New Sleep Feature From MyFitnessPal Helped Me Learn More About My Sleep

Fitness and nutrition app MyFitnessPal is dedicated to helping people get in the weeds about their eating habits. Unlike other apps, it doesn't limit you to logging food and tracking your workouts. MyFitnessPal allows you to break things down into granular chunks of nutritional insight, like detailing how many carbohydrates or saturated fats you consume. 

While MyFitnessPal has been around since 2005, what's new is the sleep integration that helps you understand how what you eat affects your sleep. I tested the sleep feature from MyFitnessPal for two weeks and completed the new five-day Eat Right, Sleep Tight plan. Let's dig into what I learned and what I liked. 

Read more: Best Sleep Trackers of 2023

MyFitnessPal first impressions

I was interested in MyFitnessPal's sleep integration the second I heard about it. The concept holds water: What you eat affects the quality and duration of your sleep. You can improve your sleep by understanding where you're sabotaging yourself in your diet. 

CNET's sleep experts have researched and covered the topic numerous times. Some foods -- such as chocolate or fast food -- will keep you up at night, while whole grains and leafy greens, for example, can help you sleep better. 

Overall, MyFitnessPal is one of the most visually appealing apps I've tested. It gets straight to the point, with each information cluster in its own block. I've tried other apps with so much going on that I was overwhelmed when I first signed up. MyFitnessPal is a simple design that still offers a ton of good information on the home screen: calories, macros, steps and exercise. It also has recipes, workouts and friends/community features.

Read more: Use This Tried-and-True Bedtime Routine to Improve How You Sleep

My one major gripe with the app is that connecting my Fitbit took trial and error. I tried connecting it directly to the MyFitnessPal app several times, but it wouldn't take. Even when it showed as connected to the app, my information was not syncing. To fix this, I synced my Fitbit to Google's Health Connect and then connected to MyFitnessPal. 

The sleep integration

Once I was connected and my sleep data from my Fitbit Luxe was syncing correctly, I found my sleep information in two places on the bottom navigation bar: "More" and "Plans." 

The sleep integration is part of the MyFitnessPal Premium offering, which is $80 a year or $20 a month after a free one-month trial. 

Sleep tab

To find the central sleep information hub, press "more" on the bottom navigation bar and select "sleep" from the menu page. 

On the sleep summary tab, there's a graph with the night's sleep information, including how long you slept and the duration of each sleep stage. You'll also have a list of the foods you logged. Scrolling through and accessing your sleep information from previous days is easy, thanks to the arrow buttons at the top. 

Eat Right, Sleep Tight plan

I enrolled in the five-day Eat Right, Sleep Tight course in the "plans" tab on the bottom navigation bar. The plan aims to help you identify how your habits influence your sleep quality. Along the way, you learn sleep facts, helpful tips and action items you can implement. 

Each day, you are given "tasks" to perform, which include things like "pay attention to meal timing" or "track your snacks." I was impressed by how informative and actionable the tasks were. In fact, the tips overlapped with much of the advice I give readers, like avoiding alcohol in the hours leading up to bed. 

Some days also offered recipes. This is a nice feature since the recommendation "eat less sugar" is only so helpful for the average person. Offering recipe suggestions makes the advice a little easier to implement. I also appreciated that the direction the app gave was realistic and achievable for the average person. The tasks about snacks encouraged moderation but acknowledged that it's okay to have sugary snacks sometimes. 

One of the best aspects of the tasks was the short informational blurbs highlighting each task's relevance. There was a theme for each day of the plan.

Eat Right, Sleep Tight plan breakdown:

• Day one: How to get better sleep
• Day two: Watching the timing and moderation of snacks
• Day three: Hydration and caffeine 
• Day four: Alcohol and sleep 
• Day five: Saturated fat and fiber 

MyFitnessPal sleep integration verdict: Was it worth it?

The sleep integration is a nice addition to a solid app. MyFitnessPal is easy to navigate and log foods. The charts and graphs included in the weekly report are a great way to help people visualize their progress on goals. Even if my sleep data was not included in my weekly reports. 

I will say that without the five-day sleep plan, I don't think the sleep feature is enough to rival other sleep apps. First, it's hidden under the "more" tab on the navigation bar. There was no way to add a sleep block to the dashboard, so the sleep feature doesn't feel all that integrated into the app just yet. I'd also like to see more sleep plans in the future.

Additionally, after using other sleep apps or even my Fitbit, I hoped the app would help me interpret my data. I was left alone to identify my patterns when my sleep was down. The premise that food impacts our sleep is true, but displaying how long I slept and the food list I logged is only so helpful. I expected the app to do some sort of reflection to help me see patterns in how my food choices impacted my sleep quality, even if it was just another general course. 

MyFitnessPal is a good nutrition app for people who want to dig into the nitty-gritty of what they're eating. Given the price, it wouldn't be my recommendation if you want personalized information and specific recommendations for your sleep data alone.