Calculate Macros

Long live the Fitatu app!

It can be a true nightmare, with all kinds of mathematical formulas that you’ve lost track of before you even get started… But I have good news for you! There are several apps that can help you with this. You just need to input a few settings correctly, and then the app will do the complicated math for you. In this article, I’ll provide an explanation of all the settings and how to use my favorite app, the Fitatu app. I can’t say with certainty whether this app is available in all countries, as we are based in the Netherlands, where we use this app.

What’s so great about Fitatu?

Aside from Fitatu calculating your macros (which is fantastic on its own), there are several amazing features in the app that make your life so much easier!

You can add your own dishes and products to the app. This not only ensures that the values are accurate, but it also allows you to easily add a complete meal with multiple ingredients, with Fitatu calculating what you’re getting with one serving.

And also ideal! When you track your meals in the app, Fitatu shows you how many grams of protein/fat/carbohydrates you still need for the day to reach your daily total.

Table of Contents:

• Downloading the App
• Basic Settings
• Using the App
• Viewing Your Macros
• Entering a Meal
• Adding Your Own Used Products
• Adding Complete Dishes

Downloading the App

It all starts with downloading the app. To do this, go to the Play Store, type in the name Fitatu (you can see what the logo looks like in the image above), and click on download. I personally use the free version, which meets all my needs.

Once the app is installed, you can start adjusting the settings to calculate your macros. This can be done in just a few minutes, and it’s very simple. To make it even quicker, I’ve taken screenshots for you, so you can see where to go and what to enter for each step.

Te Basic Settings

At the very bottom right of the screen, you’ll see three lines with the text ‘more’ below them. Click on this.

In the image below, you can see where the text ‘settings’ is located. Click on it.

What do you need to set up?

There are several things you need to set up. You can see the steps in the image below.

Profiel
Goals
When you click on “Goals,” you’ll come to a section where you need to fill in several settings. You can see which ones in the image below.

Body Weight
Under the “Current body weight” heading, enter your current weight. Just below, you’ll find the “Target weight” section, where you’ll enter the weight you want to work towards. For example, if you weigh 66.3 KG and want to weigh 58 KG (your target weight), you would enter the following:
Current body weight: 66.3 KG
Target weight: 58 KG

Daily Activities
Here, you select how active you are in your daily life. There are several options to choose from, each with a brief explanation to help you select the right level of activity.

Daily Goals
In the daily goals section, you’ll set the ratios for your macros.

Here’s where the magic begins
Check the box at the top left that says “I want to set a daily limit for calories and nutrients myself” (see the image below).

In the right column, enter the desired percentages for the ratios you want. For keto, the standard distribution is:
25% protein
70% fat
5% carbohydrates

The app will then calculate precisely how many calories you need and what the distributions should be. So, Fitatu calculates for you how many grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates you should have in a day. Amazing, right?

Using the App

Woohoo! All the settings are now correct, time to start using the app! Below, I’ll show you step by step how to track everything, enter information, and even how to add products and dishes to the app. Keeping track of your macros will be a breeze.

Viewing Your Macros

When you are on the app’s home screen (the screen you see when you first open the app), you will see a bar at the bottom that displays your macros. Behind the labels (Kcal/Protein/Fat/Carbs) is the bold text showing what you have filled in for that day (what you have eaten). Below that, you will see the total number of calories and grams you need for the day to reach your goal.

In the photo above, you can see what it looks like when you haven’t filled in anything yet. In the photo below, you can see what it looks like when you have filled in some information.

Entering a Meal

Adding a meal is very simple. On the home screen, click on the large + sign next to the type of meal you want to add (breakfast/lunch/etc…).

Then, select what you want to enter for that meal, and voilà, it appears on your home screen!

There are already many standard products in the app, which you can search for and use, but it’s better not to do this!
The reason for this is that anyone can add and save products here, and unfortunately, the nutritional values entered there often don’t match. My advice is to always add the products you use frequently yourself. You enter the nutritional values indicated on the packaging, so you always know for sure that the values are correct.

Fortunately, this is very easy and quick, and then you can select them quickly. The next section explains how to do this.

Adding Your Own Used Products

When you want to enter a meal (after clicking on the + sign), you’ll see the option “Nieuw product” (New product) in the lower-left corner; click on it. Then a screen will open where you can fill in all the information from the packaging (this is self-explanatory). You can also give the product your own name; always choose a name that makes sense to you and that you can quickly recognize. I like to use my own name in it, such as “Yoghurt Xan.” Press save, and you can find it in the database from now on.

Adding Complete Dishes

This option is really amazing! You can add complete dishes, and the app will calculate the nutritional values for one serving for you.

For example:
Let’s say you’re making a vegetable soup. If you want to know the nutritional values per serving, you would have to first enter all the ingredients in the app that go into the soup. Then you would have to calculate the total nutritional values for a whole pot of soup. After that, you would have to divide the total by the number of servings to know what you’ve consumed. That can be quite a task…

But with the option to add dishes to Fitatu, you don’t have to deal with all that. Adding a dish is just as easy as adding a new product. Then, when you enter a meal, all you have to do is specify how many servings of the dish you’ve eaten.

Once again, start by clicking on the + sign next to the type of meal you want to add. Then, click on the “New dish” option at the bottom (as shown in the image above). You will then be directed to the following screen:

Here, you indicate all the ingredients and their quantities, then specify how many portions you get from it, and you’re good to go!

When filling in a meal, select the dish you added, indicate how many portions you consumed, and the app takes care of the rest!

With the help of this article, you’ve learned how to:

• Set up all the basic settings correctly
• Track what you’ve eaten in the app
• Check your macros and daily totals
• See how much you might still need in terms of nutrients
• Easily and quickly add your own products
• Add a complete meal and how to use this feature

You now have the perfect information to do everything you need. If you ever find yourself stuck, feel free to ask your question in Xandra’s Keto Kitchen’s Facebook group, Experienced users of the app can help you out there. 😉