Logging food in MacroDiet means finding a food by search or barcode, adding it to a plate with an amount in grams, and committing the plate to an hour on the day's timeline. Every entry is stored per 100 g and scaled, so the number you check is the grams. This guide walks the whole flow and says which tabs on the Add Food screen are live. MacroDiet is live at macrodiet.fit and evolving; screens change as features ship, and anything marked "coming" below is not in the app yet.
What it does
The Food Log tab shows one day: arrows and a Monday-to-Sunday strip at the top for changing the date (a dot marks days with entries), four macro pills for calories, protein, fat and carbs that toggle between *left* and *consumed*, and an hourly timeline from 7 AM to 11 PM. Each hour has a + and, once something is logged, a line with that hour's kcal and P / F / C followed by the entries themselves — name, kcal, P / F / C and grams — each with a pencil to edit. A search bar with a scan icon sits above the bottom navigation.
The Add Food screen has five tabs — Scan, Search, AI, Quick Add, Library. Search and Scan are the working ones today; AI, Quick Add and Library are placeholders and coming. The top bar shows the meal hour, a calorie ring for the plate against your daily target, and a plate toggle.
Step by step
By search
- Tap + on an hour (the entry is filed under that hour) or the bottom search bar (no hour; the entry is listed under "Other").
- Type two or more letters. Instant matches from a local cache appear first; server results replace them about 300 ms after you stop typing.
- Read the sections. Latest (today's already-logged foods, up to five) shows before you type. With a query: Common (reference foods), Branded (products), and Open Food Facts (the public database, marked "Powered by Open Food Facts"). Each section shows five, with "See N more".
- Tap a row to add it to the plate at 100 g; tap again to remove. Tap the name to open the detail page instead and set the exact amount there.
- Tap the plate icon to review. Your Plate lists items and grams; Nutrition shows the four macros against targets with a *Plate / Day* toggle, and a switch to show all nutrients — carb, fat and other breakdowns.
- Tap Log Foods (N). One entry per item is written to the chosen date and hour, and you return to the timeline.
By barcode
- Open Add Food → Scan (or the scan icon in the Food Log bar). The camera needs a secure connection (https) and permission; the back camera is preferred.
- Hold the barcode in the frame. Supported formats: EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, ITF and QR.
- The code is looked up in the local database first; if absent, on Open Food Facts, and a hit is imported. Either way the product's detail page opens.
- On the detail page, enter the amount with the keypad and pick the unit — g, oz, lb or piece (piece counts as 100 g). If the product has a serving size on file, that is pre-filled. The macro rings and the nutrient list scale live.
- Tap Add. The entry is logged straight away for that date and hour.
If the code is not found, the app says so and drops you into Search with the digits as the query; type the product name instead. If the camera cannot start, there is a manual field for the digits.
What the numbers mean
Every food is stored with nutrients per 100 g; the grams you log multiply them.
| You log | Stored per 100 g (example food) | Entry shows |
|---|---|---|
| 150 g | 165 kcal · 31 g P · 3.6 g F · 0 g C | 248 kcal · 47P · 5F · 0C · 150 g |
| 2 pieces (= 200 g) | same | 330 kcal · 62P · 7F · 0C · 200 g |
| 4 oz (= 113 g) | same | 187 kcal · 35P · 4F · 0C · 113 g |
The hour line is the sum of its entries; the macro pills are your targets minus the day's totals (or the totals, when toggled). The plate ring in Add Food's top bar is the plate's calories over your daily target. Results rows show macros per 100 g, which is why a row's kcal and the logged entry's kcal differ until you have set the amount. The why macros don't add up to calories piece explains the small rounding gaps you will see between the kcal figure and 4 / 9 / 4 times the grams.
In plain terms: find, set grams, log. The grams are the only number you are responsible for; everything else is arithmetic on the database entry.
Gotchas
- AI, Quick Add and Library tabs are placeholders. Photo logging, a calories-only quick entry and a personal food library are coming; the tabs are visible but empty today.
- "Piece" means 100 g, not the item's real weight. For anything that is not roughly 100 g, weigh it and log grams.
- Instant local results have no macros on the row until the server results arrive a moment later — the cache stores names, not nutrients.
- The Latest section is today-only. It shows foods already logged on the selected date, not your recent history across days; a fresh day starts empty.
- Logging from the bottom bar files the entry under "Other", below the hours. Use the hour's + when the time matters.
- The scanner needs https. On a plain http address the camera is not requested; macrodiet.fit is https, so this only matters in unusual setups.
- The pencil on a logged entry opens the detail page, and "Add" there logs a new entry rather than replacing the old one in the current build. Check the timeline after editing; in-place editing is coming.
The short version
The Food Log is an hourly timeline; Add Food's Search finds foods from a local cache, the server and Open Food Facts, adds them to a plate at 100 g, and Log Foods writes them to the hour; Scan reads EAN / UPC / Code-128 barcodes, resolves the product locally or from Open Food Facts, and opens a detail page where grams, ounces, pounds or pieces scale the per-100 g nutrition. AI, Quick Add and Library are coming. Weigh what you can and let the grams do the rest. Educational overview only — not medical advice.