Tracking your macronutrient intake is one of the most effective ways to stay on top of your nutrition, whether you’re trying to lose weight, gain muscle, or simply maintain a balanced diet. MyFitnessPal, one of the most popular apps for tracking nutrition, allows users to customize their macro goals to meet specific fitness and health goals. In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about changing macros in MyFitnessPal, step by step.
What Are Macros and Why Should You Change Them?
Macronutrients are the essential nutrients that provide energy to our bodies, and they include carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Each of these plays a crucial role in supporting various bodily functions and overall health. Carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of energy. They include sugars, starches, and fiber, and provide 4 calories per gram. Carbs are vital for fueling your brain and muscles, especially during physical activity. Proteins are another essential macronutrient. They are responsible for muscle repair, growth, and numerous body functions, from enzyme production to immune defense. Like carbohydrates, proteins provide 4 calories per gram. Fats, though often misunderstood, are also crucial for the body. They are necessary for hormone production, cell function, and energy storage, and they provide a higher energy content of 9 calories per gram.
Understanding these three macronutrients allows you to make informed decisions about how much of each you should consume based on your personal fitness and health goals. MyFitnessPal provides an easy way to customize your macro ratios, whether you’re aiming to consume more protein to build muscle, reduce carbs for fat loss, or adjust fats for overall health. Adjusting your macros can help you create a diet plan that supports your specific goals, ensuring you get the right balance of energy and nutrients for optimal performance.
Why Customize Your Macros?
Customizing your macronutrient goals can help in a variety of ways, depending on your fitness objectives. Here are some examples:
- Weight Loss: Reducing carb intake and increasing protein consumption can help promote fat loss while preserving lean muscle.
- Muscle Gain: A higher protein intake combined with a moderate carb intake can assist in building muscle while keeping fat gain at bay.
- Maintenance: For those looking to maintain their current weight, a balanced ratio of macros will help keep the body fueled without unnecessary weight gain.
Now that you understand the importance of macros, let’s explore how to adjust them in MyFitnessPal.
How to Change Your Macros in MyFitnessPal (Mobile App)
Changing your macronutrient goals in MyFitnessPal is a straightforward process, whether you’re using the mobile app or the website. Here, we’ll guide you through the steps for the mobile app, as it is the most commonly used platform.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Open the MyFitnessPal App: First, launch the MyFitnessPal app on your device and log in with your credentials.
- Navigate to the Goals Section: Once logged in, tap the More tab, located at the bottom right corner of the screen. From the menu, select Goals to access your nutrition settings.
- Access Your Calorie and Macronutrient Goals: In the Nutrition Goals section, tap on Calories, Carbs, Protein & Fat Goals. This will open the settings where you can adjust your macros.
- Adjust Your Goals: You’ll see a wheel for each macronutrient (carbs, protein, and fat) with percentages that add up to 100%. Simply adjust the percentages for each macro by dragging the wheels. You can tailor these percentages to match your nutritional goals. Once you’re satisfied with the changes, tap Save to confirm your adjustments.
Fine-Tuning Your Settings (Premium Users Only)
If you’re using the Premium version of MyFitnessPal, you have more flexibility. Instead of adjusting your macros by percentages, Premium users can customize their goals by specifying the exact amount in grams for protein, carbs, and fats. This level of detail helps you have more precise control over your daily macro intake.
Additionally, Premium users can set different macronutrient goals for different days of the week, which is perfect if your activity level varies on certain days or if you follow a specific nutrition plan.
Key Notes to Remember
- Free vs. Premium: The free version of MyFitnessPal only allows you to adjust your macros in percentages, while the Premium version lets you fine-tune your goals with gram-based measurements.
- Exercise Adjustments: MyFitnessPal automatically adjusts your calorie and macronutrient goals based on your activity level. If you add exercise, the app will increase your calorie goal, and the macros will be distributed according to the new calorie target.
How to Change Your Macros in MyFitnessPal (Web Version)
If you prefer using the web version of MyFitnessPal, the process is just as simple. Here’s how to adjust your macros from your computer:
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Log in to Your Account: Open a browser and visit the MyFitnessPal website. Log in with your credentials to access your account.
- Navigate to the Goals Page: Once you’re logged in, go to the My Home section in the top menu. From there, select Goals from the dropdown menu.
