With decades of combined coaching experience, we’ve created the ultimate guide to flexible dieting. This scientifically backed approach lets you eat anything (yes, anything) while still achieving your health and fitness goals.

This method has been proven to enhance your ability to stick to a diet, and we’ve taken it a step further by weaving in expert tips and insights gained from working with over 35,000 clients just like you.

In addition to sharing what works, we’ve identified common mistakes and pitfalls that can hold you back. This guide outlines those challenges, answers frequently asked questions and provides clear, reliable advice you can trust. There are no rules, banned foods, or restrictions – just a proven approach to reaching your goals.

Macros 101

What Are Calories?

A calorie is a unit of energy. The calorie content of a food describes how much energy your body can get from consuming it. Though there are other factors involved, weight loss or gain ultimately comes down to how many calories you consume.

When you eat more calories than your body can use, the extra energy is stored as body fat. When you need more energy than you are getting from what you eat, your body burns body fat for fuel.

“Calories are typically written a kcal, Cal, or Calories (with a capital C). This is because calories as we see them listed in food products are actually kilocalories – 1,000’s of calories. In order to prevent a lot of zeros on your food labels, kcal or Cal is commonly used.”

What Are Macros?

All foods are made up of one or a combination of three macronutrients, or macros: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The macronutrient content of a food determines its caloric value.

Carbohydrates and protein both have 4 calories per gram, and fat contains 9 calories per gram. Calories don’t exist outside of these macros (excluding alcohol, which contains 7 calories per gram).

Each macro has a different use in your body. By tracking how much of each you consume, you can impact many things such as body composition (fat vs muscle mass), energy level, and even your mood. No single macro is responsible for fat gain or loss (you gain fat by eating more calories than you burn).

Protein

Protein is found in nearly all of the tissues in our bodies, and consuming adequate protein is essential for life. Consuming the right amount for your activity level and body composition goal is vital for achieving the physique you want.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. There are 20 different amino acids, and of these 20, your body can manufacture all but 9 of them on its own (these 9 are called essential amino acids, because it is essential to get them from your diet).

Some protein sources are more complete than others, meaning they have more or all of the 9 essential amino acids that your body can’t make itself. Every protein source you eat doesn’t need to be complete but you want to make sure the combination of proteins you are eating covers all of the amino acids your body needs for adequate muscle repair and growth.

Some examples of protein are:

• Meat
• Fish
• Eggs
• Dairy (including whey protein)
• Spirulina
• Quinoa

Some examples of food containing incomplete proteins are:

• Vegetables
• Seeds and Nuts
• Legumes
• Grains

Carbohydrates

While carbs are not essential (meaning humans can function without them), they are useful as a source of energy for the body. Many carb sources such as fruits and vegetables tend to be very nutrient dense (containing vitamins and minerals), and some contain dietary fiber, both of which are important for optimal health. Adequate fiber intake is important for digestion and gut health.

Examples of foods that are primarily carbohydrates include:

• Fruit and Vegetables
• Grains
• Potatoes
• Rice and Pasta

Fats

Unlike carbs, fats are essential – meaning the body can’t function without adequate fatty acid intake. It’s important to point out that consuming dietary fat doesn’t contribute to fat gain unless total calories are in a surplus. Adequate intake of dietary fats is important for proper hormone function, proper absorption of certain vitamins, the production of cholesterol (vital for health), and also as a source of energy for certain activities such as distance running and other low to medium intensity cardiovascular activities. 

There are several types of dietary fat, including trans, saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (includes omega-3 and 6).

1. Trans fats are harmful and generally should be completely avoided.
2. Saturated fats may have some negative health effects if consumed in excess, but they need not be completed avoided and even have benefits such as the production of testosterone.
3. Fats are essential for life and health, and monounsaturated fats have health benefits as well.

Examples of trans fats (avoid):

• Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
• Shortening
• Some margarines

Some Examples of saturated fats (fine in moderation):

• Coconut oil/Palm oil
• Animal fats (from meat)
• Butter

Examples of polyunsaturated fats (essential):

• Fish oil
• Nuts/Seeds
• Some plant-based oils such as sunflower oil

Examples of monounsaturated fats:

• Avocado/Avocado oil
• Grapeseed oil
• Olive oil

Calculating Macros

While there is no single “correct” set of macronutrients for any given individual, there is a range of each macronutrient that is optimal for a particular goal. We offer an easy to use calculator that will give you appropriate macros for your personal stats, preferences, and goals, all while supporting your flexible dieting approach.

Even though the calculator linked above will do the math for you, there is value in understanding how macros are calculated. First, appropriate calories are calculated. Generally speaking, 10-12x your bodyweight in pounds is an appropriate range for calories to lose weight, 13-15x body weight is where most would maintain, and 16x or greater is for gaining weight/muscle.

Less active individuals would be towards the lower end, and more active towards the higher end of those values or higher. Very overweight/obese individuals will likely be even lower than the stated ranges. 

The Role of Protein, Fats, and Carbs

For optimal body composition, adequate protein is required. The amount needed for this (retaining and/or building muscle) is much higher than the minimum amount needed for basic health and avoiding deficiency.

The generally agreed upon amount for protein intake for improving body composition is a range, from .8g-1.5g per lb of total body weight. Less is needed in a calorie surplus, while more is needed (for muscle retention) in a calorie deficit.

There is a minimum amount of dietary fat needed for optimal health, but there isn’t enough research in this area for an absolute amount to be known. Most experts agree that a bare minimum amount of dietary fat is around .25-.3g per lb of body weight, or 15-20% of your total calories.

More fat in your diet is based on preference. Remember that the more fat you choose to have in your diet, the fewer carbs you can then have within your calorie allotment. 

It is important that your diet contains enough carbs to fuel your activity level. Sedentary individuals need fewer carbs, while those exercising hard need more. When carbs are too low, you may feel tired and sluggish, and exercise/athletic performance will suffer. This translates to fewer calories burned and less stimulus to muscles during workouts, which can be counterproductive to weight loss goals.

Fiber is a subset of carbs, and it’s important to get an adequate amount for optimal digestive health. Fibrous foods also help with satiety, keeping you feeling full. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends approximately 14 grams of fiber for every 1000 calories consumed.

Sugar is another subset of carbs and doesn’t need to be tracked separately.

Why Tracking Macros Matters

In summary, tracking macros rather than just calories has several benefits. Keeping protein high enough ensures that you will retain as much lean mass as possible during a dieting phase, and that you will adequately repair and build muscle in a gaining phase.

Adequate levels of dietary fats is important for general health. Eating the right amount of carbs allows you to maximize efforts in the gym, and keeps you feeling energized. So while it is your calorie amount that ultimately determines whether you will gain, lose, or maintain your weight, tracking macros allows you to maximize your results. 

The Macros Inc. Facebook group is a great place to go for additional information on macros, support and ideas.

Weighing & Measuring Foods

When starting to track macros, one thing you must have for the best chance at success is a food scale. Without weighing, it is impossible to really know how much of a given food you are eating. People are notoriously bad at eyeballing or estimating how much food they are consuming.

Even measuring foods with cups can be very inaccurate, because there is so much variability with how tightly packed and how full one might fill the measuring cup.

The good news is that you can find a good food scale for $15-$25. Amazon, Target and Walmart are good places to find them. Look for a digital scale that measures in grams (grams are a smaller unit of measurement than ounces, and so it is a more precise way of weighing).

The Accuracy of Weighing vs. Estimating

The basic idea is that you weigh the food item so that you know the quantity you are eating. Then, you use a calorie/macro tracking app like Macro Sync to log the amount you ate of each food. The app then counts the macros and calorie content of that amount of food for you. If you don’t want to use an app, you can use something like an Excel spreadsheet, or even just pen and paper.

Even packaged foods need to be weighed for 100% accuracy. For example, the label on your loaf of bread might state that one slice of bread is 30g. You weigh yours, and its actually 41g. If you would have logged it as 1 slice without weighing, you would have been underestimating how much you ate.

It might seem like a tiny detail, but those slight differences happening with everything you eat, day after day can add up to a large discrepancy between what you log and what you actually consume. This can make it frustrating when progress isn’t happening, and you feel you are “doing everything right”.

Measuring Liquid (Weight vs Volume)

A substance’s weight is a measurement of its mass, while volume is a measure of how much space the substance takes up. Grams, ounces, pounds, tons are units of weight/mass. Fluid ounces (not the same as ounces!), milliliters, tablespoons, cups, gallons are units of volume.

In general, solid items should be weighed, and liquids should be measured. While some scales do have a fluid ounce and/or milliliter setting, mass only equals volume when measuring water (1 oz = 1 fl oz), so it will be inaccurate to weigh liquids other than water even using fl oz or ml settings on a scale.

Use measuring spoons and cups for liquids.

Weighing Dry Goods

Packaged foods all have nutrition labels, and the nutritional information/macros on that label is always for how the food comes to you in the package. Food manufacturers pay to have a lab analyze the nutritional content of the food in the state that it is sold to you.

Therefore, the weight stated on the label of dry goods like pasta, rice, oats, grains etc., is for the uncooked product. You should weigh these items dry in order to have the macros on the package be accurate.

Weighing Meat

Meat is most accurately weighed and logged in its uncooked state. When you cook meat, water (and a small amount of fat) is cooked off, but the amount will vary depending on the method of cooking (baking vs crockpot vs a skillet etc.), and to what temperature you cook the meat. A rare steak will retain more water than a well done steak, for example, yet both are technically “cooked”.

The USDA has a database of essentially every cut of meat, fish, and poultry and the raw macros for each. When you purchase meat at the store and there is a label on it, that label is for the raw product. So to use those macros when tracking, you must weigh it raw.

The USDA database also has cooked macros for most cuts of meat and fish. You can us these if you feel it is more convenient to weigh your meat after cooking, but remember that it will not be as accurate as raw because your method of cooking and level of doneness may vary from what was done to the cooked meat tested by the lab.

Some meat products, such as bacon, specify that the macros on the label are for the cooked product, so of course you should weigh it cooked.

Whether you weigh raw or cooked, the most important thing is consistency. Try and do it the same way, every time for best results and to limit the variability in your tracking.

Tracking

Tracking recipes & Large Batches of Foods

Very few people only ever cook for themselves in single-serve amounts. Therefore, it is important to know how to accurately track food when you cook it in large batches, or when you have lots of ingredients mixed together in a recipe.

For Recipes:

There is a recipe builder function as part of most calorie/macro tracking apps. It’s easiest to use this function for creating a recipe.

• Weigh all ingredients dry/raw as you add them to the recipe, logging them in the correct quantity to the recipe in your tracking app. 

• The recipe function might ask you to enter how many servings up front – put in an arbitrary number of servings as you will edit this after cooking.

• Cook the food.

• After cooking, you want to weigh the final product. 

• Edit your recipe and change number of servings to the weight in grams of your final product (minus the weight of the container if applicable).
  • For example: if you made chili, and it weighs 3456g (not including the container weight) you would edit your recipe to state it is for 3456 servings. 

• To log what you eat, weigh out whatever portion you want to eat and log that amount as the number of servings.
  • For example: if you dish up 345g of your chili into a bowl, log as 345 servings of your recipe. Essentially, 1g = 1 serving when done this way.

For Batch Cooking of Dry Goods or Meat:

• Weigh the total amount of meat or dry goods uncooked.

• Cook it.

• Determine how many servings you want the food to make, and divide the total cooked weight by that number.
  • For example if you want 600g of cooked rice to be 6 equal servings, divide the rice into 6 100g servings.

• Then log as that same fraction of the raw weight.
  • Continuing the 600g cooked rice example – if you ate 100g of cooked rice, that was 1/6 of the total 600g of cooked rice. If the total dry weight of the rice was 200g, you ate 1/6 of 200g or 33.3g of dry rice (200 divided by 6). You would log as 33.3g dry rice if you ate 200g of cooked rice in this example.

Logging Food into Macro Sync

There are many different tracking apps and methods as previously mentioned. Macros Sync is our recommended app due to ease of use, and so it is what we are recommending and giving instructions on using in this guide. 

The first thing to note is that Macro Sync should be used to track your food intake and macros. Calculate your macronutrient goals using our Macro calculator, and then use the app to track your eating to hit those macros. 

