TrakMacTrakMac Knowledge
Evergreen answers about macros, training, body composition, and the actual research behind common claims. For product updates, opinions, and what we're shipping, see Field Notes at /blog.
Are eggs actually healthy or are they bad for cholesterol?
Eggs were demonized for decades because of cholesterol. The research has reversed. For most adults, eggs are one of the highest-quality protein sources available, and dietary cholesterol from eggs barely affects blood cholesterol.
accuracyHow accurate are nutrition labels really?
FDA allows nutrition labels to be off by up to 20% on calories and macros. That margin is the source of half the macro-tracking frustration in the gym. Here's what the rule actually says and what to do about it.
trackingHow do you track macros while traveling when you can't weigh your food?
You can keep your macro tracking honest on the road. The trick is dropping precision-mode and using estimation defaults that account for the things you can't measure. Here's the exact playbook for travel weeks.
glp-1What should you actually eat on a GLP-1?
Everything to eat, train, and track on a GLP-1: calorie floor, protein target, how to keep your muscle, and what changes when you come off. Built for real life.
trackingWhat should you eat on a travel day with a long flight?
Travel days are uniquely bad for nutrition: airport food, time zone changes, dehydration, and 8-12 hours of disrupted eating windows. Here's the playbook for keeping a travel day from derailing your week.
trackingHow do you track macros at a buffet, wedding, or brewery?
The hardest tracking situations are the ones with no labels, no portion control, and no easy way to log. Buffets, weddings, and breweries are macro tracking edge cases. Here's the realistic playbook for each.
foodsHow much salt do athletes actually need?
The 'limit sodium to 2,300mg' guidance was developed for sedentary populations with high blood pressure. Athletes lose significant sodium through sweat and often need 3,000-5,000mg daily. Here's the honest read.
foodsIs red meat bad for you?
Red meat is one of the most polarized foods in modern nutrition. The honest read: unprocessed red meat at moderate intake is roughly neutral; processed red meat carries real risk; the research is messier than either side admits.
trackingHow should you handle macros when you're sick?
A cold, the flu, a stomach bug — most macro guidance ignores the days you can't eat normally. Here's the honest read on calorie needs, protein priorities, and what to actually do about your tracking when you're sick.
dietDoes intermittent fasting actually work for body composition?
IF has been marketed as metabolic magic for a decade. The research shows it works mostly through calorie restriction. Here's the honest read on what IF does, who it works for, and where marketing exceeds evidence.
foodsIs butter bad for you, or has the research changed?
Butter was the dietary villain of the 1980s-90s, replaced by margarine, then quietly rehabilitated. Here's what the research actually shows about butter, saturated fat, and what to use for cooking and spreading.
trainingWhat should you eat before a race or important workout?
Pre-event nutrition can make or break performance. The 3-4 hour window before a race has specific fueling targets most recreational athletes miss. Here's the playbook for pre-race eating by event duration.
nutritionHow does healthy eating differ for athletes vs general wellness?
Most healthy eating content is built for sedentary or moderately active adults. People who train hard need a different framework: more calories, more protein, carbs around training, less worry about wellness-aisle stuff.
foodsHow much coffee is too much for an athlete?
Coffee is one of the most-studied performance enhancers, and the research is almost entirely positive at moderate doses. Here's the honest read on caffeine for training, real upper limits, and when coffee starts hurting.
trainingHow do macros change for athletes training twice a day?
Two-a-day training adds 600-1,200 calories of expenditure most days, plus a recovery demand that single-session calculators miss. Here's the actual nutrition math for 2x daily training, plus the practical timing playbook.
foodsDoes dairy cause inflammation in healthy adults?
Dairy gets blamed for acne, bloating, and chronic inflammation. The research mostly disagrees. For people without lactose intolerance or dairy allergy, dairy is neutral-to-anti-inflammatory and a top protein source.
proteinWhat are the cheapest sources of protein for hitting daily targets on a budget?
Hitting 150-200g of protein daily on a normal budget requires knowing where the cheap protein actually is. Here's the cost-per-gram breakdown of every common source, sorted by what your money buys.
psychologyHow do you know if you're emotional eating?
Emotional eating is one of the most common reasons macro tracking 'fails.' The discipline isn't actually broken — the eating is responding to feelings, not hunger. Here's how to recognize the pattern and what actually helps.
nutritionHow do you eat healthy when you don't cook at all?
Most healthy eating advice assumes meal prep on Sunday and cooking dinner most nights. Realistic adults often cook nothing. Here's the no-cook playbook for hitting protein and eating mostly real food.
sleepDoes eating late at night actually cause weight gain?
'Don't eat after 8 pm' is repeated everywhere as a rule. The research mostly disagrees. Total daily intake matters far more than meal timing, but late-night eating has a few specific real costs worth knowing about.
proteinShould endurance athletes follow the protein maxing trend?
