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.
How should protein intake change as you age?
How your protein needs by age actually shift: total intake stays similar, but aging muscle needs a bigger per-meal dose to respond. Here is what changes.
trainingWhat should you eat after a race or competition?
Recovery nutrition after a race or competition, from glycogen to protein timing. What to eat in the first 24 to 72 hours, and what athletes get wrong.
sleepWhy am I so hungry and craving carbs after a bad night of sleep?
After a short night, ghrelin rises and leptin drops, so cravings after bad sleep are hormonal, not weak willpower. Here's how to manage them calmly.
trackingWhy is maintaining body composition harder than losing weight?
Most people regain weight after a cut because maintenance has no daily target or feedback. Here's why maintaining weight is harder, and how to hold it.
trackingHow do you track macros if you have ADHD?
Standard macro tracking advice ignores the executive-function tax of typing meals into a database every few hours. Here's how people with ADHD make it work — or skip it entirely without losing the body composition outcomes.
proteinCan plant-based eaters successfully follow protein maxing?
Plant proteins have lower amino acid completeness and slightly lower digestibility than animal proteins. That doesn't mean plant-based protein maxing fails — it means the math has to be adjusted by about 15-20%. Here's how.
dietIs the Mediterranean diet good for athletes?
The Mediterranean diet has the strongest research base of any eating pattern for long-term health. Adapting it for athletic needs (more protein, calories, training-time carbs) preserves the benefits.
proteinDoes protein maxing actually work, or is it a TikTok myth?
Protein maxing is the social media trend of eating 200-300g of protein daily. The research consensus is that 0.7-1.0 g/lb works for almost everyone. Here's the honest read on the gap between trend and evidence.
dietShould athletes eat keto?
Keto works for some athletic profiles and poorly for others. The evidence is clearer than the social media debate suggests. Here's who benefits from ketogenic eating, who doesn't, and what to expect.
nutritionHow do you eat healthy after recovering from disordered eating?
In stable recovery, standard macro advice can backfire. Here's how to approach healthy eating after disordered eating with regularity, not optimization.
proteinWhat are the actual signs you're eating too much protein?
Most 'high protein' warnings fear-monger about kidneys. The actual signs of overdoing protein in healthy adults are subtler: GI symptoms, food monotony, displaced carbs, worse training. Here's what to watch for.
foodsAre eggs actually healthy or are they bad for cholesterol?
Eggs were blamed for high cholesterol for decades, but the research reversed. For most healthy adults they're a top protein source. Here's what changed.
accuracyHow accurate are nutrition labels really?
The FDA lets nutrition labels be off by up to 20% on calories and macros. Here's what that margin means for your tracking and how to work around 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?
Colds and flu change your calorie needs less than you'd think. Here's how to handle macros when you're sick, what to prioritize, and when to stop tracking.
dietDoes intermittent fasting actually work for body composition?
An honest look at whether intermittent fasting works for body composition, what controlled research shows, and where the marketing runs ahead of the evidence.
foodsIs butter bad for you, or has the research changed?
Butter was the villain of the low-fat era, then quietly rehabilitated. Here's what the research shows about whether butter is bad for you and what to cook with.
trainingWhat should you eat before a race or important workout?
Pre-race nutrition comes down to timing and food choice. Here's what to eat before a race, from the night before to the hours ahead, by event length.
nutritionHow does healthy eating differ for athletes vs general wellness?
If you train 4 to 7 times a week, general wellness advice underdelivers. Here's a healthy eating framework for athletes: more protein, carbs around training.
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?
Is dairy inflammatory? For healthy adults, the research shows dairy is neutral to slightly anti-inflammatory, and one of the best everyday protein sources.
proteinWhat are the cheapest sources of protein for hitting daily targets on a budget?
Hitting 150g of protein on a budget starts with cost per gram. See the cheapest protein sources ranked by what your money actually buys at the grocery store.
psychologyHow do you know if you're emotional eating?
Emotional eating is one of the most common reasons tracking feels like it fails. Learn the signs that separate it from real hunger and what actually helps.
nutritionHow do you eat healthy when you don't cook at all?
Most healthy eating advice assumes meal prep and nightly cooking. Here's how to eat healthy without cooking, hit your protein, and mostly eat real food.
sleepDoes eating late at night actually cause weight gain?
The 'don't eat after 8 pm' rule gets repeated everywhere, but the research mostly disagrees. Here's whether late-night eating actually causes weight gain.
proteinShould endurance athletes follow the protein maxing trend?
The protein maxing trend was built for lifters, not runners. Here's how much protein endurance athletes actually need and where high intake backfires.
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?
Strict diets often fail on social cost, not willpower. Here's how to eat healthy without ruining your social life or being the difficult one at dinner.
trainingDoes training fasted actually burn more fat?
Fasted morning cardio has been popular for decades, but the research disagrees. Here's whether fasted training actually helps fat loss and the trade-offs.
trackingWhy are my calorie targets so low?
If your app says to eat 1,600 to 1,900 calories and it feels punishing, the standard formula misfires for muscular, athletic bodies. Here's why 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?
Voice vs photo food logging both estimate macros with AI, no database needed. Voice gives more control and accuracy, photo wins on effort. Here's how to choose.
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 can track macros without weighing every meal. Consistent estimates within 20 percent beat perfect tracking you quit in two weeks. Here is how it works.
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?
What does healthy eating mean in 2026? A modern, honest definition built around GLP-1s, ultra-processed foods, and how adults actually eat now, not 2010 guidelines.
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?
Spotting fake healthy foods comes down to four patterns in the ingredient list. Learn the red flags brands use to fake a health halo, and how to see through them.
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?
Are carbs bad for athletes? For people who train hard, low-carb advice backfires. Here's the honest read on why athletes need carbs and where keto rules don't apply.
foodsAre seed oils harmful, or is the panic exaggerated?
Are seed oils bad for you? The research is mixed and often exaggerated. Here's an honest look at canola, soybean, and sunflower oils, and what's actually supported.
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 many calories to eat on a GLP-1 like Ozempic or Mounjaro, with the protein target that keeps your muscle while you lose fat. Fitness guidance, not medical.
proteinHow much protein do you actually need to build muscle?
How much protein to build muscle really takes: 0.7 to 1.0 grams per pound daily, backed by a decade of meta-analyses. See the range for your goal and age.