Why I built MacroChat (and where it's going)

Why I Built MacroChat

My name is Stephen Arancio. I’ve worked in the technology and web development field for the past 5 years helping global brands build and launch digital assets.

Outside of tech, I’m a lifelong fitness enthusiast and former athlete. I’m also a NASM-Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Sports Nutrition Coach. Through years of my own training and working with clients, the following have become very clear:

You can’t out-train a bad diet.

You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

Accurate nutrition tracking is one of the most reliable ways to lose fat, gain muscle, and improve performance. Whether your goal is fat loss, body recomposition, a lean bulk, or to make weight for a competition, you need to know your daily calories and macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats) to stay on track.

The Problem with Traditional Food Tracking

When I started training clients, I tried to get them to build the same tracking habit that worked for me, many times without success. Even for someone like me who has “drilled in” the habit, the old way of tracking is:

• Tedious
• Time-consuming
• Confusing for beginners

I kept searching for a better tool to use myself and to recommend to my clients and found that most existing apps haven’t meaningfully innovated in years, and the newer tools that promise “instant” tracking often sacrifice accuracy and comprehensiveness, which serious lifters and athletes still need.

So we ended up stuck between two bad options:

• Accurate but slow and frustrating
• Fast but inaccurate and incomplete

I knew there should be a better way.

The Idea Behind MacroChat

I decided to combine my knowledge and experience in technology and fitness to build a different kind of tracker:

• As easy as sending a text
• Accurate enough for serious athletes
• Simple enough for beginners

MacroChat lets you track your meals in seconds by simply typing or speaking what you ate. The app then:

• Logs your calories and macronutrients
• Tracks key micronutrients
• Updates your daily totals automatically

If you’re not sure how much you should be eating, you can enter your height, weight, sex, activity levels, goals etc., and MacroChat will generate evidence-based calorie and macro targets using formulas grounded in scientific data and industry best practices. You can:

• View your historical nutrition and weight data
• Save favorite items and custom meals
• Log them in the future with one-tap quick add

Where MacroChat Is Going

My goal is to turn it into a one-stop app for nutrition that will give you everything you need to plan, track, and adjust your diet in one seamless experience.

There are many more features on the roadmap, but the mission will stay the same:

Make nutrition tracking effortless, while keeping the accuracy and attention to detail that serious lifters, athletes, and health-conscious people need.

If you give MacroChat a try, I'd love your feedback. It's built for people like you, and it will keep getting better based on what you need most.