Using Myfitnesspal For Keto Diet Success

MyFitnessPal is a popular app for tracking your daily food intake and planning your meals. It is a great tool for those on the ketogenic diet, a low-carbohydrate method of eating, as it can help you monitor your calorie and macronutrient intake.

To set up MyFitnessPal for keto, you need to adjust your diet and fitness profile. This involves updating your personal information, such as weight and height, and setting custom macronutrient goals. Specifically, you should aim for a daily intake of 5-10% carbohydrates, 20-30% protein, and 65-75% fat.

Additionally, you can install a script on your MyFitnessPal account to enable net carb tracking, but this workaround only works on the desktop version.

How to set up a MyFitnessPal account

To set up a MyFitnessPal account, you can follow these steps:

• Download the MyFitnessPal app.
• Enter your gender, height, weight, and target weight.
• MyFitnessPal will provide you with a daily calorie target based on your personal information.
• Start tracking your meals and exercise.
• As you continue using the app, update your weight at least weekly to ensure your calorie and macronutrient goals remain accurate.
• Connect with other apps and devices to further personalise your experience and increase your chances of success.

MyFitnessPal is a comprehensive tool that can help you track not just calories, but also macros, vitamins, and other micronutrients. It has a database of over 18 million global foods, including fresh foods, packaged goods, and restaurant items. The app also allows you to create custom meals and save your favourites for easy tracking.

How to set your macros

Setting your macros is a crucial step in aligning your MyFitnessPal account with your keto diet goals. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to set your macros for success:

Step 1: Sign Up and Personalise Your Account

• Create an account on www.myfitnesspal.com.
• Choose a username and password.
• Enter your personal statistics, such as age, height, weight, and activity level. Be honest and accurate with this information to get the most precise recommendations.

Step 2: Calculate Your Keto Macros

• Use a keto macro calculator to determine your ideal daily intake of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. A popular option is the Keto Macro Calculator: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/.
• This calculator will take into account your personal information and keto preferences to provide you with specific macro targets.

Step 3: Adjust Your MyFitnessPal Goals

• Navigate to the Goals section in your MyFitnessPal account.
• Select Change Goals to customise your targets.
• Choose Custom and continue.
• Now, adjust your macronutrient goals to align with your keto macro calculations. Set carbohydrates to 5%, protein to 30%, and fat to 65%. You may not be able to input exact percentages, but get as close as possible while ensuring the totals add up to 100%.
• Set your sugar goal to 0. While you may consume some natural sugars from fruits and dairy, aim to keep this as close to 0 as possible by avoiding added sugars.

Step 4: Additional Settings

• Go to "Settings" and then "Diary Settings."
• Under "Nutrients Tracked," ensure you have selected Carbohydrates, Protein, Fat, Fiber, and Sodium. Tracking fiber is crucial for monitoring your net carb intake.
• You can also choose to share your food diary with friends under the Diary Sharing section. This can provide accountability and inspiration.
• Save your changes.

Step 5: Install Chrome Extension (Optional)

• If you wish to track your macros by grams, you will need to install a Google Chrome extension. Download the Google Chrome browser if you don't already have it.
• Install the "Macros by Grams" extension from the Chrome Web Store.
• Follow the instructions to set your macro goals in grams, which will then be reflected in your MyFitnessPal account and mobile app.

By following these steps, you will have successfully set up your MyFitnessPal account to align with your keto diet and macro goals. Remember to track your food intake accurately and utilise the app to plan your meals and monitor your progress.

How to track meals

MyFitnessPal is a great way to track your daily food intake. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use MyFitnessPal to track your meals on the Keto diet:

• Create an account at www.myfitnesspal.com.
• Set your macros: Go to 'My Home' -> 'Goals' -> 'Change Goals'. Select 'Custom' and hit 'Continue'. Set your macros for keto: Carbs to 5%, Protein to 30% and Fat to 65%. You can also use the Keto Macro Calculator to figure out how many grams of carbs, fat, and protein you need each day.
• Set the total calories: Set the total calories relative to your total burn. You can use a TDEE calculator to help determine this.
• Add additional measurements: Click 'Change Measurements' and add as many measurements as you would like. Measurements such as Neck, Waist, Hips, Thigh, Chest, and Arms are recommended.
• Add fiber as a tracking column: Under 'Nutrients Tracked', add Fiber. You should have at least Carbs, Fiber, Fat, and Protein listed.
• Install a script to add net carbs: Install a special script to add net carbs to your measurement statistics. You will need to install Greasemonkey (for Firefox) or Tampermonkey (for Chrome) and then the script. The latest working script can be found here: https://github.com/Surye/mfp-keto-userscript.
• Track your meals: Now that you have set up your account and customized your goals, you can start tracking your meals. Use the search box to find and add foods. You can also use the 'Recipes' button to create and add your own recipes to your food diary.