Macro Sync is our free food-tracking app that does it all. It’s simple and easy to use with access to premium features such as the barcode scanner with over 1.5 million verified food entries for easy tracking, recipe builder, and customized goal setting.

Finding Foods

To log what you eat (using Macro Sync), click the ‘My Foods’ icon at the bottom of the screen and then tap “Search for Food”.

You can search for a food by typing in the search bar, or you can click the “Barcode Scanner” option (for packaged foods with a bar code). Please note that all entries, even barcode-scanned entries, are user-entered and, therefore, may be incorrect. 

Always compare what you find to the macros on the package of your food, or to the USDA nutrient database. If there is a discrepancy, assume the app entry is wrong and the package/USDA database is correct. 

Editing any entry (barcode or database item) is very simple. Swipe left on the item and tap the blue “Edit” from the menu that appears. 

Creating Your Own Entry

If you come across a food that cannot be found, or if you can’t find an accurate entry for a food you can create your own entry.

From the My Foods Menu, tap the “Create a Food” icon in the centre at the top and you will be able to enter a custom item.

Complete the fields and tap ‘Save and Add to Diary’ to log your meal, or tap ‘Save to My Foods’ if you would like to save to use at a later date.

The entry will then be stored in your personal database for future use.

Setting the Serving Size & Number of Servings

​​As previously stated, you need to weigh (or measure if liquid) what you are eating in order to know how much to log. You will find that some entries do not have grams as an option for serving size, while others do.

You can always create a new food entry (or edit an existing one) and use grams as the serving size when you can’t find an accurate existing entry in grams. Enter the unit of measure you’re consuming as the Serving Name (eg: gram) and then how many of that size as the Serving Size (eg: 30 if 30g – you are having 30 1g servings).

You can find a quick guide on how to adjust serving in the Macro Sync app here.

Tracking Your Intake in the App

When looking at the app to determine how much you have eaten or have left to eat, there are two places you can check – under ‘Food Diary’ and also on the main ‘Dashboard’.

The first set of numbers you will see are your remaining macros and calories, if you swipe left this will display the macros and calories you have consumed.

Simply swipe on one of the numbers to switch between remaining and consumed for your preferred viewing.

Balancing Macros and Calories

The goal is to hit each macro within 5g. Calories are what determine loss or gain, and hitting macros exactly right = hitting calories. If you go over on one macro, you’ll have to stay under on another so that you don’t go over calories.

1 carb or protein gram is = 2.25g of fat (the reverse being that 1 fat gram = 2.25g or carbs or protein). So for example, if you went over your fat goal by 11g, you’d need to stay under carbs by 22.5g. (You would NOT take away from protein, because protein is essential while carbs are not).

Count Total Carbs, Not Net Carbs

Make sure you are counting TOTAL carbs and not Net Carbs (net carbs is when the fiber carbs are subtracted out of the carb count and not counted in the calories for the item).

We count all carbs (including fiber and sugar) towards carb grams. Check your entries and make sure you are logging foods with all carbs listed and the calories of the item reflecting the total carb count.

Common culprits for net carbs being listed are fiber supplements/bars, Atkins brand and other low-carb marketed products (like Quest bars).

Macro Sync is already set up to calculate Total Carbs to make things easier.

Tracking Restaurant Food

Eating out is a part of a healthy social life, and it shouldn’t be avoided just because you are dieting. It can get tricky because only large chains tend to have nutrition information available for their menu items, and it is hard to know how to estimate when you don’t know what went into the food you are eating. 

Some tips for eating out include:

• Order items with only a few ingredients, like a protein with a carb and/or veggie as sides. This is easier to visually quantify and log, as compared to pastas, cassroles, soups etc., that have many ingredients in quantities you can’t easily guess.

• Order sauces and dressings on the side so that you can see and control the amount used.

• Find a similar item that is in Macro Sync if your restaurant doesn’t provide info, and log that. It will not be exact, but is an estimation at least.

• Decide what you will have and log your meal out at the start of the day, planning your other meals around it.

