Macro Diet Apps
Counting your macros is an essential part of following a macro diet. If you are new to macros, then start at the beginner’s guide, or check your target macros with our calculator.
Tracking macros can be done either by following a pre-prepared meal plan, or by using a spreadsheet or app to track on the fly. Here are some of the best apps we’ve found.
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal (MFP) is a hugely popular app, owned by apparel company Under Armor. With a food database of 5 million items, it is the most popular system for tracking food intake.
We have a basic tutorial on using MFP here, and an extensive guide comes with our program: The Macro Solution.
For macro counters: If you sign up to the premium subscription, you can set your own macro targets (greatly beneficial for a macro diet).
MyFitnessPal is free to download. The premium edition has an extensive set of features for a macro diet (such as setting goals by gram or percentage, and allowing different macro targets for sedentary and workout days).
MyPlate
Myplate comes from the Livestrong foundation. It is essentially a food tracker (2 million food database), with extra mutual support tools built in.
For macro counters: The daily view shows a breakdown of macros (both grams and percentages) – allowing you to monitor your food until you reach the desired target.
Myplate is free to download. The gold edition costs a monthly subscription fee, and will give you: an ad-free experience, private support groups, advanced stats, and priority support.
MyMacros+
MyMacros is one of the few food tracking apps focused specifically on macro counting. See our tutorial on MyMacros here.
For macro counters: Focused on counting macros, where you can set macros for both exercise and non-exercise days.
MyMacros is $2.99 to download. There is also a premium subscription that allows you to access your data from anywhere (desktop, laptop, etc).
Lose It!
Lose It! is a calorie tracker (been around for 10 years). One of their latest features is integration with EmbodyDNA (for $190 DNA can be tested and integrated with the tracker for personalized insights).
For macro counters: The premium subscription allows you to set specific macro goals.
Lose It! is free to download. The premium subscription allows a broader set of things you can track, along with more integration with fitness trackers.
Lifesum
Lifesum is a broader health app offering suggested diet plans, along with recipes and other features.
For macro counters: The home screen shows your daily macro counts, and it is possible to set a manual macro target.
Lifesum is free to download. As in other apps, the premium subscription is the only way to access more useful features (recipes, macro tracking).
Which one do I use?
- MyFitnessPal is popular, but can take time to setup.
- MyPlate and Lose It! have much nicer designs (but will requires premium subs to unlock macro features).
- MyMacros allows fine-grained controls (suitable for more of an advanced user).
- Do consider subscribing to premium
(most are between $40-$45 per year). You have a better chance of using the thing if you pay for a subscription, and in many of the apps only unlock certain features. - Bigger food databases doesn’t always mean better
Lots of the entries are user-submitted can have errors, or make some foods more difficult to find. Example below: A search for Starbucks on myfooddiary (left) and myfitnesspal (right).
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Ted Kallmyer is an ISSA certified Specialist in Fitness Nutrition and is our lead macro coach. If you need help reaching your weight loss/fitness goals see our personal coaching options.2 Comments
I personally use Yazio now (https://www.yazio.com/en), I previously used My Fitness Pal, but for some reason after a while the app wasn’t as good as it used to be.. so I changed for Yazio, that offers recipe ideas, challenges, tracking tools and an integrated pedometer which is great 🙂
Can you elaborate how this is for tracking macros (specifically). Otherwise your comment does sound a little bit like a shill…