Here’s How MyFitness Pal Just Made Dining Out Much Easier for Dieters

MyFitnessPal, the app that lets users keep track of their calories and macronutrients, just added a major new feature that's sure to make dining out less of a hassle for dieters.

Called Restaurant Logging, the feature helps users accurately log the nutritional information of foods eaten at select restaurants. That way users know exactly how many calories are in a Five Guys Bacon Burger or a Wendy's Chocolate Frosty. The feature is location-based, and pulls in nearby restaurants as soon as the app is opened.

The MyFitnessPal database is made up of food data added by the company itself and of data added by users. Nutritional information that MyFitnessPal believes is "complete" is marked with a green checkmark.

While most of the big fast food chain menu items are included in the database, users will have to request that smaller restaurants supply MyFitnessPal with their menus. Users can also ask the restaurant for this information, then input the data into the app manually.

Unfortunately, the restaurant I planned to eat lunch at today, Dos Torros in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, doesn't supply exact nutritional information to MyFitnessPal, but my usual go-to order, a Pollo Asado burrito, looks like it's 545 calories. Which, if I were truly inclined to eat well today, would nudge me to have a lighter dinner this evening—an unlikely development.