- Edit Your Daily Nutrition Goals: Under the Daily Nutrition Goals section, click on Edit to modify your calories and macronutrient goals. This will bring up the interface where you can make changes.
- Adjust Your Macros: Similar to the mobile app, you’ll see sliders for Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat, each represented as a percentage. Adjust these sliders to meet your nutritional needs, ensuring that the total of all three macros adds up to 100%.
- Save Your Changes: After adjusting your macros, click Save Changes to finalize your updates. Your changes will sync with the mobile app once you log in next time.
Additional Features on the Web Version
The web version of MyFitnessPal provides a more comprehensive view of your goals, including easier access to manage micronutrient settings. If you’re using the advanced version, you can also adjust your macros in grams, offering greater precision for your daily intake.
In both the mobile and web versions of MyFitnessPal, adjusting your macronutrient goals is a simple process. Whether you’re fine-tuning your percentages or taking advantage of the advanced features available with the Premium version, the app offers flexibility to meet your nutritional needs. Adjusting your macros is an important part of reaching your fitness goals, and MyFitnessPal makes it easy to track and adjust your intake based on your evolving needs.
Advanced Options: Customizing Your Macros for Specific Goals
Changing Macronutrient Goals by Day
For MyFitnessPal Premium users, the ability to set different macronutrient goals for specific days of the week provides a level of customization that can be highly beneficial for people following flexible dieting or those who require changes based on their workout schedules. This feature is especially useful if your activity level varies throughout the week.
For instance, on workout days, you might want to increase your carb intake to fuel your body for intense physical activity, while reducing carbs on rest days to maintain a calorie deficit. This adjustment helps align your macronutrient intake with your activity level, ensuring that your nutrition supports both recovery and energy needs effectively.
Understanding the Role of Exercise in Macro Distribution
One of the unique features of MyFitnessPal is its ability to adjust your macronutrient distribution based on your exercise activity. When you log a workout in the app, MyFitnessPal calculates the calories burned during the exercise and adds them to your daily goal. These additional calories are then distributed according to your current macronutrient ratio. This means if you have a higher protein goal, the additional calories will be allotted to protein, helping you maintain a balanced intake that supports muscle repair and growth.
For Premium users, there’s an added advantage: the option to customize how exercise calories are added or to opt out entirely. This flexibility allows you to fine-tune your macro distribution, ensuring that your diet aligns with your fitness goals without unnecessary adjustments.
Troubleshooting Common Issues with Changing Macros
Sometimes, things don’t go as planned when trying to adjust your macronutrient goals. Here are some common issues and solutions:
- Macros Not Saving: If your macros are not saving, make sure the total percentages add up to 100%. MyFitnessPal will not allow you to save if they don’t add up correctly.
- Syncing Problems: If the changes you made aren’t reflecting in the app, ensure that your account is syncing properly between the web version and the mobile app. You may need to log out and back in or force-sync the app.
- Sticking to Custom Macros: After you adjust your macros, ensure you are logging your food accurately. It’s easy to fall off track if you’re not consistent with your food entries.
How to Track Your Macros Effectively
Once you’ve customized your macronutrient goals, the next step is to track your intake, and MyFitnessPal provides several tools to make this process as efficient as possible. One of the easiest ways to track your food is through the app’s barcode scanner, which allows you to quickly add foods to your food diary. This feature is especially useful for packaged foods, as it ensures accuracy in tracking the macronutrients without having to manually input everything.
If you’re using custom recipes, MyFitnessPal also allows you to import those recipes and automatically calculate their macronutrient content. This saves you time and ensures that you stay consistent with your diet. The app can break down the macronutrients in each recipe, so you can easily see how much protein, carbs, and fat you’re consuming.
To make sure you’re staying on track, MyFitnessPal also provides a detailed view of your daily macronutrient breakdown. This breakdown shows how well you’re adhering to your goals, helping you stay accountable and adjust if necessary. It’s a simple yet effective way to visualize your progress and ensure that your diet is in line with your macronutrient targets.
ReciMe: A Simpler Way to Track Macros
If you’re looking for a simpler way to manage your nutrition without the complexity of MyFitnessPal’s macro adjustments, we’ve created ReciMe as a streamlined alternative. Unlike MyFitnessPal, where you need to manually adjust your macronutrients and track them in various settings, ReciMe automatically calculates the macronutrient breakdown for each recipe you save. This means you don’t have to worry about configuring percentages or grams for protein, carbs, and fats – it’s all handled for you based on the ingredients you use.
