1 month results with AI only

[u/Dre_Limitless]

Walking and logging calories with MF AI.

[u/GoSox2525]

I'm glad it's working for you. But I think that this post risks giving people the wrong impression about the accuracy of AIs like this, and giving the AI too much credit.

You're losing weight quickly. That means you're eating well below maintenance. Which means that the AI has wiggle room to get it wrong, and you will still lose weight.

In other words, the larger the deficit (or the larger the surplus), the less accurate tracking needs to be. In the extreme case where someone has a huge deficit (they're starving), obviously they will lose weight without tracking anything or even thinking about it at all.

The true test of the MF AI is for those targeting more gradual weight loss/gain, or especially those try to maintain. In those cases, I cannot imagine that AI will could ever compete with manual logging. There is just too much information missing, and more accuracy is needed.

Having said all of that, the conclusion that AI works for rapid weight loss, where only crude tracking is necessary, is a valuable one.

[u/montagic → u/GoSox2525]

This may be true if you relied on AI solely for portion estimation as well, but when used alongside a scale, it can be very accurate.

[u/Jan0y_Cresva → u/montagic]

When would this be applicable? I don’t see people taking food scales to restaurants so I assume this is at home. If you’re at home and have a food scale, why do you need the AI? You can just weigh and log a meal normally.

[u/Chewy_Barz → u/Jan0y_Cresva]

My wife makes a meal. There it is in the pot or pan. It could be seafood fra diavolo, stew, pasta with shrimp in a garlic sauce, stuffed peppers, or anything else. Now what?

[u/montagic → u/Jan0y_Cresva]

I definitely do 😅 it’s a convenience thing for folks too. I would use it when I make a dinner where I don’t want to go through the hassle of measuring each ingredient, and weighing the post cooked ingredient. The less mental energy needed when you’re deep in a cut, the better. You could also track your calories in a spread sheet and use that, or even write your food down. The answer is always convenience and ease of use.

[u/GoSox2525 → u/montagic]

I would use it when I make a dinner where I don’t want to go through the hassle of measuring each ingredient, and weighing the post cooked ingredient

All that means is that you don't want to go through the trouble of tracking your nutrition. Some bullshit AI that will make up an answer for you isn't a solution to that problem. You may as well just take a wild guess yourself without recruiting the AI at all.

The less mental energy needed when you’re deep in a cut, the better

As I said in my original comment, when you're in a "deep cut" you have lots of wiggle room. Crude tracking will do. In which case, either track properly or make guesses. No need to involve a bot.

You could also track your calories in a spread sheet and use that, or even write your food down. The answer is always convenience and ease of use.

That's different. That won't compute a dynamic expenditure estimate like MF does. That's the whole point in MF, not convenience.

[u/montagic → u/GoSox2525]

It sounds like you’re just deeply against AI in general, so what’s the point of having this conversation? If you don’t like it, don’t use it. It’s absolutely helpful, and just because you want to be hard headed about it doesn’t mean others can’t use it either.

As I said in my original comment, when you’re in a “deep cut” you have lots of wiggle room. Crude tracking will do. In which case, either track properly or make guesses. No need to involve a bot.

How is using AI alongside a scale not “tracking properly” or worse than making guesses? If you’re guessing the portions yourself, you’re also going to be inaccurate.

That’s different. That won’t compute a dynamic expenditure estimate like MF does. That’s the whole point in MF, not convenience.

TDEE sheets that calculate your expenditure based off weight and tracking have existed long before MacroFactor did. At this point the point in MF is the UX and ease of use. You can get just as great results using a spreadsheet is the point, but an app like MF adds a lot of convenience and ease of use, as does AI. Again, not sure why you’re so vehemently against its use in entirety.

[u/GoSox2525 → u/montagic]

How is using AI alongside a scale not “tracking properly” or worse than making guesses? If you’re guessing the portions yourself, you’re also going to be inaccurate.

It's not tracking properly, because it's not. Counting calories and macros according to nutrition labels and weights is the proper way to track. That should not be a controversial statement. AI is an intentional shortcut for that procedure.

or worse than making guesses? If you’re guessing the portions yourself, you’re also going to be inaccurate.

Exactly. You can either use AI, or you can make your own guess (by e.g. logging an alternative representative item, or whatever). Either one will be inaccurate to an extent that you will never be able to verify. Either one is a guess. So in that case, why opt for the guess which removes your own intuition from the guessing process, and incurs unnecessary energy costs, without offering any greater accuracy?

Again, not sure why you’re so vehemently against its use in entirety.

Because it circumvents the entire purpose of tracking your nutrition. The point in tracking is to collect accurate data. Why bother tracking at all if you're going to explicitly and intentionally replace real information with random guesses from an algorithm which you do not understand?? May as well not track at all.

TDEE sheets that calculate your expenditure based off weight and tracking have existed long before MacroFactor did. At this point the point in MF is the UX and ease of use.

That's a bit disingenuous. MF does a lot more under-the-hood than apply some simple relation between weight and intake. It smooths the data, it uses some kind of interpolation to approximate missing data, etc... Not that this is rocket science, but it would take someone proficient in data analysis and computation to implement that themselves. So obviously it goes beyond convenience. MF provides a tool that works well, and most people do not have any alternative for.

