The Best Weight Loss App
Carb manager is the absolute best diet tracking app out there. I use it with my patients for weight loss, reversing diabetes, keeping track of calories & macros, meal planning, the ketogenic diet, recipe ideas and tracking micronutrients like sodium intake. Keep reading to learn how to use it for your goals!
Why should you track your diet?
Tracking is your accountability partner! Not your neighbor, not your significant other, not your willpower. I KNOW that tracking is tedious and requires the steps of measuring food and entering all ingredients in an app. I KNOW you’d probably rather being doing trigonometry equations than putting in all this random info in your phone.
BUT, if you want to be held accountable (to yourself, by yourself) you will need to make some sacrifices in your day and do the sh!t that no one likes to do. The most successful patients I work with are the ones who take their nutrition seriously by doing these:
Meal planning each week (doesn’t need to be complicated but you need to have food in the house)
Cooking most of their foods at home, from scratch (this can just be mixing tuna and mayo, even!)
Track everything they consume in an app or on paper
Check out this other blog Keto Katz posted about changing your behaviors to be more successful, it’s another key to reaching your health goals.
How to use Carb Manager successfully
There are 3 parts to this, let’s go through each one:
Have goal settings set up properly
Make sure your weight and height are entered correctly.
Download the handout below and it will give you step by step instructions of how to set up your calorie and macro goals. You can do this on the free version or the paid version of Carb Manager. Or really, you can apply this info to any app you use, set up will just be different but the nuts and bolts are the same.
It doesn’t matter if you set the app up for “weight loss” under “Macros Calculator” because we are going to adjust the goals anyway.
There are a TON of settings you can adjust and play with, but the most important ones are what I have listed in my handout. The rest are cool and helpful but not necessary in order to use the app. It can be overwhelming 😑 to use them all in my opinion! Most important: don’t eat the calories you burn from exercise.
Track your intake
Every time you eat, you need to weigh/measure your food and track it in your app. Huge pain in the arse, but there’s just no other way to be accurate.
Be sure to adjust the quantity you’re consuming.
Restaurants and popular brands of products are usually in the app, so look for them by name. You can also use the scanning feature to scan barcodes for easy uploading.
I actually like tracking ahead of my meal, especially dinner. This way I know before I eat how much I can have and how I should balance my plate to make sure I don’t go over/under my goals.
Later, and I mean later, you will be so good at knowing how much you’re consuming you won’t need to track anymore. Just so you know, this is not forever! It’s just while you’re learning how to be keto.
Learn how to modify based on results
Check “My Macros” on the homepage to make sure you’re eating the right balance of carbs, fat and protein each day. This is an excellent way to learn what you’re doing “wrong” or “right” and make future adjustments at each meal to make sure you reach your goals. For example, if you’re low on your fat intake, just add more butter, oil, nuts or cheese to something you eat. After you track it, you’ll see the numbers change. If you are low in protein, eat more ounces of meat, dairy or eggs at your next meal to reach your goals.
Look back on your day, week and month. Compare these numbers with your hunger levels, success with staying on track and your weight fluctuations. This can help you revisit old behaviors that brought success so you can go back to doing them again if you start to lose your way 😜.
Track your weight in the “Goals” tab on your home screen or by hitting the “+” sign on the home screen. Depending on your weight goals (loss, gain or maintain), you can see how you’re trending in the long run and make adjustments. Remember that weight loss stalls can last over 2-3 months spans and it doesn’t mean you’re failing! Just keep going and your body will get back on track!
Typical issues you may have
If you’re going too high on carbs, you’ll need to limit the foods that are considered “keto” but still have carbs in them and can add up quickly. These are berries, nuts, seeds, dairy products, veggies and even processed meat products.
If you feel hungry, you likely need to increase fat and/or protein. Look back through the days you’ve tracked and see if you’ve met your protein and fat goals. If not, you need to meet them in order to get enough calories and feel satisfied.
Not losing weight? It’s possible you’re overeating and not weighing or measuring your food accurately. For some people it’s enough just to be eating keto and they’ll lose weight. For others, especially women with hormonal imbalances, they need to be in ketosis PLUS be strict with calories. Ugh, I know.
Not sure how to track a recipe? You can go to home page, hit “+”, then hit “+” in the upper right corner, then click on “create recipe”. From here you can enter your ingredients and serving size/quantity. Then going forward, you will always know the macros of that special dish you make and not have to enter that again. 😮💨
If you have more questions, just email me here and ask!
I hope all of this info presented motivates you to track your diet and helps you pinpoint issues you’re having. Thanks for reading!
Download this handout by filling out the form next door….