Simplified Calorie Tracking vs. All Macronutrients

In our 25+ years of offering diet tracking applications, we've seen numerous trends that seem to be consistent regardless of the latest current fad in dieting. The first key trend we found is that the more often users track, the more weight they tend to lose. The second key trend is that most users prefer a simplified target to aim for, typically calories or carbs, instead of trying to follow every macro (fiber, protein, etc.). Put these two together and it could be a win-win for your program, you can make your program easier to implement while your users are more engaged, thus achieving better results.

"the more often users track, the more weight they tend to lose"

Simplified Tracking

Tracking a single nutritional category has an enormous simplicity benefit in that you set a goal, add up your intake via tracking, and it's very clear whether you are being successful or not. This generally works best for calorie reduction dieting, where you're not as focused on the source of your calories. In the long term, if you consume less calories than your body needs, no question you will lose weight.

Macronutrient Tracking

Other diet types, such as low-carb dieting, tend to use more nutritional categories such as carbohydrates, protein and fiber, and some even disregard calories altogether. While these types of diets are not for everyone, and sometimes shunned by the medical community, there is no question that some people see success with these plans. In the context of a tracking program, giving your users a choice will help you accommodate everyone.

most users prefer a simplified target to aim for, typically calories or carbs

Reevaluating Your Program

When developing our application, we were very aware of the need to offer both simplified tracking and full macronutrient tracking, and we have built it in from the start. If your diet program is geared to a specific type of diet, our suggestion is to only include the macronutrient categories that apply and omit the others. Your users will appreciate the simplification and more than likely, track more often with less information overload. And the more users track, they more likely they are to see success!

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