Limit meals out to 2-3 per week for best results, just because they are so difficult to accurately track

Meal Planning

Pre-Planning Your Day in Macro Sync

If you are new to counting macros, you will likely find it difficult at first to figure out the right foods to eat in the right quantities to hit your macros. Instead of just eating what you think you should eat and then logging it afterwards, try pre-logging your food instead. 

In the morning, or even the night before, log the foods you think you want to eat in the quantity you think you want to eat them, and then see where you are at with hitting your macros. You can then adjust portion sizes of the foods you logged or swap out one food for another.

Do this until you get within 5g on each macro. Now you know exactly what to eat, and you won’t be stuck way over or under on any macro at the end of the day.

Food Quality

While weight gain or loss ultimately comes down to calories in vs calories out, food choices still matter for things like general health and satiety/ability to adhere to the diet. Sometimes, people associate IIFYM or macro counting with “junk food”, but that should not be how this way of eating is approached.

The 80/20 Rule

A commonly used phrase with flexible dieting is the “80/20” rule, meaning 80% of your diet should consist of whole, nutrient-dense foods leaving 20% to be filled with more “fun” foods that you love but aren’t necessarily nutritious.

The premise here is that once you have fulfilled your body’s requirement for micronutrients and fiber, you can then eat whatever else you want to fill your daily macro requirements since you can’t “stock up on the good stuff” by continuing to eat more once you’ve maxed out.

This tends to go against the popular “clean eating” movement, which tends to demonize all processed foods. 

Carb Quality

All of that being said, it is important to recognize that all carbs aren’t created equally. Some sources of carbohydrates contain a lot of sugar or other simple carbohydrates and not much else (treats like cookies, candy, soda, chips etc.).

If you eat too much of these, you’ll quickly max out your carb allotment without coming close to fulfilling the vitamins, minerals and fiber that you should have also consumed.

So, going back to the 80/20 rule. The approach for best health would be to get 80% of your carbs from sources rich in micronutrients and fiber (veggies, fruit, grains). Leaving the 20% for those other carbs that basically just taste great.

Artificial Sweeteners

Use of artificial sweeteners instead of sugar is one way to avoid extra carbohydrate consumption. The question of whether artificial sweeteners and things like diet soda are bad for us is one that comes up frequently in dieting and health-related circles.

Studies have not been able to prove that artificial sweeteners are indeed harmful in any dose that a human could actually consume on a daily basis. There are correlational studies that often get quoted, but it is important to recognize that correlation doesn’t prove that one thing caused another. 

While products containing artificial sweeteners may not be inherently nutritious or beneficial by themselves, they can help contribute to weight loss and better health for some people if they are replacing higher-calorie options. It is not true that artificial sweeteners spike insulin, and they do not contribute to fat gain in any way (since they are zero calories, they can’t).

Water Intake

Contrary to what is often stated in many diet/fitness circles, all beverages containing water (with the exception of alcoholic beverages) count towards a person’s daily water consumption. 

Your body breaks everything you consume down into its “usable parts”, and so it is going to use all of the H2O molecules that come in, whether they were pure water, in your Dr. Pepper, or even coffee when you drank them. (In regards to caffeine – it is true that it has a mild diuretic effect, but this effect is not enough to offset the hydration effects of the water contained in the beverage). 

A generic concrete amount of daily water intake that can be recommended is 35mL per kg of body weight. However, because there are many differences between individuals such as exercise/activity level (and therefore sweating) or a person’s climate, there is no one amount of water intake that can be said to be best for everyone. 

Monitoring the color of your urine is one of the easiest ways to know your hydration status. When you’re staying hydrated, your urine will be a light yellow, close-to-clear color. 

Though it might sound too simple, drinking to thirst is another option for some. Fluid shifts and electrolyte imbalances trigger the feeling of thirst. This means that when you feel thirsty, you are already slightly dehydrated (by around 2%).

This is not typically a big deal, but even slight dehydration can impact performance in exercise so keep that in mind if using this approach to staying hydrated. Evenly spaced water intake with a larger emphasis on intake surrounding training is a good approach for most individuals.

Tracking Progress

Tracking progress is important because adjustments in macros/calories may need to be made when things aren’t working, or when a stall occurs. There are several ways that you can and should use to measure your progress, including weighing yourself, taking measurements, and taking progress pictures.

