To monitor your nutrient intake with MyFitnessPal

As a registered dietitian, I know how overwhelming it can be to monitor nutrient intake. It is not easy to find out if you get the right balance between macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat). Many of my clients wonder if they get enough protein or vitamins.

Knowing where you stand with your nutrition is really important. Not only does this know-how help you with any weight loss journey, it can help you feel best in everything you do. And the tools in MyFitnessPal can take some of the guesswork out of understanding and track your nutrient intake.

With MyFitnessPal you can go beyond just counting calories. You can monitor your full nutrient profile, giving you insight into the macros and micronutrients that burn your body.

In this guide, I guide you through how to use MyFitnessPal to set, track and adjust your daily nutrient targets with precision.

With its sturdy tracking functions and extensive nutrient database, MyFitnessPal’s nutrient tracking can help you fill in gaps in your nutrition, meet specific nutrient needs or generally work against a more balanced diet.

Why Monitoring of Nutrients is important for health

The nutrients in the food you eat burn any function in your body, from helping to maintain the energy level to brain function.

By tracking key nutrients – both macronutrients such as protein, carbohydrates and fat and even micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals – you get a clear picture of your diet’s strengths and any nutrient holes.

Who should trace macronutrients

Tracking macronutrients is especially advantageous for anyone with specific fitness or body combination targets, such as athletes and weightlifters. It can also be an effective tool for anyone who wants to lose weight (1) or get muscles.

By monitoring your protein, carbohydrate and fat intake, you can better adjust your diet with your energy needs and support muscle growth and improvement.

Tracking micronutrients can be useful if you manage specific health goals or fill potential nutritional gaps or deficiencies in your diet.

For example, people with dietary restrictions, such as vegetarians or vegans, may be able to keep an eye on their iron. (2) Those with blood pressure problems may want to track sodium. (3)

More generally, if you are focused on immune support, bone health or your energy levels, you can also benefit from verifying that you meet the essential vitamin and mineral requirements for your nutrient needs. (4)

How to track macronutrients in MyfitnessPal

It is easy to track your meals, snacks and drinks. How to do it in five simple steps:

1. Log your food: Enter your meals in the diary to start tracking your intake.
2. Navigate to macros: From your food diary, press the three dots on the lower right corner of the screen to access the “More” menu. Press “Nutrition.” At the top of the nutrition screen, press “Macros” to see your macros.
3. Review today: You will see a circular graph showing what percentage of the calories you have made today coming from each of the three macronutrients. During the pie diagram you can see how your day’s macrototals are compared to your goals. Scroll down to see the foods and beverages you have eaten today, which are highest in each macronutrient.
4. Review another day: Find the “Day View” menu over the pie chart. Navigate to yesterday or tomorrow using the side arrows. Or press “Day View” and then press “Change Date” to select another date.
5. Review your week: To get a sense of the larger image, press “Day View” and then press “Week View.” You will see a bar chart showing what percentage of your total calories came from every macro every day of the week, as well as the foods you have eaten that are highest in each macronutrient that week.

For US-based users, you can also see a status bar that shows meals you have eaten, protein targets and other nutrient targets. This can help you visualize how close or far you are from meeting your daily nutritional goals. It also gives you tips to increase your day’s progress.

How to track micronutrients (vitamins and minerals)

Tracking micronutrients can be right for you if there is a specific nutrient you monitor or try to target or if you have a deficiency.

1. Log your food: Go into your meals in the diary to start tracking your intake.
2. Navigate to macros: From your food diary, press the three dots on the lower right corner of the screen to access the “More” menu. Press “Nutrition.” At the top of the nutrition screen, press “Nutrients” to see both macro and micronutrients.
3. Review today: You will see a list of a chart showing all macro and micro -nutrients that are traced in MyFitnessPal. To the right of each nutrient you see your total consumption for the day, your goal and how much you have left before you meet your goal. Scroll down to see all micronutrients.
4. Review another day: Find the “Day View” menu over the chart. Navigate to yesterday or tomorrow using the side arrows. Or press “Day View” and then press “Change Date” to select another date
5. Review your week: To get a sense of the larger image, press “Day View” and then press “Week View.” To the right of each nutrient you see your average consumption of each nutrient for the week and how it is compared to your goal.

To set up nutrient targets in MyFitnessPal

Setting up macronutritional targets:

1. From the dashboard, press “More“At the bottom to the right to open the main menu, then select”Goal. “
2. Under “Nutrition“Press”Calorie, carbohydrates, protein and fat targets“To change the standard dimensions set for you based on general dietary guidelines and your caloric dimensions.
3. You can adjust each macronutrient as a percentage of your total calories. The app shows you what this reflects in Gram after you set your percentage distribution.

Premium subscribers have the extra feature of putting macronutry targets in grams instead of percentage for even more accurate tracking.

Setting up micronutritional targets:

1. From the dashboard, press “More“At the bottom to the right to open the main menu, then select”Goal. “
2. Under “Nutrition“Press”Additional nutrient targets“
3. Here you can enter precise dimensions at gram level for the following nutrients and micronutrients:
   • Saturated fat
   • Poetakaturated fat
   • Enunciated fat
   • Trans fat
   • Cholesterol
   • Sodium
   • Potassium
   • Fiber
   • Sugar
   • Vitamin
   • Vitamin C.
   • Calcium
   • Iron

Premium members can also create specific caloric dimensions for each meal.Here’s how:

• From the dashboard, press go to “More“At the bottom to the right to open the main menu, then select”Goal. “
• Under “Nutrition Measurement”, tap on “caloric dimensions after meal.” Here you can switch with “Enable Meal Goals”, and then press each meal’s default caloric dimensions to change it to targets that reflect your preferences. You can put meals with a percentage of your total calories or set specific caloric dimensions for each meal.

Frequently asked questions about nutrient tracking

The post how to monitor your nutrient intake with MyFitnessPal first appeared on the MyFitnessPal blog.