Kendell Graham is a 25-year-old software engineer living in California. He’s the type of guy that helps his girlfriend throw birthday parties for their dogs, is a solid gamer, and is working to progress in his new hobby of bouldering. He’s also the winner of our first-ever 100-day transformation challenge. (See the full list of winners here.)
“I’ve achieved a new outlook on nutrition. It can actually be fun and easy, and as long as I stay consistent within those targets on MacroFactor, I know I’m going to keep seeing progress, regardless of what goodies and treats come along.”
Before it all came together
Since his first year of college, Kendell had been following Jeff Nippard’s programs and binge-watching all the “Science Explained” videos. Training hard and chasing strength was never the issue, but finding the balance between performance and physique was hard to reach.
“I was really scared of losing strength,” Kendell said. “The last time I cut weight and had any muscle to show, I had never felt so weak. It was demoralizing to even work out, because for me, the best part is lifting heavy and chasing new PRs.”
For Kendell, this came down to taking the nutrition side more seriously and finding a system that worked for him. He wasn’t new to MacroFactor but admits he hadn’t used it to its full potential. But when MacroFactor announced the transformation challenge, Kendell saw it as a fun way to reset for the new year. It gave him a spark to re-engage with the app, and from there, he learned far more than he expected.
“I actually first downloaded the app back in 2023 just to support Jeff Nippard,” Kendell said. “But I didn’t use it to the fullest capacity. I wasn’t consistent, and I never took full advantage of all the features.”
He continued, “My girlfriend and I decided to do this challenge together as a fun way to hold ourselves accountable. At first, we just wanted to get back on track with our fitness goals, but it quickly turned into something much more meaningful.”
Let the challenge begin
When the 100-Day Transformation Challenge began, Kendell started realizing quickly how small tweaks in his nutrition and strategy made a difference.
“I came into the challenge knowing so little about nutrition,” Kendell said. “I didn’t even really know what foods were high in carbs versus high in protein, or why that even mattered. I learned so much just from logging. Foods I used to grab without a second thought suddenly had a calorie and macro breakdown right in front of me.”
He continued, “I started noticing the biggest issue that had probably held me back before: portion control. Being able to adjust the serving size right in the app before I even ate the food was a complete game changer. Rice wasn’t the problem — it was the fact I would eat 14 ounces of it when I really only needed five or six to make it a solid meal. That one habit alone taught me how to build better plates without cutting out the foods I enjoy.”
Kendell picked up the nutrition side quickly, and sticking to his macros started to feel less like a chore and more like a game he enjoyed playing.
“The coached program’s daily macro targets kind of gamified the whole process,” Kendell said. “Seeing the bars fill up and brainstorming different meals or amounts to get close to my protein (without going over my Calories and staying under on carbs) turned my usual snacking into something I could actually play around with.”
This shift helped Kendell think differently about food and restrictions.
“I didn’t have to feel guilty about what I ended up eating or how much of it I had, as long as it fit within those numbers,” he said. “That mindset shift made all the difference. It helped me stay on track, but it also helped me change my habits without even realizing it. It stopped feeling like a diet.”
And the longer Kendell stuck with it, the more he started building habits.
“Logging became the only real habit I had to stick to,” Kendell continued. “And once I made it part of my routine, everything else fell into place. It’s like putting together a puzzle every day where I get to include the food I enjoy, and then build smarter choices around it.”
Hitting new heights of what he thought was possible
“I kid you not, I’ve literally achieved my dreams!” Kendell said. “I lost over 40 pounds during the challenge, hit a new PR on my squat at 455 pounds, a new deadlift PR of 545, and I was able to bench my previous max of 405 for two reps. But the main thing I want to get across is that I didn’t just retain my strength; I actually got stronger.”
What we love most about Kendell’s responses is that he gained exactly what we hope many people take away from using MacroFactor: that the process can be positive. The app isn’t about rigid restriction, it’s about minimizing friction so you can move toward your goals while still enjoying your life.
“I’m quite literally having my cake and eating it too!” Kendell said. “In addition to the physical changes and transformation, I gained so much comfort in knowing that diets don’t have to be mind-numbingly terrible. There’s so much freedom if you just stay within your macro targets.”
At the start of the challenge, his meals were more about sacrifice than satisfaction. And while some trade-offs are going to take place, Kendell was able to keep those sacrifices to a minimum.
“I started off eating nasty cream of rice in the mornings – so much that, even now, I shiver at the thought,” he said. “By the end of the challenge, I was able to eat protein pancakes every morning with syrup and still lose weight.”
The big test of sustainability came when Kendell had a work trip to Las Vegas. Traveling alone was usually a pretty big stressor, and he was sure it would set him back. Instead, he leaned into the app and the challenge.