Weighing Yourself

Weigh yourself daily after using the bathroom and before eating or drinking, undressed. Take the average of 7 days to determine your “true” weigh-in for the week.

You can log your weights simply on paper, or using the ‘Weight’ recording function in Macro Sync. Tap the ‘Dashboard’ icon and scroll down to ‘Weight’.

Tap the ‘Add Weight’ button and input your weight in either lbs or kg and the date, then tap ‘Log Entry’ to save.

Body Measurements

Common body parts to measure include natural waist, hips, neck, chest, each arm, each thigh, and each calf. Measure all or some of these parts (whichever you care most about seeing a change in size) with a measuring tape. Note at what part you measured so that you can maintain consistency.

An easy way to do this is to have someone take a photo of you (or take a video if you don’t have anyone to assist you) with the measuring tape in place around the body part so that you can see where to place it again next time, how taut it was pulled etc. Take body measurements every other week. 

Photos

Though the thought of taking pictures at the beginning of a diet is often not pleasant, having those before pictures to compare progress to is really important. (Also, you’ll be able to make a great “before and after” comparison picture down the road!)

Take the photos in something where your body is visible, such as underwear/sports bra or a swimsuit. Front, back, and side poses are best so that you can see progress all over when comparing pictures taken later. You might also want to take both flexed and relaxed pictures.

Tip: If you don’t have anyone to take the pictures for you, you can use a smartphone with the front camera on a timer, or you can record a video of yourself moving through the poses and take stills (screenshots or with an app) from the video later.

Take new progress photos monthly, ideally in the same clothing, in the same place with the same lighting.

Stalls In Progress

If you have been dieting (in a deficit) for 8-12 weeks or more, consider taking a diet break. This is a 2 week period where calories are increased to around maintenance, and it has both physiological and psychological benefits.

The Benefits of a Diet Break

Hormones that get low when dieting such as leptin, testosterone, and thyroid rise again when calories are brought up, and cortisol levels go down. Muscle glycogen gets replenished and you’ll likely feel stronger in the gym.

On the psychological side, it is always nice to get to eat more and to have more “room” to fit in foods you love. After the diet break, resume your deficit. Often this is enough to get the scale moving again, at least for a little while. 

How to Implement a Diet Break

To implement your diet break, increase your fats and carbs by 20% each, keeping protein the same. Stay at that intake for 14 days, and then return to your macros you were previously consuming.

Even after a diet break, you may find that you aren’t continuing to lose weight on the macros you were previously losing on. This is normal and to be expected at some point in the dieting process, and this happens for several reasons.

• For one, you weigh less now than you did at the beginning of your diet, so what may have been a deficit for you at that weight might not be now.

• Also, as discussed previously, hormones are affected when your diet and metabolism slows a bit (10-15%).

For all of these reasons, it’s common to need to lower calories when you stall in order to continue losing weight. 

When to Lower Your Macros

If you have taken a diet break and you still have not made progress for 4 weeks, you should lower your macros. Do this by subtracting 5-10% from both fat and carbs (do not decrease protein). 

There is such a thing as going too low in calories. Though it is not true that going too low will stop fat loss or cause fat gain (aka “Starvation Mode”), it can cause lots of hormonal issues and water retention, not to mention lack of energy (so decreased calorie burn in general) and possible loss of lean mass. Make sure your calories don’t dip below 10x your body weight in pounds (though if obese, this may not apply). 

Stalls in a Gaining/Bulking Phase

If you are in a gaining/bulking phase, of course, the goal is to gain weight, not to lose. You should be aiming to gain .25-.5 lbs per week. It is common to have to increase calories once or several times in order to see the gain you are looking for.

This is because as you increase calories, you also expend more energy as a result which drives up your TDEE. Increase carbs and fat by 5-10% if you aren’t gaining at least .25lbs a week on average. 

If you are bulking and gaining faster than .5 lbs a week consistently, you should scale back your calories. Gaining too much too fast will not accelerate muscle growth and will only result in excess fat gain. Decrease carbs and fat by 5-10% each when gaining too quickly.

Take the Next Step

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