MacroDiet's onboarding asks 21 questions about you and your goal, then shows four reveal or explainer screens, for 25 steps in total. About half of the answers change the calorie and macro numbers today; the rest are stored on your profile for features that are coming. This guide goes through each screen in order and says which is which. 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
Onboarding has one output: a daily calorie target and a protein / fat / carb split, computed by the v2 algorithm — the same code our macro calculator runs. To get there it needs the inputs for a resting-energy equation, an activity multiplier, a goal direction and rate, and the preferences that shape the macro split. Everything else it asks is context for the adaptive layer (expenditure updates and check-ins) that is not live yet.
Step by step
Phase 1 — About You (13 screens)
- Biological sex. Sets the constant in the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (+5 men, −161 women).
- Date of birth. Gives age; each year takes 5 kcal off the resting estimate.
- Height (a vertical wheel, cm or ft/in).
6.25 × height in cmin the equation. - Weight (a horizontal ruler, kg or lb).
10 × weight in kgin the equation, and the base for the rate of change and the protein target. - Recent weight trend — losing, gaining, about the same, not sure, "think about the past 2–3 months". Recorded; not used by the v2 maths.
- Body-fat estimate — tap the closest of nine silhouettes (3–4% up to 40%+). Recorded and shown on the dashboard; not used by the maths.
- Weight history — "have you weighed more than X kg before?", where X is your weight × 1.2, rounded. Yes / no / not sure. Recorded; not used by the maths.
- Exercise frequency — 0, 1–3, 4–6 or 7+ sessions a week. Sets the base multiplier.
- Daily activity — mostly sedentary (commonly under 5,000 steps a day), moderately active (5,000–15,000) or very active (more than 15,000). Adjusts the multiplier.
- Lifting experience and 11. Cardio experience — none, beginner (a year or less), intermediate (one to four years), advanced (four years or more). Recorded.
- Athletic identity — exercise regularly, athlete, professional athlete. Recorded.
- Estimated Expenditure reveal — the TDEE, with a "How did we calculate this?" toggle.
Phase 2 — Your Goal (5 screens)
- Goal type — lose, maintain, gain. Choosing maintain skips the next two screens.
- Target weight on the same ruler.
- Rate of change — conservative (~0.3% of body weight a week), moderate (~0.5%), aggressive (~0.75%); the screen marks moderate as its default suggestion.
- Calorie-target reveal — the average daily target, with current weight, target weight, rate, direction and the difference from expenditure.
- Diet preferences — diet style (balanced, low-fat, low-carb, keto), calorie floor (standard or lower), training during the program (none / cardio / resistance), weekly calorie distribution (even or shift), protein preference (low, moderate, high, extra high).
Phase 3 — Program (3 screens) — a building animation, the macro reveal, and "How your program works".
Phase 4 — Get Started (5 screens) — features, what is included, you're ready, choose plan, create account.
What the numbers mean
The table is the honest map of which answers move the numbers in the live formula.
| Question | Used by the v2 maths today? | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sex, birth date, height, weight | Yes | BMR: 10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age + 5 (men) or − 161 (women) |
| Exercise frequency | Yes | base multiplier 1.2 / 1.375 / 1.55 / 1.725 |
| Daily activity | Yes | −0.05 / 0 / +0.10 added to the base |
| Goal type | Yes | maintain = TDEE; lose subtracts, gain adds |
| Rate of change | Yes | weight × 0.003 / 0.005 / 0.0075 kg per week → × 7,700 / 7 kcal per day, capped at 35% of TDEE |
| Calorie floor | Yes (lose only) | standard 1,500 men / 1,200 women; lower 1,200 / 1,000 |
| Protein preference | Yes | 1.2 / 1.6 / 2.0 / 2.4 g/kg, +0.2 when losing, capped at 50% of calories |
| Diet style | Yes | fat = 20 / 35 / 50% of calories left after protein (low-fat / balanced / low-carb); keto fixes carbs at 30 g |
| Weight trend, body fat, weight history, experience, identity, training-during-program, weekly distribution | No | recorded on the profile for the coming adaptive features |
Worked example, male, 30, 180 cm, 85 kg, 4–6 sessions, moderate activity, lose at moderate, balanced, moderate protein: BMR = 850 + 1,125 − 150 + 5 = 1,830; TDEE = round(1,830 × 1.55) = 2,837; deficit 85 × 0.005 × 7,700 / 7 ≈ 468 → target 2,369; protein 85 × 1.8 = 153 g; fat (2,369 − 612) × 0.35 / 9 ≈ 68 g; carbs (2,369 − 612 − 612) / 4 ≈ 286 g. The calculator reproduces these exactly.
In plain terms: eleven answers set the numbers, ten are context. The formula is a population estimate, typically a couple of hundred kcal off for an individual, which is why the app then asks you to log.
Gotchas
- "Weekly calorie distribution: shift" does not vary the days yet. The program reveal shows the same figure Mon–Sun whichever you pick.
- "Training during the program" is recorded, not computed on. Exercise frequency is the input that changes expenditure.
- The lower calorie floor is labelled advanced for a reason. It lets a losing target go to 1,200 (men) or 1,000 kcal (women) instead of 1,500 / 1,200; the screen warns about fatigue and sustainability. The rate cap of 35% of TDEE still applies first.
- Answers are a draft until the account exists. They live in the browser's session storage; closing the tab before "Create Account" and coming back in a new session starts over.
- The default-rate note is the app's default, not a rule for you. A rate is a nutrition setting you can change.
The short version
Twenty-one questions, twenty-five screens. Sex, age, height, weight, exercise frequency and daily activity give expenditure; goal, rate, floor, protein preference and diet style give the target and the split; the rest — weight trend, body-fat range, weight history, experience, identity — is stored for the adaptive features that are coming. Check the numbers against the macro calculator whenever you want to see what a different answer would do. Educational overview only — not medical advice.