company logo

Help center

Go to MacrosFirst
All collectionsGoals, Nutrition Plans & ExpenditureWeekly Check-In

Weekly Check-In

How the weekly check-in keeps your plan in step with your body, what each step does, and what changes for Autopilot and Copilot

info icon
The features described here are currently available to beta testers. You can apply to be a beta tester here.
success icon
Weekly check-ins are part of Autopilot and Copilot, which are MacrosFirst Plus features.

Your body changes from week to week, and your weekly check-in is how your plan keeps up. Once a week, MacrosFirst reviews your past week of logging, updates your expenditure from your latest food logs and weigh-ins, applies your goal rate to your current weight, and proposes targets for the week ahead. It takes about a minute, and you always see the change before it's applied. If you're on the free plan, see Plan Updates on the Free Plan instead.

When your check-in is due

Your first check-in is due 7 days after your plan starts, and each one after that is due 7 days after your last. The Plan tab shows a countdown to your next check-in. When it's due, you'll get a notification, and a red dot appears on the Plan tab.

There's no rush. Your check-in stays due until you complete it, and your targets stay the same until you do.

Why weekly?

Your expenditure updates gradually as you log and weigh in, and your check-in is when that latest estimate turns into new targets. A week is long enough for your trend weight to show real change through the day-to-day noise of water and food, and short enough that your targets never drift far from what your body needs. See Energy Expenditure: How MacrosFirst Measures What You Burn.

Step 1: Review your food log

First, MacrosFirst looks at your food log for the past week. If every day reached at least 70% of its calorie target, this step completes itself, though you can still tap Review anyway. Otherwise, tap Review my log, select any days you didn't fully log, and tap Confirm and continue.

This step matters more than it might seem. A partially logged day looks like a very low-calorie day, and if your weight didn't drop to match, MacrosFirst would conclude you burn less than you really do. Marking those days incomplete leaves them out of the calculation, so they can't drag your expenditure down. Perfect logging isn't required, and this is exactly why we let you do this.

Say you logged breakfast and lunch on Thursday but forgot dinner, so Thursday shows 900 calories against a 2,000 calorie target. That's under 70%, so your check-in asks you to review the week. Mark Thursday incomplete, and MacrosFirst leaves it out instead of assuming you ate 900 calories. See What Data MacrosFirst Needs to Update Your Targets.

Step 2: Weigh in

Next, MacrosFirst asks for your weight. If you've already weighed in today, this step completes itself.

If you haven't, we'll encourage you to weigh in for the most accurate update, but you don't have to. As long as you've weighed in at least twice in the past 14 days, MacrosFirst has what it needs to update your expenditure, and you can continue. If you haven't weighed in that recently, you'll need to log your weight to continue, because MacrosFirst can't update your expenditure without it.

Step 3: Review your update

Tap Continue, and MacrosFirst updates your expenditure and calculates your new plan. You'll see whether your calorie target is going up or down this week, and by how much, followed by your updated plan for the week.

Tap Accept changes to start using your new targets today. Or tap Skip, keep current plan to stay on your current targets for another week, and your next check-in will be due in 7 days.

What changes for your plan type

What happens to your targets depends on your plan type.

Autopilot rebuilds your calories and macros from your plan settings. Your diet style, protein level, and higher-calorie days carry over, and only the numbers move. See Autopilot Plan Settings.

Copilot updates your weekly calorie budget and runs it through your own settings. Locked days stay exactly as they are, unlocked days share the change equally, and each day keeps its protein per pound and its carb to fat ratio. See Copilot Plan Settings.

Tips

You can leave a check-in partway through. Your progress is saved, so you can pick up where you left off.

Weigh in a few times a week, not just on check-in day. More weigh-ins make your trend weight, and your expenditure, more accurate, and they mean you'll never need a weigh-in just to finish your check-in.

Going deeper

Your check-in is only as good as the data behind it. These articles help you get the most out of it:

  • "How much do I need to log for my targets to keep updating?" What Data MacrosFirst Needs

  • "Why did my expenditure change this week?" Reading Your Expenditure Chart

  • "Why does my weekly loss get smaller over time?" Energy Balance

  • "Why does my calorie target look off after a check-in?" Troubleshooting

What should I read next?

What does MacrosFirst need from me each week? Your check-in works best with consistent logging and regular weigh-ins, and a few simple habits make a big difference: What Data MacrosFirst Needs to Update Your Targets.

Did this answer your question?
😞
😐
😁