I'm also a cronometer user. I don't see fiber anywhere on macrofactor from my brief look around. That might be a deal breaker for me, but I will be doing more looking later.
The struggle I have with these types of apps is tracking what I eat accurately. I cook from scratch. I don’t want to enter complicated recipes for it to analyze (weight watchers has that option). I also hate tediously entering the main ingredients I know I put in a dish—e.g., I just ate potato salad and could estimate the potatoes, sour cream, mayo etc based on the recipe I used which would be more accurate or I could just take the apps estimate of 400 calories. I also ate a fresh mango which it says has 200 calories. Would a half cup canned mango be 200 calories? Really?
I love the idea of the app. It’s just the actual tracking that is always the weak link in this type of thing. If I ate less homemade food, it would certainly be easier to track but in the long run I don’t see that as a positive habit. This is where I always stall out with weight watchers.
I agree that under eating can be a problem, but if you cannot track accurately, an app isn’t going to solve that. So back to square one…
You can get a more accurate BMR test at places that focus on longevity or VO2 max - with the same mask as VO2 tests, you just sit there for 15 minutes doing nothing. From there, you can build around a deficit, maintenance, or gain. All your points on exercise expenditure are true. So I just skipped thinking too hard and set my deficit at BMR, knowing that I actually do things during the day including working out, which would make a deficit. This, plus a DEXA scan every 6 months, and tracking my calories, has been the most successful way for me to hit my goals this past year and make sure it's more fat than muscle I'm losing. It's annoying to track - but it works, and eventually you can start to nail how many grams of chicken you're eating :) without weighing (but you always still weight it!).
It took me so long to realize my chronic sleep problems were food related. I used to lie awake wondering how someone could be out on their mountain bike for 3 hours and not sleep. But I finally realized I wasn't eating enough carbs. Recovery requires fuel. Then I ate too many and now I'm titrating to find the sleep/weight sweet spot. But yes, it's complex! And yes my spreadsheet tracking macros is a pain.
Just wanted to report here - I've been using MacroFactor for a week now, based on your recommendation. I have found it to be an excellent app, particularly with food logging, the ai interface for getting macronutrients out of a photo, and the auto-adjustments the app is doing for energy expenditure.
I had been using a different app for the past two years, which worked well enough, but not as well as this app.
I cook a lot from scratch, so I know the ingredients of most of what I eat. I've found that using MacroFactor's ai photo tool seems much more accurate than what I've seen elsewhere. Though I'm not using the feature yet, I fast as part of the Lenten season, and so, I suspect the fasting tracking of this app will be very useful there.
Did this very recently. Changed the frequency of training and at the same time went higher protein and fat, and lower carbs. Energy fell off a cliff, resting heart rate went up, HRV went down. I’d wake up after 7hrs solid sleep feeling completely fucked. Added potatoes back in, and voila.
I used Carbon for almost a year and I definitely felt the Abstinence Violation Effect. Having a red circle if you had too much fat or carbs is quite a downer.
I am now trying MacroFactor -- I like the idea that you log based on when and not some arbitrary tag (takes away the, "I am eating breakfast late -- should this be under lunch instead").
Just know that it can’t take a few weeks of logging food and weighing yourself daily for the app to get a good sense of your true expenditure. So you might expect to see expenditure (and therefor your calorie target) to drop quite a bit while the app figures this out.
Yes, the algorithm needs time to get to know you. It starts with the best "most people most of the time in your situation" numbers. But then your data alters what you'll receive—and gets sharper and more accurate over time. The long-haul is where the improvements are found.
I signed up for the app. What a PITA! I wanted to add the Factor meal I just ate, and it was not in the database. Cancelling my subscription. Also a serious PITA to cancel.
I imagine you could just add the calories/macros manually or make a reasonable estimation. That's what I do when I go to local restaurants. E.g. No app will have a local restaurants calorie counts, but I can estimate "well enough" based on comps.
Heck, I had trouble figuring out how to add a cup of cottage cheese. Then when I saw they had the macros for Factor meals, I thought this could work. Unfortunately, it seems that having Factor meals does not meal all the Factor meals. A lame attempt, IMO.
I am very curious about this app! It’s not always good for me to know my weight day to day, I hyper focus on the number so I limit my weight-ins (about quarterly). I’m guessing not weighing yourself isn’t an option for this app due to the dynamic structure?
It does work best if you do weigh yourself daily as it adjusts your expenditure based on your goals (lose, gain, maintain). That being said, if your activity level is pretty consistent year round, that might be less of a consideration for you than for someone like me who does a seasonal sport - my caloric needs are way, way higher during the spring/summer/fall when I'm mountain biking and gravel biking every day vs. during the off-season.