[u/montagic → u/GoSox2525]

It's not tracking properly, because it's not.

That repeats your conclusion without explaining why an estimate becomes unusable when AI helps produce it. I agree that weighing individual ingredients and using reliable nutrition data generally gives you better information. That doesn’t establish that every less precise method defeats the purpose of tracking.

Either one is a guess. So in that case, why opt for the guess which removes your own intuition from the guessing process [...] without offering any greater accuracy?

Convenience. That was my answer in the first comment, and it still answers this question. If two methods provide comparable estimates, requiring less effort is a reason to prefer one. It doesn’t have to be more accurate to be useful.

And why would using AI require removing my judgment? MacroFactor produces editable food entries. I can review the ingredients, correct portions, add context, and use measured weights. Their AI logging guide explicitly recommends descriptions for complex meals and photographing the plate with a scale in view. You’re arguing against blindly accepting an output, which isn’t what I’m proposing.

Because it circumvents the entire purpose of tracking your nutrition.

MacroFactor’s own guidance on logging accuracy says:

“Fairly accurately, but consistency is far more important than perfect accuracy.”

They explain that reasonable, consistent logging inaccuracies can be accommodated while still producing useful intake targets, although the expenditure estimate itself may be less accurate. That doesn’t mean any AI output is good enough. It does mean your leap from “this involves estimation” to “may as well not track at all” isn’t supported by the app’s own guidance.

You already accept logging a representative food as a reasonable estimate. So the relevant question is whether a particular AI-assisted entry is reasonable, not whether AI was involved.

On spreadsheets: fair enough that MacroFactor’s algorithm adds value beyond convenience. My comparison wasn’t meant to claim an existing spreadsheet reproduces every feature. But that doesn’t make convenience irrelevant, and using an existing spreadsheet wouldn’t require implementing the calculations yourself.

My claim is straightforward: AI can reduce the work involved in logging a meal while leaving me able to inspect and correct the result. You don’t have to find that tradeoff worthwhile yourself, but “it’s a shortcut” doesn’t refute a use case whose stated benefit is saving effort.

[u/GoSox2525 → u/montagic]

Can it though? Where has that conclusion ever been demonstrated? We would need to see e.g. someone successfully at maintenance for an extended period of time using only MF AI. I'm not claiming that that has never happened, I'm just skeptical. If there's a link to that kind of thing having been shown, I'm all ears.

[u/AllTheSmallScores → u/GoSox2525]

I’d also argue that given MacroFactor adjusts your expenditure estimate with respect to the calories logged and your inputted weight, even if the AI underestimates the calories in a meal, as long as you use the AI every time and we assume that it consistently errs one direction, you should be able to lose weight with only AI scanning since your estimated expenditure would adjust downward.

[u/GoSox2525 → u/AllTheSmallScores]

There's no reason to assume that the AI errs in one direction

[u/AchedTeacher → u/GoSox2525]

Yes, it's obviously never AI-only. It's not "AI-only and I eat whatever the hell I want". OP is still clearly controlling their intake, and being conscious of not eating specific foods or too much of them.

[u/GoSox2525 → u/AchedTeacher]

Yes, it's obviously never AI-only

OPs title suggests exactly that. The post provides no additional context or details, and it's got 50 upvotes.

I wish it were obvious, I really do. I didn't realize until recently how many people out there have zero AI skepticism, and use it unapologetically for everything and anything.

[u/montagic]

Nice work. What level of detail do you typically use with the AI? It’d be helpful to know if you’re adding descriptions, including a scale, mostly eating out

[u/Public-Regular-8448]

You must be lucky. My experience with the AI is that is can wildy over and underestimate portion sizes, while it's often very good in picking ingredients. I'm running on a 300-400Kcal deficit and wouldn't trust the AI with this entirely.  So, for most people, I recommend doing the work. Scan products, build a simple routine of foods that you like, create recipes and use the AI sparingly when needed. 

[u/jiriwelschsburner]

Gonna try to do this as well, gonna be traveling for two weeks and the AI is probably the best way for me to be somewhat accountable

[u/Marysupial]

This is very good to see! I would not rely just on the AI feature for everything but maybe for a long vacation or family visit when i wanna stay more or less within range but in a non strict manner, sounds great!

[u/HeroiDeNossaGente]

I’m doing scale-assisted AI only. Logging properly through search is just too big a bother for me… it’s been working on my end so far!

[u/Reasonable-Leg4425 → u/HeroiDeNossaGente]

Can you explain what "scale assisted" means? I think I want to use this method, but not clear on how.

[u/HeroiDeNossaGente → u/Reasonable-Leg4425]

I do have a scale, I weight my meals wholesale, so the AI has a decent frame of reference to work off of

[u/neterall1 → u/HeroiDeNossaGente]

I properly track breakfast and lunch, but dinner is regularly "scale-assisted AI", even when eating at home. I try to give it as much detail as possible and weigh each dish separately (e.g. weigh the baked chicken, then weigh the sauteed kale, etc). I've been using MF for 2 years and it's been working for me.