The protein maxing trend was built around strength training. Endurance athletes have different protein needs and different conflicts with high intake. Here's the honest read on protein for runners, cyclists, and triathletes.
trainingHow are macros different for hybrid athletes who lift and do cardio?
Most macro advice splits cleanly into 'strength athlete' or 'endurance athlete' camps. Hybrid athletes — the lift-and-run-and-CrossFit-and-everything crowd — get neither plan. Here's the actual middle ground.
nutritionHow do you eat healthy without ruining your social life?
Restrictive diets that don't survive dinners, weddings, and work events fail not because of willpower but because of social cost. Here's the playbook for eating well without becoming the difficult one at the table.
trainingDoes training fasted actually burn more fat?
Fasted morning cardio has been popular for decades. The research disagrees with the fat loss claim. Here's the honest read on what fasted training does, who it works for, and the trade-offs.
trackingWhy are my calorie targets so low?
If your fitness app says you should eat 1,600 to 1,900 calories and that feels punishingly low, the formula behind it is probably the problem. Why standard calorie estimates miss for muscular, athletic bodies, and what to do.
trackingShould I use TrakMac or MyFitnessPal?
MyFitnessPal is a food database you search. TrakMac is a voice interface that estimates. A fair comparison: where each one wins, who should pick which, pricing, platforms, and whether you can switch.
trackingShould I log food by voice or by photo?
Both voice and photo food logging use AI to estimate macros so you skip the database grind, but they fail in different ways. Photo is lower-effort but blinder; voice takes a sentence but lets you feed the AI the inputs it needs.
trackingWhat is a voice macro tracker?
A voice macro tracker is a food-logging app where you describe what you ate out loud instead of searching a database or scanning barcodes. AI estimates the calories and macros, you confirm, it logs. How it works and what to look for.
trackingCan you actually track macros without weighing every meal?
You don't need a kitchen scale to track macros — consistent estimates within ±20% beat perfect measurement you'll quit in two weeks. Here's how.
accuracyHow accurate are AI calorie tracking apps?
AI calorie estimators land within ±20% of the real number on most common foods. That's worse than weighing on a scale, better than guessing, and good enough for body composition outcomes if you stay consistent.
foodsHow does alcohol affect body composition and training?
Alcohol doesn't directly fatten you. It derails body composition through sleep disruption, lowered protein synthesis, and disinhibited eating. Here's the real cost of drinking on training and how to mitigate it.
nutritionWhat does healthy eating actually mean in 2026?
The government healthy-eating guidelines were written when GLP-1s, ultra-processed foods, and personalized nutrition were not on the radar. Here's the modern definition that actually fits how people eat now.
metabolicWhat does 'metabolically healthy' actually mean?
'Metabolically healthy' has become a catchall wellness term, often disconnected from actual clinical definitions. Here's what the research actually defines as metabolic health, the markers that matter, and how to know where you stand.
nutritionHow do you tell if a 'healthy' food is actually healthy?
Protein bars, smoothies, granola, 'wellness' brands. The grocery store is full of foods that look healthy and are mostly sugar, oil, or both. Here are the patterns to recognize and the categories most often gaming the marketing.
nutritionHow do you eat healthy if you genuinely don't like vegetables?
Most healthy eating advice assumes you like vegetables. A real percentage of adults genuinely don't. Here's the honest playbook for hitting nutrient and fiber targets without forcing kale you'll never eat.
proteinHow much protein should women actually eat for muscle and body composition?
The 1.5-2g/lb protein number was derived from male bodybuilders. Female athletes need protein scaled to their physiology, not their boyfriends'. Here's the actual research-backed range and how it changes through life stages.
metabolicAre carbs bad for athletes, or do we need them?
Carbs have been demonized in mainstream wellness for two decades. For people who train hard, that messaging is actively counterproductive. Here's the honest read on why athletes need carbs and how the keto/low-carb advice doesn't apply.
foodsAre seed oils harmful, or is the panic exaggerated?
Seed oils have become the wellness world's 2020s villain. The actual research is mixed and contested. Here's the honest read on canola, soybean, sunflower, safflower oils — what's supported and what's exaggeration.
proteinIs there really a 30g per meal cap on protein for muscle building?
The 'cap MPS at 30g per meal' claim is everywhere on fitness social. The research is more nuanced. Here's what the studies actually show, and why for most people the per-meal limit is overstated.
glp-1What changes about your calorie needs when you're on a GLP-1?
How much you should eat on Ozempic, Mounjaro, or Wegovy — the calorie floor, the protein target, and how to keep your muscle while you lose fat.
proteinHow much protein do you actually need to build muscle?
Research is consistent: 0.7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day is enough for almost everyone building muscle. Above 1.0 g/lb the returns flatten. The 1.5-2 g/lb number is mostly supplement-industry leftover.