On the free plan, your targets don't update every week. Instead, every 10 lb (5 kg) of weight change toward your goal, MacrosFirst offers to recalculate them for your new weight using population averages. There's no weekly check-in, just a quick update each time you reach a milestone. This article explains why updates matter, how to get one, and how free updates differ from Plus.
If you’d like to achieve your goal faster with plans that auto-update each week based on your real energy expenditure and not population averages, consider upgrading to MacrosFirst Plus. First time subscribers can try it free for 7 days at get.macrosfirst.com.
As your weight changes, so does the number of calories you burn. A smaller body takes less energy to maintain and to move around, so targets that fit when you started slowly stop working as you lose weight. When you're gaining, the reverse is true. Without an update, your progress gradually slows, even if you follow your targets perfectly.
Say you start at 200 lb. By the time you're 10 lb lighter, you might be burning around 100 calories a day less than when your targets were set, so about 100 calories of your planned daily deficit has quietly disappeared. Your 10 lb update recalculates your targets for your new weight, so your plan fits your body again. See Energy Balance: Why Progress Can Slow and How MacrosFirst Adapts.
On the Plan tab, the Next plan update card shows how far you are from your next update, like "4.2 lb to go", and the weight where you'll get new targets. Keep logging your weight so MacrosFirst knows when you get there. If you haven't logged a weight yet, the card asks you to log one to get started.
When you reach the milestone, the card says Time to update your nutrition plan, and a red dot appears on the Plan tab.
Tap Get new plan.
Work through the short checklist: weigh in, confirm your activity level, confirm your body fat level, and choose how to spread your calories across the week. If nothing has changed except your weight, tap Nothing changed except my weight to skip ahead.
Review your updated plan and tap Accept changes.
Your new targets replace your current ones starting today, and your next update will be 10 lb (5 kg) from the weight your new plan was calculated at.
Free updates use the same science-based starting estimate that MacrosFirst gives everyone on day one, recalculated at your new weight. It's built from published research on thousands of people, so it reflects the average expenditure for someone with your weight, height, age, sex, and activity level. See Where your starting estimate comes from.
That's a solid estimate, but it's an average. It doesn't use your food logs or weigh-in history to learn what you personally burn, and two people with the same stats can burn hundreds of calories apart. Following a generalized plan instead of a personal plan informed by your real data may yield slower, less consistent results.
If your goal is to maintain your weight, there's no 10 lb milestone to reach, so your targets fixed as they are. This is where Plus makes the biggest difference: with Plus, a maintain goal follows your expenditure every week, so your targets keep up when your activity or routine changes. See Setting Your Weight Goal.
With Plus, Autopilot and Copilot update your targets every week from your own measured expenditure, based on what you actually eat and how your body responds. Your plan stays accurate between milestones, too, even when your weight hasn't changed but your activity, routine, or metabolism has. If you haven't tried Plus yet, you can start a 7 day free trial at get.macrosfirst.com.
Free updates keep your plan in step with your weight. These articles explain what else goes into your targets:
"How does MacrosFirst measure what I burn with Plus?" Energy Expenditure
"What happens at a Plus weekly check-in?" Weekly Check-In
"How do I change my targets between updates?" Manual Plan Settings
"What happens to my plan if my Plus membership ends?" Downgrading from Plus to Free
Why does progress slow down as my weight changes? Understanding how your body's energy use shifts is the key to why updates matter, and to what weekly updates add: Energy Balance: Why Progress Can Slow and How MacrosFirst Adapts.
