Setting up My Fitness Pal to Track Macros

Hey Keto-ers,

I have been getting LOTS of questions about what foods to eat and how to track your food so you stay within your macros. I’ve put together this 2-part post, with screenshots of My Fitness Pal (MFP), so that you can set it up yourself and start tracking.

As a brief re-cap, tracking macros is ideal when you first start out because it allows you to understand the basic macronutrient make up of the foods you are eating, and enables you to stay within 20g of carbs. As a general guideline, you want to have your daily caloric intake be comprised of 5% carbs, 70-75% fat and 20-25% protein. This will maximize your success on keto.

To begin, download MFP from the App Store. You DO NOT need the premium version; the free version will suffice. The below tutorial is from the mobile app. This is on purpose because you want to be tracking your macros on the go, so you’re never caught off guard or eat something that puts you above your daily goals.

Once you do this open MFP and follow the few prompts to set up your account. Once your account is set up, this is the home page. Click on “More”.

 Next, click on “Goals”. This is where we will be setting up your macro limits.

Next, click on “Calorie and Macronutrient goals:

First you need to input a calorie goal. As a general guideline, if you’re trying to lose weight, I would put in 1500. You can put more or less if you want, but putting more will result in the carb goal being over 20g. Calories don’t matter anyway, so don’t fuss over it. You just can’t set up your macros without inputting a calorie goal. This is just how MFP works. The main focus for you should be macros. Keeping carbs below 20g and a fat to protein ratio of between 1:1 and 2:1 (the higher the better really). Input 1500 calories here:

 Next, click on any of the macros (i.e. carbohydrates, protein or fat). The following screen will pop up. This is where you will set your percentage goals. MFP will automatically give you your percentage goals in grams, based on the calories you’ve inputted in the previous step.

 Now your calories and macro goals are set and the screen should look like this: