If you’re new to counting macros, it can be a little overwhelming. We get it. That’s why we recommend tracking your meals in My Fitness Pal about 1 week before the challenge starts. It’s important to be honest with yourself and track how you normally eat - this is the best way to understand your starting point with macros!
Follow this crash course on how to get the most out of My Fitness Pal, and refer to your challenge handbook for more information!
SET YOUR MACROS
You can add your macro goals right in the app, making it easy to make sure you’re staying on track.
TIP: If you’re doing the coached challenge, you’ll have to wait until your first check-in with your coach to receive your challenge macros. Don’t panic if you see that your macros are locked when you try to calculate them on the nutrition tab. You can still view your existing macros in-app on your profile page (top right icon), and your coach will make adjustments for you from there!
Tap “More” on the bottom navigation bar and head to the “Goals” section.
Tap “Calorie, Carbs, Protein and Fat Goals” under the Nutrition Goals section.
From there, you can easily adjust your macros with the scroller. In the free version, you can only adjust by percentage. However, if you want to upgrade to Premium, you’ll have the ability to adjust by grams.
READY TO ADD YOUR MEAL?
Tap “Add Food” under whatever meal you’re logging for. Your recent foods will populate, making it easy to log foods you eat frequently. You can search for food in the search bar or even scan a barcode.
Just be sure to adjust your serving size to match what you’re eating!
In the diary section, you can also keep track of your water intake and exercise. If you wear an activity tracker, you can easily link the app to automatically add your workouts in. This will show on your calorie count at the top and adjust every time you exercise, but please note you will NOT add in the calories burned from exercise during the duration of the challenge.
TRACK YOUR GOALS
Once you start logging your food, head back to the “More” section to see your macros in action.
Choose “Nutrition” and a pie chart will appear with a breakdown of where your macros are for the day. You can tap “Nutrients” to see a breakdown of your fiber, sugar and saturated fat.
There are plenty of other apps and websites out there to help you track your macros if MFP isn’t right for you. These are some great alternatives to help you hit your goals: