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MFP Acronyms and Terms for New Members

  • Updated

This originates from one of our forum topics, which is updated here.

This list is mostly focused on health, fitness, and MyFitnessPal-specific acronyms and terms.  There are also some generic acronyms, but for more generic acronyms, such as SMH, WTG, TTYL, etc., you can check out one of many internet acronym list sites.

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  • 30DS: 30 Day Shred: A cardiovascular and plyometric exercise program. 
  • %BF: percent body fat
  • BMF: BodyMedia Fit. An exercise calorie and metrics tracking system.
  • BMI: Body Mass Index: The ratio between a person’s height and weight. Used as a screening indicator of a person’s overall body mass composition.
  • BMR: Base or Basal Metabolic Rate For TDEE and BMR, more info here.
  • Bookmark: A way to save a discussion you want to follow is to use the bookmark icon on a discussion, which will be saved in "My Bookmarks.”
  • BP: Bench Press
  • Bump: A message of BUMP is placed in a thread for a user to come back and read later. Making a post of "Bump" causes it to appear in the user's replies. Another way to save a discussion you want to follow is to use the bookmark icon on a discussion, which will be saved in "My Bookmarks.”
  • BW: Can stand for either:
    • Beginning weight (for those tracking weight loss or weight gain regimens)
    • Bodyweight, as in bodyweight exercises, such as push-ups, plyometrics)
  • C25K: Couch to 5K: A running program designed for beginners and non-runners to get them from the couch to running a 5K. Some are 8 weeks, others are slightly longer.
  • CICO: Calories in / Calories out
  • DL: Deadlift
  • DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness: From Wikipedia: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), also called muscle fever, is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise. The soreness is felt most strongly 24 to 72 hours after the exercise.  Read more here.
  • DYEC: Do you even cardio?
  • DYEL: Do you even lift?
  • ED: Eating Disorder. There are several kinds. For more information, please visit this link.  Go to this link for more information.
  • EBF: Exclusively Breast-Fed/Feeding
  • EMTLW/EMTWL: Eat More to Lose Weight/Eat More to Weigh Less
  • ESE: Eat Stop Eat. A type of Intermittent Fasting diet plan.
  • ETA: Edited to Add - Used to show an edit to a previous post so you know what was added or modified since it was originally posted.
  • Exercise Abbreviations:
    • BW: body weight (as in bodyweight exercises, like push-ups and other forms of isometric exercise)
    • DL: deadlift
    • OHP: overhead press
    • BP: bench press
    • LP: leg press
    • WOD: workout of the day
  • Fitbit: A small electronic device attached to clothing to monitor steps taken and movement throughout the day. 
  • FF: Formula-fed/feeding
  • FFM: Fat-free mass - body weight without fat, same as LBM (lean body mass)
  • HIIT: High-Intensity Interval Training.  A form of interval training, a cardiovascular exercise strategy alternating short periods of intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods.  More can be found here.
  • HR: Heart Rate 
  • HRM: Heart Rate Monitor
  • IF: Intermittent Fasting is a pattern of eating that alternates between periods of fasting (usually meaning consumption of water only) and non-fasting.  IF Patterns are known as "shorties", and are stated as numerical values, separated by a colon:
    • 16:8 fast for 16 hours and eat within an 8-hour window every day (16 + 8 = 24hrs). So you might decide to have all your calories between 10am and 6pm or in my case 12:00 noon and 8pm.
    • 5:2 is eat at TDEE for 5 days and fast for 2. Your fast days should not be consecutive.
    • 4:3 is like 5:2 but you eat TDEE for 4 days and fast for 3. Your fast days should not be consecutive.
  • IIFYM: If It Fits Your Macros - See Macronutrients.
  • IMHO: In My Humble Opinion 
  • IPOARM: In Place of a Road Map: From the MFP page: "In Place of a Road Map is simply a way to get your metabolism functioning at max capacity while eating as much as you can and getting the results that you need. This is also a Fat Loss program. Never confuse Fat Loss with Weight Loss." 
  • Isometric exercise: The use of one's own body to exercise without the use of weights or specialized equipment. The body = gravity = your gym. Resources: click here or here.
  • *Kitten*: If you see *kitten* in a forum post, it indicates the poster has included profanity in their post that has been auto-detected and replaced with an adorable, non-offensive word, aka *kitten*.  
  • LBM: Lean body mass - same as FFM (fat-free mass)
  • LP: Leg Press
  • Macronutrients/Macros: The large categories of nutritional ratios of Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat.
  • MFP: MyFitnessPal
  • NEAT: "Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis" To tie in NEAT to other concepts here, your TDEE is the sum of your BMR and your NEAT.
  • Net Calories: number of calories eaten minus number of calories burned in exercise and baseline metabolism.
  • Noob/Newb/Newbie:  A new member to the site or forums.
  • NROL4W: New Rules of Lifting for Women- information at 
  • NSV: Non-Scale Victory a dieting and weight loss term for noticing your weight loss success off the scale. This includes smaller clothing sizes, measurements, compliments, etc.
  • Onederland/Onderland: Reaching a weight under 200 pounds.
  • OP: Means "original post" or "original poster" of a forum topic. Example: "The OP was clearly talking about carbs instead of fat.”
  • P90X: A high intensity, 90 day cardiovascular/plyometric fitness routine.
  • Paleo: The Paleolithic diet (abbreviated paleo diet or Paleodiet), also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a modern nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed... more info here.  
  • PCOS: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which a woman has an imbalance of female sex hormones. This may lead to menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other health changes. Weight gain and obesity are common in women with PCOS. Losing weight can help treat hormone changes and health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Read more here
  • Primal: The Primal Diet is a carnivorous, low carbohydrate raw foods diet, pioneered by Aajonus Vonderplanitz. It can also be considered as a Paleolithic diet with the addition of raw milk products.  Read more here.
  • Pronouns:
    • they/them/theirs
    • ze/hir/hirs
    • she/her/hers
    • he/him/his
  • QFT: Quoted For Truth - QFT is used when a previous or quoted post is so on point and correct, you "QFT it" for emphasis and agreement. 
  • Relationship Acronyms:
    • BF: Biological Father/Boyfriend
    • BIL: Brother In Law
    • BM: Biological Mother
    • DD: Darling Daughter
    • DH: Darling/Dear Husband
    • DS: Darling Son
    • DW: Darling/Dear Wife
    • FIL: Father In Law
    • GF: Girlfriend
    • GP: Grand Parent(s)
    • H: Husband
    • MIL: Mother In Law
    • S: Spouse
    • SD: Step Daughter
    • SF: Step Father
    • SIL: Sister In Law
    • SM: Step Mother
    • SO: Significant Other
    • SS: Step Son
    • STBX: Soon To Be Ex
    • W: Wife
  • RMR: Resting Metabolic Rate, sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably with BMR
  • RNY: Roux-en-Y (RNY) gastric bypass surgery is the most common weight loss operation for morbid obesity in USA. Lap-band has gained popularity in the last few years and has become the second most common weight loss operation.
  • SL5x5 (or plain SL): StrongLifts 5x5 - a strength training problem stressing compound lifts - squat, deadlift, bench press, barbell row, and overhead press.
  • T25: Officially 'Focus T25", an exercise program.
  • TDEE: Total Daily Energy Expenditure
  • TIL: Today l Learned
  • TLDR/TL;DR: Too Long Didn't Read
  • TMI:  Too Much Information
  • TOM: For women - "Time Of the Month"- The monthly menstrual cycle. Important in terms of fitness because of the uncontrolled body changes and water retention that can affect weight loss and fitness goals and plans.
  • Vegetarian/Vegan/Pescatarian/Flexitarian: More information can be found about each eating style here.  Below is a brief summary from the website above.
    • Flexitarian: “Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.
    • Pescatarian: The word “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish.
    • Vegetarian: People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products.
    • Vegan: Vegans do not eat meat of any kind and also do not eat eggs, dairy products, or processed foods containing these or other animal-derived ingredients such as gelatin.
  • VLCD: This is a diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption.  Read more here.
  • Weight: 
    • GW: Goal Weight
    • CW: Current Weight
    • SW: Starting Weight
    • UGW: Ultimate goal weight - The final weight goal a person wishes to attain
  • WOD: Workout of the Day
  • Woo: Woo is a term for pseudoscientific explanations that share certain common characteristics, often being too good to be true (aside from being unscientific). Woo is understood specifically as dressing itself in the trappings of science (but not the substance) while involving unscientific concepts, such as anecdotal evidence and sciencey-sounding words.
  • YMMV: Your mileage may vary. Basically means that if you try what the poster recommended, it may not produce the same results.

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