MacroFactor keeps a running average of your daily weight numbers, which many people find helps them not get obsessive about a particular number. I just look at the "trend weight" which is the average, and don't get freaked out if I weigh a couple pounds more or less on any given day. Personally, I find I hyperfocus on the number *less* when I weigh daily as I know that my weight oscillates within a 5-pound range depending on how hydrated I am - but everyone is different, my daughter prefers to only weigh herself every few months.
Agreed, this is a real step forward. Static calorie targets have always been the weak point in tracking apps. I've used Cronometer for years and I'm going to give MacroFactor a try.
One thing I'm curious about. Since the dynamic adjustment reads your weight trend to set your calories, I wonder how it handles female hormonal variables: premenopausal vs postmenopausal, or any of it. I'm 49 and I track food and weight (I just like it, weird, I know), and during high hormonal volatility phases I can see swings of over 2 pounds (about 1 kg) in a day. If the algorithm reads that water fluctuation as a real trend, it could push my target the wrong way for a couple of weeks.
It takes all that into account and bases our caloric needs on a rolling average. So even if you are 5 pounds heavier the day after eating a salty restaurant meal, it doesn't throw it off significantly. After the first few weeks, it "learns" your habits and then when it does adjust your calories up or down, it is just a small amount, like 20 calories in either direction.
It also starts your estimated calories on the high side, and then adjusts downward from there (if needed). This is IMHO a great feature, because many times we are under-fueling a bit because we don't want to risk gaining weight; but in reality many people find their activity level and intensity of workouts will be higher (up to a point) when they eat more. I was delighted to find out I actually can maintain my weight easily on higher calories than I thought I could.
I've also found that when I do an unusually long gravel bike ride, such as an event or race or whatever (and thus eat a lot more that day as I'm fueling throughout the ride), it doesn't significantly affect my overall caloric expenditure for the week. Now, if you start doing 4-6 hour bike rides every single weekend, it will notice that and increase your calories, but it won't do it if you just do long rides once in a while.
I thought the code auto-populated for the extended free trial. It does not.
The code is TWOPCT
Very much looking forward to comparing this app to cronometer. I was only offered 1 week free trial, not 2.
I had the same thought about comparing it to Cronometer. I've been using it for years.
Yes, the code is TWOPCT
Sorry—I thought it autopopulated!
I'm also a cronometer user. I don't see fiber anywhere on macrofactor from my brief look around. That might be a deal breaker for me, but I will be doing more looking later.
I’ll compare to Cronometer as well, which I’ve been very happy with
I found the code 'twopct' to work for the 14 day trial.
The struggle I have with these types of apps is tracking what I eat accurately. I cook from scratch. I don’t want to enter complicated recipes for it to analyze (weight watchers has that option). I also hate tediously entering the main ingredients I know I put in a dish—e.g., I just ate potato salad and could estimate the potatoes, sour cream, mayo etc based on the recipe I used which would be more accurate or I could just take the apps estimate of 400 calories. I also ate a fresh mango which it says has 200 calories. Would a half cup canned mango be 200 calories? Really?
I love the idea of the app. It’s just the actual tracking that is always the weak link in this type of thing. If I ate less homemade food, it would certainly be easier to track but in the long run I don’t see that as a positive habit. This is where I always stall out with weight watchers.
I agree that under eating can be a problem, but if you cannot track accurately, an app isn’t going to solve that. So back to square one…
Macro Factor has been a massive game changer for me with my diet, nutrition, and fitness goals. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I've gotten a ton of value from it.
You can get a more accurate BMR test at places that focus on longevity or VO2 max - with the same mask as VO2 tests, you just sit there for 15 minutes doing nothing. From there, you can build around a deficit, maintenance, or gain. All your points on exercise expenditure are true. So I just skipped thinking too hard and set my deficit at BMR, knowing that I actually do things during the day including working out, which would make a deficit. This, plus a DEXA scan every 6 months, and tracking my calories, has been the most successful way for me to hit my goals this past year and make sure it's more fat than muscle I'm losing. It's annoying to track - but it works, and eventually you can start to nail how many grams of chicken you're eating :) without weighing (but you always still weight it!).
It took me so long to realize my chronic sleep problems were food related. I used to lie awake wondering how someone could be out on their mountain bike for 3 hours and not sleep. But I finally realized I wasn't eating enough carbs. Recovery requires fuel. Then I ate too many and now I'm titrating to find the sleep/weight sweet spot. But yes, it's complex! And yes my spreadsheet tracking macros is a pain.
That's a common problem among people who exercise a lot. It's happened to me as well!
I had the opposite issue - a lot of issues with soreness, not recovering well, etc., because I wasn't eating enough protein.
Just wanted to report here - I've been using MacroFactor for a week now, based on your recommendation. I have found it to be an excellent app, particularly with food logging, the ai interface for getting macronutrients out of a photo, and the auto-adjustments the app is doing for energy expenditure.
I had been using a different app for the past two years, which worked well enough, but not as well as this app.