“I thought for sure this would be the moment I lost all my progress and regressed like usual. But instead, this trip was when MacroFactor turned me into a true believer. Because I was doing the challenge, I knew I had to keep logging my food no matter what, even if I wasn’t perfect,” Kendell said. “And once I started logging during the trip, something clicked.”
“I realized that as long as I put a little thought into what I ordered, MacroFactor already did the hard part for me. I knew my calorie target. I knew the macros I needed to hit. All I had to do was treat a restaurant menu the same way I treated a grocery run.”
“I came back from that trip five pounds lighter than when I left,” he said. “But more than that, it gave me the confidence to see that this lifestyle was actually sustainable. What I thought would be my downfall turned into my freedom.”
Kendell’s favorite features
The biggest value for Kendell came from the collection of features that made logging easier. It wasn’t just one thing, it was the variety of simple, fast ways to track his food that sealed the deal.
“My favorite MacroFactor feature is 100% the amount of ways you can log your food,” Kendell said. “It makes tracking feel so easy, while still giving me confidence that what I’m putting in is accurate. If I’m eating something store-bought, I just scan the barcode — done. The food pops up, and all I have to do is put in how much I had.”
“If I’m at a restaurant, I can search the name of the place or the meal and most of the time it finds exactly what I ate or something super close,” he continued. “And then there’s the Describe feature that blew my mind. You just describe what you ate and it builds out the meal for you. It’s crazy how accurate it is. Sometimes I’ll be halfway through eating and forget to track, and I can just type out ‘2 eggs, 4 pieces of bacon, and a piece of toast,’ and it figures out the rest. That alone has saved me so many times.”
For Kendell, the app kept food logging from feeling like a chore. Logging was just a quick, simple task to knock out and move on.
“Having all those options just made logging way less stressful,” he said. “I never felt stuck or like I had to guess. No matter where I was or what I was eating, MacroFactor had a way to track it that fit real life. Not having to deal with the hurdles of logging or awkwardly fiddling on my phone for 10 minutes while out with friends has made it a breeze to be consistent.”
Kendell’s most helpful feature
Ultimately, having the strategy and coaching built into MacroFactor was exactly what Kendell needed. He didn’t have to deal with guessing or overthinking his numbers; he just had a plan he could follow.
“The weekly check-ins felt like having a real coach in my pocket, one that actually pays attention and adjusts based on me,” Kendell said. “Every week, MacroFactor takes what I’ve done, checks in with how things are going, and updates my plan automatically. It made me feel like I wasn’t doing this alone, like the app was working with me to get to my goal as efficiently as possible.”
“I didn’t have to second guess anything or start from scratch,” he continued. “MacroFactor already knew my history, my goals, and where I was headed from my past check-ins, so I could adjust on the fly and keep it moving. That level of flexibility gave me so much peace of mind. No guessing. No stress. Just consistent progress and a system that actually responded to me.”
The start of something bigger that’s helping others
Finishing off our case journey with Kendell, one neat aspect was the ripple effect his experience had on the people around him. Each night during the challenge, Kendell and his girlfriend shared snapshots of their day, traded snack finds, and kept each other excited, but it didn’t stop there.
“I’ve had so many of my friends and family ask what I’m doing differently or what crazy diet I’m on,” he said. “And all I can say is I started logging my food with MacroFactor. That’s literally the biggest change I made. Once I show them how easy it is to use, how nothing is restricted, and how you don’t even have to change what you eat, they get it.”
“Now we’ve got a full-on group chat from Easter with family and friends who all wanted to jump in,” Kendell said. “We’re sharing our daily dashboards, cheering each other on, and learning as we go. MacroFactor has become something bigger than just an app; it’s become a tool that’s helping people in my circle build healthier habits and actually enjoy the process, while staying connected.”
And as one more ripple: Kendell is planning to use some of the prize money to help finish a backyard dwelling project for his dad, who was affected by the recent California wildfires.
What’s next
Kendell has seen how small but targeted efforts can lead to significant changes for him, not just in his health but in how he approaches his day-to-day life. He’s excited about what’s ahead and even more motivated to keep this momentum going.
“This challenge opened my eyes to how much I still had to learn outside the gym,” Kendell said. “And now, I feel like I finally have a much better, overall understanding of how to live healthy — but I’m not done. I’m planning to take everything I learned over these last hundred days and keep building from here.”
He continued, “I’m going to keep sharing my success with anyone who will listen, because it’s honestly crazy how easy you guys have made it. The guesswork is gone. The stress is gone. And I finally feel like I’m in control of my health in a way that’s, above all else, actually sustainable.”
