How to Do the Calories In, Calories Out (CICO) Diet Using MyFitnessPal 

You’ve likely heard about the Calories In, Calories Out (CICO) method for managing weight. It’s probably the most popular approach—and the most effective. 

The concept is pretty straightforward: To lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than your body burns. And if you consume more calories than your body burns, you gain weight. CICO is a flexible approach to weight loss backed by science (1). 

If you’re new to the CICO diet or calorie tracking in general, you may not know exactly where to start. And you may know that MyFitnessPal can help you track your calories and nutrients. In fact, MyFitnessPal can be your best friend on the CICO diet. The app can help you set your goals and stay on track when you’re tracking. 

Wondering how to use MyFitnessPal can help with the CICO method? Let’s get into it step by step.

Step 1: Set up your goals in MyFitnessPal

First, when you sign up for MyFitnessPal, the app will ask you for some essential info: your age, weight, height, sex, and daily activity level. 

Your answers help calculate the most important stats that make the CICO method work:

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): The number of calories your body burns at rest just to maintain basic bodily functions.

Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE): The total calories your body burns in a day, factoring in your activity level (e.g., how much you exercise, whether you have a physically demanding job, etc.).

Next, you’ll choose a goal:

• Losing weight
• Maintaining your current weight
• Gaining muscle 

If your goal is weight loss, MyFitnessPal will suggest a calorie goal that will put you in a calorie deficit. If you meet that goal, you’ll consume fewer calories than you burn each day. 

Calories Consumed – TDEE = calorie deficit

Then you’ll set a goal for how quickly you’ll lose weight. MyFitnessPal will ask you how much you’d like to gain or lose per week. 

You can choose to gain either 0.5 lbs or 1 lb per week. 

For weight loss, you’ll choose either 0.5 lb, 1 lb, 1.5 lbs, or 2 lbs per week as a goal. 

You can also choose to maintain your current weight. 

The standard recommendation for safe weight loss is a calorie deficit of 500-1000 calories per day, which typically results in losing 1 to 2 pounds per week (1).

But a bigger deficit doesn’t mean faster weight loss, according to Stephanie Nelson, RD, MyFitnessPal Lead Scientist. In fact, 68% of MyFitnessPal users who achieved at least 90% of their goal weight lost less than 1 pound a week on average.

Step 2: Log What You Eat (Aka, Your “Calories In”)

When you log what you consume throughout the day in MyFitnessPal, you’ll know what the “calories in” part of your CICO diet looks like. 

MyFitnessPal’s food database includes millions of food items, from grocery store staples to popular restaurant meals. 

To log your meals and snacks, search for the item in the database and choose the items you had, and add them to your diary. Ideally, choose from the “Best Matches” options in the app. 

Pro tip: Upgrade to Premium to access our barcode scanner. It makes logging packaged foods even easier.

Cook from home or meal prep often? You can add your own recipes to MyFitnessPal, too. Enter the ingredients you used, and the app will calculate the total calories and nutrients for the entire dish or per serving. This is super helpful if you like to make the same recipes on repeat. 

Pro tip: Weighing or measuring and portion sizes can help improve logging accuracy—but any logging is a win! It’s all about progress, not perfection.

Step 3: Log Your Exercise (Aka, Your “Calories Out”)

MyFitnessPal makes it easy to log the calories you burn, whether you manually log workouts or sync the app with a fitness device, like a Fitbit or a Garmin.

When you break a sweat, log it. MyFitnessPal can estimate your burn for all kinds of exercise, from strength training to running to swimming. 

MyFitnessPal will take your exercise calories burned and adjust your daily calorie target for you. 

For example, if you have a goal of 1800 calories per day and you burn 300 calories doing exercise, MyFitnessPal will update your remaining daily intake to 2100 calories. And if you sync your fitness device, your calories show up automatically! 

Some MyFitnessPal members choose to turn off this feature, which is easy to do in the app. If you do this, you can still log your exercise, but the calories won’t get added back to your goal. 

Step 4: Add Macros to the Mix

Not all calories are created equal! Calories consumed is the crux of the CICO diet. But paying attention to macronutrients (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) can help you optimize your results. 

“One downside of focusing solely on calories in vs. calories out during a weight loss journey is that it doesn’t teach us the importance of the nutrients in those calories,” says Melissa Jaeger, RD, LD, Head of Nutrition at MyFitnessPal.

“Tracking with MyFitnessPal can help you not only identify your total daily calories but also key nutrients to support your overall health and wellbeing when it comes to weight loss such as protein, fiber, saturated fat and more!”

MyFitnessPal has tons of food data, including macros. When you log foods, you can check in on your daily macros on the “Nutrition” tab. (If you’re a premium member, you can find it right on your dashboard.) 

This section provides a breakdown of how much protein, fat, and carbs you’re consuming, and how they contribute to your overall calorie intake. 

Adjusting your macros can help you meet specific goals. For example:

• Higher protein can support muscle maintenance and recovery, especially if you’re lifting heavy.
• Balanced carbs and fats can keep your energy levels stable throughout the day, helping you avoid fatigue or mood swings.

MyFitnessPal gives you a default setting of balanced macros for optimum general nutrition. If you have a premium membership, you can customize your macro goals, which is especially helpful when following a specific high-protein or ketogenic diet plan. 

Step 5: Get Your Data and Review Your Progress

It’s super gratifying to see a record of all your hard work. One of the most motivating aspects of using MyFitnessPal is the ability to track your progress. Consistently logging can show you how well you’re sticking to your goals. You can see what’s working—and what’s not. 

In the app’s “Progress” section, you can track changes in your weight, measurements, and fitness goals. MyFitnessPal’s visual charts allow you to see trends over time, helping you visualize opportunities for improvement.

Well, OK. Not exactly. No day is perfect. No two bodies are the same. Even when it comes to counting calories and macros, don’t get hung up on being hyper-exact. 

Instead, strive for consistency over perfection. As Stephanie Nelson says, “It’s more sustainable to take a slower approach because you end up making changes that you can keep up for the long term. Rather than focusing solely on numbers, focus on smaller behavior changes you can make.”

Other Tips for the CICO Diet

Some more advice for using MyFitnessPal to succeed on the CICO diet:

• Log food ASAP: Whether it’s before or right after a meal, logging food as soon as you can means you’re less likely to forget what you had.
• Set reminders: Use MyFitnessPal’s built-in notifications to remind you to track meals and workouts.
• Customize your experience: Premium MyFitnessPal members can adjust their macros, customize their dashboard, and tailor their experience to fit their goals.
• Join the community: MyFitnessPal’s member community helps you connect with others on the same journey. Chat with friends and read success stories to stay motivated.

With the right tools and mindset, the CICO diet can empower you with information and insights into what you’re eating, how much you’re burning, and help you reach your goals with some simple math—and science. 

Check out some success stories from MyFitnessPal members to see how tracking has helped change their lives.

The post How to Do the Calories In, Calories Out (CICO) Diet Using MyFitnessPal  appeared first on MyFitnessPal Blog.