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The fundamentals
Master your nutrition.
Everything you need to understand macros, weigh and log your food, read your progress and adjust your goals. It works with any kitchen scale. One page, eight short chapters, no fluff.
- 8 short chapters
- Works with any kitchen scale
- Free guidebook
Chapter 01
Why tracking macros matters
Most people don't fail at nutrition because of willpower. They fail because they can't see what they eat. Tracking turns a guessing game into a system you can steer.
You can't manage what you don't measure.
Two people can eat the same foods every day and get different results, simply because their portions are different. Weighing takes the guesswork out.
Calories set the ceiling. Macros build the foundation.
Total calories decide whether you lose, maintain or gain weight. Your macros, protein above all, decide whether that weight is fat or muscle.
Real-time feedback changes what you do.
Logging after you eat is like checking your speed after the ticket. Seeing the numbers while you build the plate lets you adjust before the first bite.
It has to be sustainable.
Rigid meal plans fail because life isn't rigid. With macros you can eat out, meal prep or cook anything, as long as you know what's in it. Keep the routine simple and the habit sticks.
Chapter 02
The three macros, explained
Every food is made of three building blocks. Here is what each one does, and how they add up to your calories.
Protein
Builds and repairs muscle and keeps you full longer than any other macro. Losing fat or building muscle, this is the number to protect. Hit it first, every day.
Carbohydrates
Your body's main fuel for training, focus and daily movement. Whole grains, fruit and vegetables digest slowly and keep energy steady. Sugary foods hit fast and fade fast.
Fat
The most energy-dense macro, more than twice protein or carbs per gram. It supports hormones, brain function and vitamin absorption. Fat doesn't make you fat by itself; a calorie surplus does.
Try it
Where do calories fit in?
Calories are the total energy. Every gram of protein or carbs carries 4 kcal and every gram of fat 9, so your macros add up to your calories. Move the sliders and watch the total. Once you know the grams on your plate, any food log does this math for you.
Need your own starting point? Use the calories and macro calculator: it works from your age, weight, height and activity.
150 g × 4 + 200 g × 4 + 67 g × 9 = 2,003 kcal
Chapter 03
Getting set up to track
You need very little: a scale, a place to write things down, and a starting target. One evening is enough.
- 1Get a digital kitchen scale
Any scale that reads in 1 g steps and has a tare (zero) button will do. Check it once with a coin of known weight: a US nickel weighs 5.000 g.
- 2Pick where you log
A notebook, a spreadsheet or any food log you like. The best one is the one that's quick enough to use at every meal.
- 3Know where the numbers come from
Packaged food: the nutrition label. Chicken, rice, fruit and other whole foods: a trusted reference such as USDA FoodData Central.
- 4Set a starting target
Start with calories and protein. Our free calculator gives you both in a minute, and you'll fine-tune them later (chapter 7).
- 5Track a baseline first
Log everything for three to seven days without changing what you eat. You're collecting data, not dieting yet. It shows you where you really start.
Make it easy: keep the scale on the counter where you cook, not in a cupboard. If it's out, you'll use it.
Chapter 04
Weigh it. Don't guess it.
Eyeballing feels close enough until you weigh. Dense foods like oils, nut butters, cereal and nuts are where the gaps hide. Here's how to weigh a meal, then test your own eye.
- 1Plate on, tare
Put the empty plate or bowl on the scale and press tare, so it reads 0. Only the food counts.
- 2One food at a time
Add a food, read the grams, log it. Tare again before the next one, so each food gets its own number.
- 3Weigh the extras too
Oil, sauces, dressing, cheese and drinks count. They're small in volume and big in calories.
- 4Match raw or cooked
Rice and chicken weigh differently once cooked. Log the same state you weighed, or the numbers can be off by two or three times.
- 5Batch cooking? Weigh the pot
Weigh the whole cooked pot once. Your portion's share of the weight is your share of the calories.
Guess vs weighed
1 of 4A heaping spoonful of peanut butter
On your toast, straight from the jar.
100 kcal
Typical portions; calories from USDA FoodData Central.
Chapter 05
Tracking progress over time
One day tells you very little. The pattern over a few weeks tells you almost everything. Here's what to look at, and how often.
Daily: protein first, calories close.
Each day, aim to hit your protein and land near your calorie target. Within about 10% is a good day. Perfect days aren't the goal; consistent ones are.
Weekly: average your weigh-ins.
Weigh yourself in the morning, in the same conditions, a few times a week. Compare this week's average with last week's, never one morning with another.
Judge the week, not the day.
One big dinner won't undo a good week. Look at your average intake over seven days before you decide anything.
