The keto diet consists of a low-carbohydrate, high fat dietary intake. However, other nutrients, known as macronutrients, or “macros”, are also important. Calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein and fiber are the most commonly-tracked macros in the most popular Keto diet apps.
The proper balance of all of these components will help your body learn to use fat, and not carbohydrates, as its primary source of energy.
Not sure where to start? Check out these 7 best keto diet apps that track macros to achieve weight loss success.
1. Carb Manager: KetoDiet App, by Wombat Apps., LLC
This application is a “one-stop shop” for all your macro tracking needs. It has a database of over 10,000 foods. It also includes:
- Calorie counter
- Exercise calorie burning counter
- Glucose and ketone reading trackers
- Body measurement tracker
- Recipes and meal plans
- Meal planners
- An optional, personalized diet plan called the “Keto Genius Diet Plan”
- Personalized, general reports that show you if you are on track
Carb Manager is also great for tracking your water consumption, daily steps, and even the supplements that you take on a daily basis. After you are done entering your data, the application will generate a detailed report of your keto day. This comprehensive approach helps you see why “all macros matter.”
2. Keto.app: Keto diet Tracker, by Lappir LTD
This free app is available in the Apple store. The main macros that it tracks are: calories, net carbs, protein, and fat. It allows you to enter your daily meals either manually, or by bar codes.
Their food search option is quite comprehensive and organized in a way that you can find virtually anything, whenever you need to. The list is categorized by:
- Products, that is, the food items entered by name i.e., “eggs,” “apple,” “steak.”
- Restaurants and chains, which means that you can enter the popular name of a restaurant and a popular food from there (i.e., Hardee’s “Unwich”)
- Food brands, so you can enter the name of a popular item, such as “Cream of Mint Oreos.” All you need to do is enter the name of the foods, exactly as they are branded.
- Supermarkets and shops, so that you can enter popular items from small shops and supermarket chains, such as “Publix London Broil deli ham,” or “Trader Joe’s seaweed snacks”
A user-friendly “information” icon serves as the brain center of the app. It offers key information about all things Keto. This section of the application answers 17 of the top questions most frequently asked by people who are just starting out the keto lifestyle.
Some of the most popular questions include:
What is the keto lifestyle?
What foods should I avoid?
How many calories can we eat in keto?
The application is popular in social media. It offers tutorials on Facebook, Instagram, and twitter, and you can contact customer support at any time.
3. MacroTrak: Macro Tracker, by Jake Shimota
A user-friendly app for keto beginners, apprentices, and experts alike, MacroTrack focuses on fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and calories as the key macronutrient tracking sources. It helps you set your macro targets in grams, depending on your height, weight, and age.
The app takes your food entries, and lists the nutrients of each food, rather than having you choose from a long list. Like most keto tracking apps, your history is recorded each day so that you can keep control of your progress.
4. MyPlate Calorie Counter, by Livestrong.com
You may be familiar with the MyPlate initiative, which was mainly geared to create awareness among youths about the importance of nutrition in their lives. While it is not exclusively a “keto’ app, it is a wonderful app to track macros for reasons other than losing weight. Diabetics, people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or users at risk of heart conditions, can greatly benefit from the MyPlate trackers. The macros tracked in the MyPlate application include:
- Carbohydrates
- Dietary cholesterol
- Dietary energy
- Dietary sugar
- Fiber
- Protein
- Saturated fat
- Sodium
- Total fat
- Water
- Active Energy
The app helps you reach your weight loss goals by asking if you want to achieve your goal in the categories of “easy,” “moderate,” or “challenging.” The “easy” category sets your weight loss rate at .5 pound per week, while the “challenging” option sets it at 1.5 pound per week. The “moderate” option, which is the most popular, sets your weight loss at up to one pound per week.
Whatever option you choose, you always have an opportunity to switch goals, increase, or decrease the intensity of your program. As you track your macros, you can also read articles, get recipes, and the latest health and wellness research articles.
5. Stupid Simple Macros: IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) Tracker, by Venn Interactive, Inc.
SSM is a colorful food data base with lots of icons, a progress tracker, and a scan and search option to track your meals. This comprehensive tracker focuses on the four basic macros: calories, fat, carbohydrates, and protein.
The IIFYM tacker was developed by Venn Interactive, and added to the app, for people practicing the IIFYM. This version of the keto diet focuses more on fat, protein, and carbohydrates than restricting calories. As such, IIFYM may be easier to follow than the traditional Low Carb, High Fat (LCHF) diets.
6. Simple Macro: Calorie Counter, by Simplemacro.com
This app is a no-sign up, offline-friendly tracker that focuses on fat, carbohydrates, protein, and calories. You can add entries by measurements, servings, or from a list of favorites. Get instant reports on your macro goals,and help yourself keep track of all the good stuff.
Even if you do not sign up to use the app, there are ways to keep a history of past meals. This saves you the time of having to enter food lists from the start.
7. Macros- Calorie Counter and Meal Planner, by Josmak Tek
With over 500,000 users, we can conclude that Macros is quite the app. It tracks carbohydrates, protein, fat, and calories. It gives you a comprehensive analysis of your basal metabolic rate, body mass index, body fat, and your individual water requirements. All of this is based on your age, weight, activity level, and goals.
You have the option of counting total carbs, net carbs, and several choices for tracking macros. You can use their “scan and search” option to look for foods to enter in the data base. This super comprehensive app lets you track your body progress, and it also keeps track of your food history. It is colorful, fun to use, and it can help you track macros that affect other conditions, such as high cholesterol or high blood sugar.
Conclusion
These 7 keto diet applications that track macros can help anyone in need of making an immediate lifestyle change. Whether it is weight loss, dropping your blood pressure, balancing your blood sugar, or controlling your cholesterol, it has never been easier and more fun to track the things that you eat for your own good.
Technology has made it possible for us to carry our health in our pockets: just track what you eat, and let the apps do the hard work for you. Breaking down macros puts you in control of your health experience, and helps you lead a better life.
Thanks for sharing such a useful apps list. Also thanks for sharing the keto basics, really appreciate it.