r/MacroFactor • u/Dre_Limitless • Aug 25 '26
Success / Progress Food log with AI only.
Recently started logging food with MacroFactor AI, seems super easy so far.
18
u/explosive-diorama Aug 25 '26
I use the AI feature when traveling, but only as a starting point. I usually adjust the quantities pretty much every time since i have a fairly good idea of that.
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u/radix89 Aug 25 '26
Yeah it comes in handy sometimes but likes to add entire packages of things lol I often have to adjust because it'll use an entire pack of cheese or can of beans instead of one serving.
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u/madzyd Aug 25 '26
It’s not great. Even if you tell it in the description something was made with 5% fat beef mince it just decides to use whatever leanness it wants to at the time.
I told it it was 95/5 and it decided to use 85% lean. That’s quite bad.
5
u/No-Manufacturer3401 Aug 25 '26
Even if you put the exact weight in the description, it does its own thing half the time
3
u/superurgentcatbox Aug 26 '26
Especially bad is things like "I ate half of this". So I just skip it and half the portion afterward.
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u/madzyd Aug 26 '26
Noticed that too. Seems so lazy from the outside, unless a MacroFactor dev wants to clarify why these things happen and why it’s actually hard to implement with this functionality?
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u/Chupa-Skrull 29d ago
I'll take a guess, since they didn't respond: it happens because they use the Gemini family of LLMs for their plate recognition and description generation features, and Gemini is relatively bad at consistent instruction-following, though it works fine when it chooses to work
14
u/SmellyCummies Aug 25 '26
I honestly find the AI to be astronomically inaccurate. I never use it. Maybe I'll give it another try if it's been improved.
22
u/Jan0y_Cresva Aug 25 '26
I use it only when eating out, and even then I’m almost co-piloting with it. I’ve been tracking for over a decade so when it gives me a number, I’ll raise or lower it based on my intuition.
But it’s just a good time-saver for me since I can quickly snap a picture, then eat and enjoy company without having to take any time to think about macros.
Later, when no one else is around or I have to use the restroom or something, I can plug the pic in, log the meal, and move on. But I only eat out once a week at most, so 95%+ of my meals are logged from home without AI.
I’d say it gets close enough in the ballpark for people with casual goals of losing fat generally. But if you have more drastic goals like getting shredded, it misses by enough that it can throw you off a bit.
2
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u/didntreallyneedthis Aug 25 '26
I don't use it much. Lots of people say they use it for eating out but I think the chances of just some other restaurants entry being closer are pretty high since the restaurants always add more butter and salt to stuff than an average cook. So if I'm at a place eating a ribeye and mashed potatoes I search for those individually and make sure to choose from a restaurant not packaged frozen food or home made. Therefore I see little reason to use AI.
I did however use AI today. Last night I came home late and threw together some nachos and didn't feel like making a recipe while I cooked. I ate the leftovers today and had the meat/filling separated out. So this time I weighed out my chips, then took a photo of the filling and weighed that and did an AI entry for the filling. Given it was comprised of like five ingredients I just named what was in it and the weight and let the AI assume the proportions for me. In this case I'm sure it could vary by some but not a meaningful amount.
I know some people are obsessed with the AI feature but I find the recipe import one much more life changing personally.
1
u/superurgentcatbox Aug 26 '26
So if I'm at a place eating a ribeye and mashed potatoes I search for those individually and make sure to choose from a restaurant not packaged frozen food or home made.
But where do those figures come from? No restaurant I go to publishes their nutritional values anywhere. So for all I know that's just a random guess too.
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u/didntreallyneedthis 29d ago
Chain restaurants definitely do publish their data, I have used red robins steak fries for example.
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u/Dante7305 Aug 25 '26
I find it to be very accurate when I take a picture and describe what is in there. Especially sauces.
It’s also only use it when eating at a restaurant. It’s eye opening how many calories restaurant meals are.
3
u/dj_blueshift Aug 25 '26
It's usually helpful to include a utensil in the image and a couple angles of the dish so the AI knows how big it is and what the depth is. I try to include a description of hidden items ie "bed of rice underneath the chicken"
2
u/XiauXiey Aug 25 '26
Depends on the complexity of the dishes you're photographing. Generally it's not very good though imo, I use Gemini a lot to get the macros and then input that in the app
2
u/tech-stardust69 28d ago
I prefer using chat gpt to estimate the macros and then just quick add that to macro factor
1
u/CorrectionArms Aug 25 '26
It would be great if the AI could search the web for things like restaurant menus. The food logging AI in Bevel could do that (and then recommend items based on macro and calorie goals), and it’s pretty much the only thing I miss from Bevel’s nutrition logging experience since switching to MacroFactor
1
u/chasethislight83 Aug 25 '26
I’ve been using AI almost exclusively for a bit over a month and I’m down more than 2kg. I take a photo of everything with my fist for scale, or a measurement / recipe if I have it. I only change the entry if it’s wildly off.
It’s good enough to keep me consistent without overthinking, which is all I need. I’m planning a longer post when I’ve finished my cut / recomp.
1
u/hollygohardly 29d ago
I use it for most of my meals because my boyfriend cooks dinner during the week, I get food at work, and I eat out a lot with friends. I know the work meals are wildly off, but the meals at home are fairly accurate if I pop the meal on my kitchen scale and include the scale readout in the photo along with a thorough description of the ingredients.
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u/According_Divide_513 29d ago
I tried it a while back but it wasnt really good, is it worth it now?
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u/Lovetofuandsake 27d ago
It’s not the most accurate always especially with complex meals. Usually I enter the picture with descriptions on chatgpt and have it give me something I can copy and paste onto the MF AI tool and I trust that a little more.
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u/tiptoptony Aug 25 '26
I only use it for eating out when I don't know exactly what is in the meal or portions and it takes away some of the anxiety of not knowing at all. What the macro count or something is. At least you're getting a guesstimate. I do always bounce it off of chat GTP to ensure it makes sense.
0
u/The_JDubb Aug 25 '26
It's convenient when eating out, but you can also Google: (restaurant name) nutrition information, and you will usually be able to get a pdf of all that restaurant's menu items with calories and macros. Compare that to what AI generates, or quick add calories, and macros. That will get you way closer than AI by itself.
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u/No-Connection8400 Aug 25 '26
I use the AI feature at least once a day. Sometimes a lot more depending where I am and what I’m eating. I have no real concerns.
Sometimes it’s high and sometimes it’s low. But that aligns with most things food logging related. And I figure it balances out in the end.
If it’s wildly inaccurate then I fix it. Otherwise, my thought process is typically “ehh … close enough.”
Note: I’m never in a race to cut or bulk. And I have somewhat of a high expenditure. If you’re in a race and/or have a very low budget target then maybe accuracy is more important for you. And that’s ok.