil out there. But MyFitnessPal is a go-to for anyone looking to lose weight by tracking calories, and if the new tool works as intended, then it’s good news all round.

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Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.