How to Set Up MyFitnessPal to Calculate Your Calories and Macros*

I’ve logged in 644 days in a row. What do you think happened 644 days ago? I walked out of the hospital following my Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis.

I recently lost about 4 lbs with the help of my coach. Though calorie counting is just a fraction of the picture when leaning out, MyFitnessPal is a valuable tool to making sure you are hitting your nutrition targets. *Plus, for Type 1 Diabetics, it’s the best way to make sure your carb counts are accurate.

Here’s a breakdown of the steps for setting up MyFitnessPal:

1. Set up your goals (calories) in your MyFitnessPal settings
2. Sync up your step counter of choice to give you back calories for extra steps
3. Sync up your workouts to get back calories for working out
4. Optional: Customize meal names and number of meals
5. Start using the app to log food
6. Bonus: Set up a spreadsheet to predict your caloric needs and plan meals

Step 1: Set up your goals (calories) in your MyFitnessPal settings

Open the MyFitnessPal app. Tap the three dots menu on the right side where it says “More” -> “Goals.”

Important Goals settings highlighted in yellow.

• Put in your starting weight, current weight, and goal weight. You can also sync the first two from a smart scale. The current weight affects your calorie calculations.
• Set your Weekly Goal. My recommendation is 0.5 lbs per week unless you have a lot of weight to lose.
• Set your Activity Level. Unless you are really on your feet all day, I recommend selecting “Not Very Active.” Why? You will get calories back from completing more steps and workouts. It’s very motivating to start with a low number of calories and earn them back with your steps.
• Set your macros by selecting “Calorie, Carbs, Protein, and Fat Goals.” You should set your macros with the help of your coach or nutritionist. The calories will be automatically calculated from your activity level. Select the percentages for your macros. You can also adjust the goals daily if you want to match your macros to your workout schedule.

• Turn on “Show Carbs, Protein, and Fat By Meal” — this will help you see if you’re making your targets throughout the day.
• You can set your exercise goals, but again these don’t really matter.
• At the very bottom, set Exercise Calories to On. This is what enables giving you back calories for working out.

Step 2: Sync up your step counter of choice to give you back calories for extra steps

Select the best source of your step data. This is a watch or band if you have one.

Go back to the “More” menu and select “Steps.” If you have a smart watch or band (e.g. basic fitbit or jawbone), select whatever app is getting your step count from your wrist. For me, this is my Garmin Forerunner 935 via GarminConnect.

Step 3: Sync up your workouts to get back calories for working out

• Again go back to the “More” menu and select “Apps and Devices.” Select whatever apps you are using to record or sync your workouts. For me, this is Garmin Connect. I also have TrainingPeaks connected so my calories and macros are added to my TrainingPeaks account.
• When you select an app to connect, MyFitnessPal will walk you through the steps.

Step 4 (Optional): Customize meal names and number of meals

Go to “Settings” -> “Diary Settings” -> “Customize Meal Names” to set up custom buckets for meals. T1Ds, I highly recommend a separate bucket for whatever snacks you are eating to treat lows. This will help you understand how many extra calories you are consuming for treatment. Yes, I log all my glucose tabs!

Step 5. Start using the app to log food.

Log food by searching by name or scanning a bar code.

• Go back to the main page of the app and click “Diary.” Under the meal you are logging, click the plus sign where it says “Add Food.” You can then either search for the name of the food you’re eating or scan a bar code.
• Notice that your nutrients remaining will display at the top. You can also tap the nutrients and select to view macros or calories instead.

Step 6 (Bonus): Set up a spreadsheet to predict your caloric needs and plan meals

Customize my macro calculator to fit your needs!

If you exercise but the amount and intensity varies from day to day, it’s really tricky to plan your meals. If you’re a triathlete, you might need thousands of more calories on days with your long run or bike. I set up a calculator for myself to estimate my macros for each meal based on how many calories I think I will burn. Once you’ve been using MyFitnessPal for a few weeks, you will have a good sense of your caloric needs from day to day and know what to put into the calculator.

You can copy my macro calculator to your own Google Drive. LINK To make it easily accessible on the go, you can add it as a short cut on the home screen of your phone.

Note that I have included a box to manually enter my dinner carbs and exercise carbs. This is because I practice “sleeping low,” limiting my carbs at dinner. Then I distribute fat and protein evenly across the number of meals I’ve selected (including dinner). You should set up your own calculator to suit your needs.

If you have any questions, clarifications, or suggestions for this set up, comment below!