How to calculate net carbs

Net carbs refer to the total amount of digestible carbohydrates in a particular food item. The formula for calculating net carbs is:

> Net Carbs = Total Carbohydrates – Dietary Fiber – Sugar Alcohols*

It is important to note that "net carbs" is not a scientific term and is considered a marketing term. It is also not recognised by the FDA or the American Diabetes Association.

To calculate net carbs, you will need to look at the nutrition label on food items. The two values you need to focus on are "Total Carbohydrates" and "Dietary Fiber".

First, identify the number of grams listed for "Total Carbohydrates". Then, identify the number of grams listed for "Dietary Fiber".

Next, subtract the number of grams of "Dietary Fiber" from the number of grams of "Total Carbohydrates".

For example, if a food item has 37 grams of total carbohydrates and 4 grams of dietary fiber, the calculation would be:

37 grams (total carbohydrates) – 4 grams (dietary fiber) = 33 grams of net carbs

Keep in mind that this calculation provides the number of net carbs per serving.

Additionally, if you live in Europe, Australia, or Oceania, the carb content on food labels already reflects net carbs, so you don't need to perform this calculation.

For those following a keto diet, tracking net carbs can be particularly useful. While the MyFitnessPal app does not currently offer a feature to track net carbs on its mobile app, there is a workaround. By using a script, you can modify your MyFitnessPal settings to display net carbs. However, this workaround only works on the desktop version of MyFitnessPal.

• Install an extension like Tampermonkey that can run a script on your MyFitnessPal settings.
• Log in to your MyFitnessPal account and click on 'Settings'.
• Update your nutrient goals to reflect keto targets: set Carbs to 5%, Protein to 30%, and Fat to 65%.
• Download the script provided in the links below and drag it into the Tampermonkey program.
• Open Tampermonkey, click on the plus (+) sign, and add the downloaded script file.
• Assign the URL provided in the links below to the script.
• Save your work and return to the MyFitnessPal tab to see if the changes have taken effect.

By following these steps, you can effectively calculate and track your net carbs, which is especially useful when following a keto diet or managing your blood sugar levels.

How to track net carbs

MyFitnessPal is a popular calorie-tracking app that can be used to monitor your food intake on a keto diet. However, the app does not track net carbs by default, only giving your total carb count. This is because MyFitnessPal is set up for low-fat/low-calorie diets.

Tracking Net Carbs as a Premium Member

MyFitnessPal Premium members can track net carbs in the mobile apps. To do this, you need to:

• Open the Menu or More (...) menu
• Select Settings, then Diary Settings
• Toggle on "Track Net Carbs"

Tracking Net Carbs with a Workaround

If you don't want to pay for Premium, there is a workaround that will let you see your net carbs on the desktop version of MyFitnessPal. This involves running a script on your MyFitnessPal account. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Install a Program to Run the Script

Download the Tampermonkey extension for your web browser (it works for Chrome, Safari, or Firefox).

Step 2: Double-Check Your Settings in MyFitnessPal

• Sign in to your MyFitnessPal account
• Click 'Settings'
• Check that you are tracking the following nutrients: Calories, Fat, Carbs, Fibre, and Protein

Step 3: Download the Script

Download the script from this page: https://github.com/Surye/mfp-keto-userscript

Step 4: Drag the Script Into Tampermonkey

• Open the Tampermonkey extension
• Click the plus (+) sign and add the script file
• Assign the URL http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings to the script
• Save your work

Step 5: Head Back to MyFitnessPal

Check that the update has worked by looking for the Net Carbs column in your nutrient headers.

Troubleshooting

If net carbs still aren't showing, check that you:

• Copied the entire script over
• Put the script in the right place
• Added the correct URL
• Saved your work

Also, make sure that you have the script and Tampermonkey enabled.

Frequently asked questions