I cook a lot from scratch, so I know the ingredients of most of what I eat. I've found that using MacroFactor's ai photo tool seems much more accurate than what I've seen elsewhere. Though I'm not using the feature yet, I fast as part of the Lenten season, and so, I suspect the fasting tracking of this app will be very useful there.
Thank you for the recommendation.
Did this very recently. Changed the frequency of training and at the same time went higher protein and fat, and lower carbs. Energy fell off a cliff, resting heart rate went up, HRV went down. I’d wake up after 7hrs solid sleep feeling completely fucked. Added potatoes back in, and voila.
I used Carbon for almost a year and I definitely felt the Abstinence Violation Effect. Having a red circle if you had too much fat or carbs is quite a downer.
I am now trying MacroFactor -- I like the idea that you log based on when and not some arbitrary tag (takes away the, "I am eating breakfast late -- should this be under lunch instead").
This app says to eat 3224 cal a day to lose 1.5lbs a week weighing 290 currently. If you compare that to MFP that’s about 500
More cal than what MFP says to eat for a calorie deficit. Thats insane. I find that hard to believe but I will try it.
Just know that it can’t take a few weeks of logging food and weighing yourself daily for the app to get a good sense of your true expenditure. So you might expect to see expenditure (and therefor your calorie target) to drop quite a bit while the app figures this out.
Yes, the algorithm needs time to get to know you. It starts with the best "most people most of the time in your situation" numbers. But then your data alters what you'll receive—and gets sharper and more accurate over time. The long-haul is where the improvements are found.
I signed up for the app. What a PITA! I wanted to add the Factor meal I just ate, and it was not in the database. Cancelling my subscription. Also a serious PITA to cancel.
I imagine you could just add the calories/macros manually or make a reasonable estimation. That's what I do when I go to local restaurants. E.g. No app will have a local restaurants calorie counts, but I can estimate "well enough" based on comps.
Heck, I had trouble figuring out how to add a cup of cottage cheese. Then when I saw they had the macros for Factor meals, I thought this could work. Unfortunately, it seems that having Factor meals does not meal all the Factor meals. A lame attempt, IMO.
I am very curious about this app! It’s not always good for me to know my weight day to day, I hyper focus on the number so I limit my weight-ins (about quarterly). I’m guessing not weighing yourself isn’t an option for this app due to the dynamic structure?
It does work best if you do weigh yourself daily as it adjusts your expenditure based on your goals (lose, gain, maintain). That being said, if your activity level is pretty consistent year round, that might be less of a consideration for you than for someone like me who does a seasonal sport - my caloric needs are way, way higher during the spring/summer/fall when I'm mountain biking and gravel biking every day vs. during the off-season.
MacroFactor keeps a running average of your daily weight numbers, which many people find helps them not get obsessive about a particular number. I just look at the "trend weight" which is the average, and don't get freaked out if I weigh a couple pounds more or less on any given day. Personally, I find I hyperfocus on the number *less* when I weigh daily as I know that my weight oscillates within a 5-pound range depending on how hydrated I am - but everyone is different, my daughter prefers to only weigh herself every few months.
Agreed, this is a real step forward. Static calorie targets have always been the weak point in tracking apps. I've used Cronometer for years and I'm going to give MacroFactor a try.
One thing I'm curious about. Since the dynamic adjustment reads your weight trend to set your calories, I wonder how it handles female hormonal variables: premenopausal vs postmenopausal, or any of it. I'm 49 and I track food and weight (I just like it, weird, I know), and during high hormonal volatility phases I can see swings of over 2 pounds (about 1 kg) in a day. If the algorithm reads that water fluctuation as a real trend, it could push my target the wrong way for a couple of weeks.
According to Greg, a brief swing like that wouldn't swing the calorie target.
Basically: The more you use the app, the more accurate it becomes over time because it has a larger data set to work with.
Thanks, I'm going to give it a try. It's been interesting to see changes in HRV with Morpheus, so this one will add something fresh.
It takes all that into account and bases our caloric needs on a rolling average. So even if you are 5 pounds heavier the day after eating a salty restaurant meal, it doesn't throw it off significantly. After the first few weeks, it "learns" your habits and then when it does adjust your calories up or down, it is just a small amount, like 20 calories in either direction.
It also starts your estimated calories on the high side, and then adjusts downward from there (if needed). This is IMHO a great feature, because many times we are under-fueling a bit because we don't want to risk gaining weight; but in reality many people find their activity level and intensity of workouts will be higher (up to a point) when they eat more. I was delighted to find out I actually can maintain my weight easily on higher calories than I thought I could.
I've also found that when I do an unusually long gravel bike ride, such as an event or race or whatever (and thus eat a lot more that day as I'm fueling throughout the ride), it doesn't significantly affect my overall caloric expenditure for the week. Now, if you start doing 4-6 hour bike rides every single weekend, it will notice that and increase your calories, but it won't do it if you just do long rides once in a while.