iOS Today 778: Nutrition Tracking

Hosts: Micah Sargent & Rosemary Orchard
Date: November 13, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Micah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard explore the world of nutrition tracking on iOS, highlighting various apps and approaches to help listeners log their meals, understand their nutritional intake, and manage their health and diets. The hosts offer thorough reviews, personal anecdotes, and practical tips—always with an engaging and relaxed style. They also discuss some related tech news, respond to listener feedback, and share their favorite gear for charging devices.

Main Topics & Key Discussion Points

1. Why Track Nutrition?

(03:16) Micah Sargent:

• Nutrition tracking can be for curiosity (learning about vitamins and minerals intake) as well as health goals (macros, dieting, allergies, medical needs).
• Personal anecdote about learning not just about macros (protein, carbs, fats) but also vitamins and minerals like selenium.

  “As a person who's just a curious person, I always thought that was kind of fun just knowing, oh, you've had this much more selenium today than you had yesterday because you ate a bunch of Brazil nuts.” (03:30)

2. FoodNoms – Privacy-Respecting Nutrition Tracker

(04:15) Micah Sargent:

• FoodNoms is praised for its privacy-first approach; data isn’t monetized.
• Tracks standard macros, vitamins, minerals, fiber, water, cholesterol, caffeine, and alcohol intake.
• Has barcode scanning, label scanning, recipe/meal creation, Health app integration, CSV export, and notification features.
• Free tier very capable; Plus features ($39.99/year) include drinks logging and deeper Health app imports.

  “If you're looking for an easy to use and privacy respecting nutrition tracker, that's where food noms comes into play as your option.” (06:50)

3. MyFitnessPal – Database Giant

(07:45) Micah Sargent:

• Massive, crowd-sourced food database makes logging easy and accurate; user-contributed entries increase coverage.
• More robust integrations with other services.
• Less privacy-respecting; tracks and monetizes user data.
• Cost: $80/year for premium features.
• Good for people needing extensive food options and service compatibility over privacy.

  “But MyFitnessPal is another option... One is the huge food database because so many people use it.” (08:40)

4. Carb Manager – For Keto & Specialized Diets

(14:05) Micah Sargent:

• Especially helpful for keto diet tracking; prioritizes fats and tracks ketosis-specific data.
• Rich keto food database, works well with Apple Health (workout sync, calorie tracking).
• Useful for anyone with low-carb diet goals; free with $39.99/year premium option.
• Micah shares a personal health journey and learning curve with carb-focused eating and switching to keto.

  “I did the keto diet and it actually did. It ended up helping me. But I wanted to mention an app that I used during that time... Carb Manager.” (14:20)

5. Using the Apple Journal App for Food Tracking & Reflection

(20:17) Rosemary Orchard:

• New approach: using Apple’s Journal app to document meals, recipes, and culinary experiments.
• Emphasizes private reflection (“not posting for external validation”) and richer, more flexible memorializing (photos, notes, edits).
• Great for tracking recipe tweaks, baking experiments (e.g., sourdough), and recording likes/dislikes.
• Supports backdating entries, multimedia, location, tags, and more.
• Useful for recalling meal experiments, sharing recipes with friends, and personal food journaling.
• Notable moment: Rosemary’s “Brady Mercury” sourdough starter story—lighter, personal touch.

  “Instead of posting food to Instagram, I'm experimenting with posting food to journal because I'm not posting food for external validation. I eat meals. I like food. Food is delicious. Food is good for you.” (21:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On nutrition tracking curiosities:
  Micah Sargent (03:26):
  “It's the other stuff, the vitamins, the minerals, whatever else might be part of your consumption that you don't necessarily realize.”

• On privacy in nutrition apps:
  Micah Sargent (06:52):
  “FoodNoms ends up kind of being that alternate option that is going to, you know, not try to use the information that you have logged about your nutrition as a means of making money off of you.”

• On integrating food tracking into daily life:
  Rosemary Orchard (20:39):
  “Something I tried this week, which I'd never tried before, was freezing the [sourdough] dough because I did not have time to bake it before I left. ... And so, but I was like, do I bake and then freeze it or freeze it and then bake it? I went for the freeze and then bake it.”

• On moving away from public food sharing:
  Rosemary Orchard (21:17):
  “I'm not posting food for external validation... So I've been experimenting in particular with adding... baking is my next thing that I'm going to be doing to adding to journal.”

App Roundup: Nutrition Tracking on iOS

| App | Free Features | Paid Features | Key Strengths | Weaknesses/Notes | |----------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------------| | FoodNoms | Unlimited logging, goal setting, Health app integration, export, barcode/label scan | $39.99/year: drink logging, favorites, advanced import | Privacy, user control, integrated with Health app | Smaller database than MyFitnessPal | | MyFitnessPal | Logging, basic tracking | $80/year: meal planning, deeper stats | Massive user-created database, integrations | Privacy tradeoffs, expensive | | Carb Manager | Keto-specific tracking, Apple Health integration | $39.99/year: advanced features | Perfect for keto/low-carb diets | Narrower focus, less ideal for general use | | Apple Journal | Free-form journaling, photo tagging, recipe logging | N/A | Flexible, personal, private | Manual, less structured |

Related iOS News: Photo Backup Upgrades in iOS 26.1

(25:05) Micah Sargent:

• iOS 26.1 introduces a major update for third-party photo backup apps: they can now upload photos in the background, similar to Apple Photos.
• Previous restrictions forced users to keep apps open/foreground and keep device awake for uploads.
• new “background resource upload extension” in PhotoKit framework grants seamless, reliable background uploads.
• Developers will need user consent; feature will roll out as third-party apps update.

  “That is a fantastic change that will make it so that you don't have to keep keep doing things only when the app is open.” (28:30)

Listener Feedback & Community

(32:34) Micah Sargent:

• Listener Scott compares iPhone case fabrics between Apple’s tech woven case and Google’s former Pixel 3a denim case, sparking discussion about materials and cleaning.

Hosts’ Picks: Favorite Multi-Port Chargers

(35:57) Rosemary Orchard:

• Ugreen 100W charger: Sturdy, retractable cable, built-in magnet, multiple USB-C and USB-A ports. Cost-effective and travel-friendly.
• Anker 6-Port GAN Charger (Micah, 39:12): Clean, all-ports-on-one-side design; 4x USB-C, 2x USB-A; up to 200W output; paired with short uniform cables for neat charging. Both hosts highlight the importance of USB-A ports for legacy/low-power devices.

  “I wanted something that would charge with... one or two USB A options and then some USB C options. And then the other thing that I wanted was for the orientation to be such that everything was on the same side and everything was in line.” (39:16)

Conclusion & Where to Find the Hosts

• Rosemary Orchard: rosemaryorchard.com, also active in the Club TWiT Discord.
• Micah Sargent: chihuahua.coffee, @MicahSargent on multiple platforms.

Summary Table of Timestamps

• Intro & Main Theme: 02:15
• Why Nutrition Tracking? 03:16–04:15
• FoodNoms Deep Dive: 04:15–07:30
• MyFitnessPal Comparison: 07:45–12:35
• Carb Manager & Dieting Anecdotes: 14:05–20:17
• Journal App for Food Tracking: 20:17–25:05
• iOS 26.1 News (Photo Backup): 25:05–30:04
• Listener Feedback: 32:34–35:57
• Charger Picks: 35:57–43:36

This episode offers a well-rounded overview of the nutrition-tracking landscape on iOS devices, mixing in practical app reviews, personal stories, and helpful tech news—all in the lively, empathetic manner that iOS Today fans have come to expect.