Track more than your weight.
Note your energy, sleep, hunger and a lift or two. They show progress that the bathroom scale misses.
Once a week
The 10-minute check-in.
Same day each week. Answer four questions, then make one small change at most.
- 1How did my weekly average weight move?
- 2Did I hit my protein on most days?
- 3How were my energy, hunger and training?
- 4What is the one thing I'll change next week?
Chapter 06
Reading your numbers correctly
Tracking only works if you know what the data is telling you. Here's how to tell whether your plan is working, or needs a change.
Signs it's working
- Your weight is moving in the right direction over 2 to 3 weeks
- Energy during workouts is stable or improving
- You land within about 10% of your macro targets most days
- Hunger is manageable, not constant or extreme
- Your body is visibly changing, even if the scale moves slowly
- You recover well from training and don't feel depleted
Signs you need to adjust
- No change in weight or shape after 3 full weeks of consistent tracking
- Energy crashes, poor sleep or constant hunger: calories may be too low
- Gaining faster than you planned: the surplus may be too big
- Losing strength or muscle while cutting: protein may be too low
- Your workouts are getting noticeably worse
- You regularly miss your targets by more than 20%
Try it
Why one weigh-in means very little.
Body weight moves from day to day with water, salt and sleep. In this sample month, daily weigh-ins bounce between 78.7 and 80.5 kg, yet the weekly average drops steadily from 80.0 to 79.0 kg. Decide on weekly averages, never on a single morning.
Sample numbers for illustration, in kg.
- 2weeks
The minimum amount of consistent data before you judge anything.
- 3 to 4weeks
The earliest time to change your targets, based on the weekly trend.
- 8weeks
Enough time to see real changes in how you look and perform.
Chapter 07
Adjusting your goals as you progress
Your targets aren't set in stone. As your weight, your training or your goal changes, your numbers should change too.
Recalculate every 5 to 8 kg.
Your needs drop as your weight drops. Run the numbers again with your new weight, so your targets keep matching the body you have now.
From cut to build, or back.
Switching from fat loss to muscle gain (or the other way)? Set the new calorie target and let your macros follow.
New training block, new numbers.
A harder program or a new desk job changes what you need. Rerun the numbers with your new activity level in our macro calculator.
Adjust live, at the plate.
Not every change needs new goals. If a meal is running over your carbs, take a little off before you log it. Weighing as you plate gives you that control before the first bite.
Try it
How targets move together.
Two ways to adjust. Change your calories and keep your split, so the grams follow. Or change the grams and let the calories follow (4 kcal per gram of protein and carbs, 9 per gram of fat).
- 1Rerun your maintenance calories with your current weight and activity.
- 2Apply your goal: about 15% below to lose fat, about 10% above to build muscle.
- 3Set protein first, then fat, and let carbs fill the rest.
Chapter 08
Common mistakes to avoid
Even with the right tools, small habits can derail results. Here are the six most common, and exactly how to fix each one. Guess the fix before you open it.
Eyeballing portions instead of weighing
A tablespoon of peanut butter can be 16 g or 40 g depending on how generous you are. Over a week, those gaps add up to hundreds of hidden calories.
FixWeigh everything, sauces and oils included, and log each extra on its own line so it's counted too.
Logging after you eat, not while you build
Memory is unreliable. Portions feel smaller in hindsight, and the extras slip through.
FixWeigh and log as you plate, before you eat. It takes about as long as plating your food.
Only tracking on good days
Selective tracking gives you a skewed picture of what you really eat. Consistency, not perfection, makes the data useful.
FixTrack every day, weekends and meals out included. An imperfect log is always more useful than no log.
Changing goals too quickly
Overhaul your macros after one slow week and you'll never have enough data to know what works.
FixCommit to 3 to 4 weeks before changing anything, and judge by weekly averages, not daily swings.
Tracking calories, ignoring protein
Calories control your total weight. Protein decides whether the weight you lose comes from fat or muscle.
FixHit your protein target first, every day. Let carbs and fat flex around it within your calories.
Never updating your goals
Targets set once and never revisited, even after losing 10 kg or training much harder, lead to stalled results.
FixRecalculate every 5 to 8 kg of change, or whenever your activity or goal shifts. It takes a couple of minutes.
Keep your scale honest: replace weak batteries, set bowls in the middle of the platform, and press tare before every food. Most weighing errors come from how the scale is used, not the scale itself.
You're ready
Start building
your plate.
You now know how macros work, how to weigh and log your food, how to read your progress and when to adjust. The only thing left is to start.
Want to go deeper? Read the blog