With ReciMe, once you save a recipe, the app instantly calculates the calories, protein, carbs, and fats for that dish, providing a simple and accurate nutritional profile without needing to make constant adjustments. You don’t have to adjust macros for each meal or day; it’s all seamlessly integrated into the recipe itself. This takes the guesswork out of meal planning and makes it easier for you to stick to your nutrition goals.
In addition to automatic macro tracking, with ReciMe we also offer features like meal planning and grocery list management. You can organize your weekly meals by selecting recipes based on your preferences, and the app will generate a smart shopping list based on the ingredients you need. This helps reduce stress around meal prep and ensures you always have what you need for healthy meals.
You can access ReciMe on both iOS and through our Chrome extension, which means you can save recipes from your phone or desktop seamlessly, no matter where you are. Whether you’re cooking on the go or organizing meals at home, ReciMe is available at your fingertips.
Whether you’re aiming to hit certain protein goals, reduce carbs, or balance your fats, ReciMe offers a more user-friendly and practical approach to tracking your macros without the hassle of constantly fine-tuning settings. Plus, with our smart grocery lists and meal planning features, you can organize your meals and shopping in a way that directly aligns with your nutritional goals.
Just try it – you’ll love it:
Conclusion
Customizing your macronutrient goals in MyFitnessPal is an effective way to take control of your nutrition and ensure that your diet aligns with your fitness objectives. Whether you’re aiming to lose weight, build muscle, or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle, adjusting your macros can provide a more personalized and strategic approach to reaching your goals. MyFitnessPal offers flexibility, allowing users to track and adjust their macros through both the mobile app and the web version. For Premium users, additional features like setting macronutrient goals for different days of the week and fine-tuning macros in gram amounts provide even more control.
However, if you find the process of tracking and adjusting macros to be too complex or time-consuming, ReciMe offers a simpler, more streamlined alternative. With automatic macro calculations and meal planning features, ReciMe makes it easier to stay on top of your nutrition without the need for constant adjustments.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I track my macronutrients in MyFitnessPal?
To track your macronutrients in MyFitnessPal, you can input your meals using the app’s barcode scanner or manually add foods. The app will calculate the macronutrient breakdown based on the foods you log. You can also adjust your macro goals under the “Goals” section, where you can change the percentages for protein, carbs, and fats.
Can I change my macros in MyFitnessPal for different days of the week?
Yes, if you’re using MyFitnessPal Premium, you can customize your macronutrient goals for different days of the week. This feature is particularly useful for people with varying activity levels or those who follow a flexible dieting approach.
Do I need to adjust my macros every time I exercise?
No, MyFitnessPal automatically adjusts your macronutrient goals based on your exercise activity. When you log a workout, the app will add the calories you’ve burned to your daily goal, and these calories will be distributed according to your current macro ratios. Premium users can customize how exercise calories are added or opt-out entirely.
Is the free version of MyFitnessPal enough to track my macros?
Yes, the free version of MyFitnessPal allows you to adjust your macros in percentages, which is sufficient for most users. However, if you want more precise control over your macros in gram amounts, you will need the Premium version.
How accurate is the macro tracking in MyFitnessPal?
The accuracy of MyFitnessPal’s macro tracking depends on how accurately you log your food. Using the barcode scanner for packaged foods and checking for correct portion sizes can help improve accuracy. Additionally, MyFitnessPal’s database is vast, but it’s always a good idea to verify entries, especially if they are user-generated.
Can I track other nutrients, like fiber or vitamins, in MyFitnessPal?
Yes, MyFitnessPal allows you to track additional nutrients, including fiber, vitamins, and minerals. You can customize your nutrient goals in the “Goals” section, where you can add micronutrients to monitor your overall nutrition.
What if I don’t want to manually adjust my macros every day?
If you’re looking for a simpler approach, ReciMe is an excellent alternative. It automatically calculates the macronutrient breakdown for each recipe you save, removing the need for constant adjustments. With features like meal planning and smart grocery lists, it helps streamline the process and keeps your nutrition on track.