Can I customize my nutritional goals?

If you are following a different recommended plan from your doctor or nutritionist, you can adjust many of your goals in our mobile apps or on our website. (Mobile app users should log in using the same email address and password they use in the app when visiting the site).

Website Users

• Log in to https://www.myfitnesspal.com in a web browser
• Click "My Home", then "Goals", then select Edit for Daily Nutrition Goals, Fitness, or Micronutrients
• Once you've made your changes make sure to click "Save Changes", those same changes will then appear in the app the next time the app syncs to the website

In our Android and iOS apps

• Tap "Goals" in the Menu (or "More" page)
• Tap "Calories, Carbs, Protein & Fat Goals" 
• Or tap "Additional Nutrient Goals, " to adjust additional micronutrient goals

MyFitnessPal distributes fat, carb and protein calories based on a percentage, in five percent increments. If you customize your macronutrient goals, all three goals will adjust to total 100%.

If you would like greater control over your goals, you may wish to consider upgrading to MyFitnessPal Premium. Premium users can set a very precise goal in gram increments for protein, carbs, or fat. Premium users can also set custom goals based on the day of the week. (See example image below)

Please note that your goals will update once you add exercise in the cardiovascular section for a given day: your exercise calories will be added to your goal for the day, distributed according to your chosen nutrient ratio. (Premium users may opt out of exercise calories being added to their daily total, or may choose to have them distributed in a custom ratio of nutrients)

By default, we set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:

Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories

This means that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day.  For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.

Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them on eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising. We do not recommend that women consume fewer than 1200 calories, or men fewer than 1500 calories, on a given day.

A view of the goals-by-day interface on the MyFitnessPal iOS app:

You may also find this video helpful: