With Copilot, MacrosFirst sets your weekly calorie budget from your expenditure and your goal, and you decide how it's shaped: how the calories are spread across the week, and how each day is split between protein, carbs, and fat. At every weekly check-in, your new weekly budget runs through your own settings, so your plan keeps its shape while the numbers keep up with your body. Not sure Copilot is right for you? See Nutrition Plans: Autopilot, Copilot, and Manual.
To create a Copilot plan, tap the Plan tab, tap New Plan, and choose Copilot.
To change your settings later, tap Edit Plan on the Plan tab.
The editor opens with a recommended starting point: a Balanced diet, Moderate protein, and the same calories every day. Adjust it as much or as little as you like, then tap Save and Continue.
The chart at the top shows your calorie target for each day of the week. Tap a day to select it, and the three controls below the chart (Calories, Protein, and Carb to Fat Ratio) apply to that day. Your weekly budget stays the same while you edit, so making one day bigger always makes other days smaller.
Use the Calories slider, or type a number, to set the selected day's calories. When you change one day, the difference is shared equally across your other unlocked days, so your weekly total stays the same. Raise Saturday by 600 calories with the other six days unlocked, and each of them comes down by 100.
When a day's calories change, its protein, carbs, and fat scale with it, keeping the same proportions. So it's easiest to set each day's calories first, then fine-tune its protein and carb to fat ratio.
Tap the lock icon on a day to lock it. A locked day is protected from changes you make to other days, and from the changes your weekly check-in makes. You can still edit a locked day directly. Locking just stops changes elsewhere from spilling onto it.
Locking is ideal for days you want to stay exactly as they are, like a set refeed day or a day you always eat out. At least 2 days must stay unlocked, so there's always somewhere for changes to go.
Use the Protein slider to set the selected day's protein. It's shown in grams per pound of body weight (or in grams, if you haven't logged a weight yet). At each check-in, every day keeps the same grams per pound, using your latest weight, so your protein scales with you as your weight changes.
The Carb to Fat Ratio slider sets how the calories left after protein are split between carbs and fat on the selected day. Slide toward carbs for higher-carb days, like training days, or toward fat for lower-carb days. The captions show the resulting carbs and fat per pound of body weight.
Tap Reset at the top of the editor to go back to the recommended starting point. This replaces all of your custom settings and unlocks every day, so use it only if you want to start over.
At every weekly check-in, MacrosFirst re-measures your expenditure and calculates a new weekly calorie budget for your goal. Then it runs that budget through your Copilot settings instead of replacing them. Locked days stay exactly as you set them, and the change in your weekly budget is shared equally across your unlocked days. On each of those days, protein stays at the same grams per pound of body weight, and the rest is split between carbs and fat at the same ratio as before.
Say you've set a bigger Saturday and locked it, and your check-in lowers your weekly budget by 600 calories. Saturday stays exactly as it is, and each of the other six days comes down by 100 calories, with the same protein per pound and the same carb to fat split.
Your settings are never overwritten at check-in. They only change when you edit them.
Copilot gives you control over the shape of your week, while MacrosFirst keeps the total in step with your body. These articles cover the rest:
"What happens at my weekly check-in?" Your Weekly Check-In
"Want MacrosFirst to set your macros too?" Autopilot Plan Settings
"How much do I need to log for my targets to keep updating?" What Data MacrosFirst Needs
"Why does my calorie target look off?" Troubleshooting
What happens at my weekly check-in? Your check-in is where your Copilot settings meet your latest data, and it's what keeps your weekly budget accurate as your body changes: Your Weekly Check-In.
