Katelyn Increased Her Calories and Lost 25 Pounds with MyFitnessPal

Welcome to MyFitnessPal’s Victory Stories series, where we share the accomplishments of real MyFitnessPal members! Whether they’ve lost more than 100 pounds, improved their health markers or ran their first mile (or all of the above), we love celebrating their hard work and dedication to achieve their biggest goals.

Do you have a MyFitnessPal Victory Story of your own? Share your story here for a chance to be featured on a future installment of our Victory Stories!

Today, we’re featuring Katelyn Linder, who started her weight loss journey by setting her daily calorie goal to a very low number. After realizing her existing nutrition habits would be unsustainable, she downloaded MyFitnessPal and discovered a more long-term approach to nutrition.

NAME: Katelyn Linder
AGE: 20
LOCATION: Lake Worth, FL
OCCUPATION: Afterschool Activity Leader
STARTING WEIGHT AND CURRENT WEIGHT: Starting weight: 215 pounds. Current weight: 140 pounds

WHEN DID YOU BEGIN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS/HEALTH JOURNEY?

I started in September of 2019 using LoseIt!. With that app, I lost 50 pounds; however, I learned that that app is extremely unhealthy. LoseIt! was limiting me to around 1,100 calories/day, and I was ending every day extremely hungry.

I started to use MyFitnessPal around March 2021. MFP gave me a goal of 1,500 calories, and I was still losing weight and never feeling hungry or uncomfortable. From March to now, I lost around 25 pounds in a more healthy way!

WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION BEHIND YOUR DESIRE TO MAKE A POSITIVE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE?

I was always feeling super upset with my weight and very unhealthy. I would cancel plans just because of the way I looked. I knew I needed to change my eating habits.

EXPLAIN YOUR LIFESTYLE BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR WEIGHT LOSS/HEALTH JOURNEY. 

Before weight loss, I was often bullied and at one point had been told by a therapist that I was likely depressed. I never felt good about myself. I went to the gym at one point but didn’t change my diet so I did not see any change and stopped going.

I was always snacking whenever I was bored, stressed, emotional, etc. While waiting for meals to be delivered or cooked, I would finish bags of chips and cookies by myself. I ate fast food multiple times a week. I was probably near doubling my daily calorie limit before I started dieting. I needed to change my relationship with food. I just ate too much every day. It wasn’t healthy food or just large meals, it was chips or sugary foods multiple times a day. I ate until I was extremely full or even distressed for almost every meal every day. It started to seem like an addiction.

TELL US ABOUT HOW YOU USED THE APP ALONG YOUR JOURNEY.

I loved every feature including the positive messages. I was able to recommend the app to many of my friends and my followers on TikTok.

WHAT FEATURES WERE/ARE YOUR FAVORITE? 

The motivational messages and barcode scanner.

WHAT LESSONS/EDUCATION/REALIZATIONS DID MYFITNESSPAL HELP YOU ACHIEVE ALONG YOUR JOURNEY?

I don’t need to limit myself as much as I thought I did! When using LoseIt!, I was limiting myself to around 1,100 calories a day. I would skip meals and wouldn’t let myself eat anything I truly enjoyed if it wasn’t low-calorie. Once I started MFP, I was able to incorporate more foods I enjoyed, just smaller portion sizes … and I had a larger amount of calories a day!

ANY OTHER HEALTHY HABITS YOU PICKED UP ALONG THE WAY?

I began going to the gym again.

DID YOU FACE ANY CHALLENGES OR SETBACKS ALONG THE WAY?

Quarantine made me want to snack! It was actually really scary for me because at this point, I had lost around 50 pounds and was spending every day locked in my house with not much to do, but a lot of fun snacks. I was really worried I would get back to my old eating habits. It actually took most of the quarantine for me to get back to my diet. Once I became busy again with the gym and work reopening, I was able to get back to my diet and healthy lifestyle.

CLICK TO TWEET THIS ARTICLE > Katelyn lost weight on a daily calorie goal of 1,100 calories a day, but it left her hungry and without energy. Then, she picked up @myfitnesspal, increased her calories and lost 25 additional pounds.

HOW DID YOU STAY MOTIVATED THROUGHOUT YOUR JOURNEY?

I just knew how good it felt to see my body shaping into my goal.

DO YOU STILL USE MYFITNESSPAL ON A REGULAR BASIS TODAY?

Every day!

WHAT IS YOUR LIFESTYLE LIKE TODAY? 

I try to go to the gym around 3-5 days a week. I fast (16-hour fast/8-hour feed) and I use MyFitnessPal regularly.

DID YOU REACH YOUR WEIGHT LOSS/HEALTH GOAL?

My original goal was 150 pounds. I then moved it to 135 pounds, but decided that might be too small (I am 5’8”). I am currently at 140 pounds, which is where I want to stay.

IF YOU COULD PROVIDE ADVICE TO SOMEONE WHO WAS JUST STARTING THEIR JOURNEY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Don’t set your goals unrealistically because it can easily make you feel less motivated. Don’t rely on or obsess over the scale.

Inspired by the success of real MyFitnessPal users? Now it’s time to reach your own goals! Take the next step in your journey and go Premium for exclusive tools and guidance from our experts that will help you achieve any goal.