Keto made easy

How to Set Up MyFitnessPal for Keto (Set It to Maintain)

Quick answer: Set your weight goal to "maintain", not "lose", then set your macros to roughly 5% carbs, 30–35% protein and the rest fat. In month one, the only number you have to watch is carbs. Keto tends to take the edge off hunger, so the deficit shows up on its own; if you also tell the app to "lose 2 lb a week", you stack a forced deficit on top and end up undereating.

In this article

The mistake most beginners make

The first thing the app asks is how fast you want to lose. Most people pick 1.5 or 2 pounds a week. KetoDick calls that the first mistake, because it builds a large calorie restriction into your day from day one (video DoSUgIr2rNo).

His distinction is between a calorie deficit and calorie restriction. A deficit means you burn more than you eat. Restriction means forcing yourself under a number while you're still hungry. Keto's selling point is that the first can happen without the second, so don't let the app impose the second.

Step by step: the setup

Menu names change between app versions, so look for the equivalent if yours differs.

  1. Enter your stats honestly. Height, weight, age, activity. The calorie number is only as good as what you put in.
  2. Set the goal to maintain. He walks through Settings → Goals → maintain weight. Step one, in his framing, is to stop gaining (video DoSUgIr2rNo).
  3. Set your macros. About 5% carbs, 30–35% protein, the rest fat (video DoSUgIr2rNo).
  4. Pin carbs as the number you watch. In month one, count only carbs; he says most people get enough protein without tracking it (video DoSUgIr2rNo).
  5. Log what you actually eat, including drinks. He logged about 500 kcal of alcohol at a festival and still finished well under his 2,700 kcal app target (video DoSUgIr2rNo). Logging honestly is how you learn.
  6. Ignore the calorie bar. Let it come up short. That gap is the deficit you didn't have to fight for.
  7. Use whatever app you'll open. He names MyFitnessPal and says he likes Cronometer on desktop (video cTGYIFOTPl8). A carb-counting app counts calories anyway (video LbPnm9T0oxc).

Check the arithmetic on your macros

Percentages are fractions of a calorie number, so they move when the calorie number moves. Carbs and protein carry about 4 kcal per gram. Here's his own 2,700 kcal target run through his percentages:

Macro Share kcal at 2,700 Grams (÷ 4)
Carbs 5% 135 about 34 g
Protein 30–35% 810–945 about 200–235 g
Fat the rest the rest not a target

Two things jump out. First, 34 g of carbs is under his 50 g "basics" line but above the 20 g many people aim for, so watch the gram count, not the percentage. He gives under 20 g for ketosis and under 50 g as "extremely low" (video DoSUgIr2rNo).

Second, protein as a percentage gets big at a high calorie number. In his 2018 basics he moved to grams instead: about 80 g for women, 100 g for men, plus 20 if tall and 20 more if you train hard (video UygKGoP_BtA). If the percentage gives you a number far from that, use the grams. More in are keto macro calculators accurate? and how much protein.

Month one: what to look at and what to ignore

Look at: carbs, every day. And whether you're hungry.

Ignore: the scale and the calorie number for at least the first two weeks (video DoSUgIr2rNo). Early weight is mostly water, and calories in month one aren't, in his phrase, a "key performance indicator" (video xyEZL0HuejI).

Also, you don't have to hit the fat number. He says there's no need to hit a fat macro when you're trying to lose fat (video DoSUgIr2rNo). The fat line is a ceiling, not a quota.

When you look at data, look at weekly averages, not daily targets (video UygKGoP_BtA). One high day doesn't mean anything.

When to switch from maintain to lose

His "lazy keto" video adds a nuance: a deficit is still required, but counting calories may be unnecessary (video LbPnm9T0oxc). His own preference is to track food, carbs and calories while learning, so problems can be diagnosed; busy people can track carbs only.

So the sequence is:

  1. Month one: maintain, carbs only, eat to fullness.
  2. Month two onward: keep logging. If weight is moving and you're comfortable, change nothing.
  3. If you stall for weeks, the log is where you look first: hidden carbs, then portions. See always hungry on keto and do calories matter on keto?.

If you take diabetes or blood pressure medication, cutting carbs can change your doses, so review your plan with your doctor before you start (video UygKGoP_BtA). See medications.

What the research says

That last finding is the closest the evidence pages come to his claim that the deficit appears on its own. It wasn't a keto trial, and none of these studies tested app settings.

KetoDick's take

I've said the first mistake is telling MyFitnessPal you want to lose a pound and a half a week. Set it to maintain, count carbs in month one, and eat until you're full (video DoSUgIr2rNo).

The main thing keto helps with is the lack of hunger. Set it up that way and you'll come up hundreds of calories short each day without trying (video DoSUgIr2rNo).

Key takeaways