Is there the need for yet another recipe app?
Backstory
Once upon a time i was in a very good shape. Unfortunately i got into very bad shape as soon as i started university and focused 100% on this.
Fuck this shit. I want to change it. On paper it's pretty simple, all you need is:
- Regular exercise
- Good nutrition
I am developer so obviously i wont use good old paper to track my progress. I want to have an application for that! In the first step i'm looking for a meal planning app where i can plan all the meals for the next week.
What is researched so far
I found so many recipe sites, nutrition tracker, calorie counters but i didn't found a meal planning app that fits my needs. The most promising app for me was eatthismuch.com but at 9€/m it has a pretty high price tag for the meal planning aspect. Also it seems to be very limited to US food.
Do you have a recommendation for a meal planning app?
Am i the only one that looks for this?
In my ideal world i would like to have an app where i can track meals (plus planning them ahead) as well as workouts. Most apps seem to target the "beauty/weight loss" segment but i'd like to target the "athlete" segment. If i don't find any solution that fits my needs i'll build something for me anyways but i am curious if there are other people who would like to have something like that? I'd love to try out this #buildinpublic stuff :P
You’re not the only one. The pattern I keep seeing is people do not actually want another recipe app. They want one place for planning plus tracking that does not break the second the meal gets messy.
The gap still feels split between planners like Eat This Much, trackers like MyFitnessPal, and photo first apps like CalAI.
What we have been testing with MetricSync is the middle. Easier logging than old manual trackers, but more actual tracking depth and better correction flow than the photo only stuff. It also ends up cheaper than CalAI, has more features for real tracking, better accuracy once meals stop looking perfect, and a 3 day free trial so people can compare it against what they already use instead of committing blind.
If you aim at athletes, I would validate one thing first: are they buying meal planning, or are they buying confidence that macros stay accurate once real life meals stop looking perfect?
I had a similar problem with workout tracker apps... I needed it specific to me and so I made it. It doesn't need a market or be sellable.
I never released mine, but it's useful to me daily so go for it regardless!
Been using MyFitnessPal for all of 2021 and like your idea of adding in more robust input of workout information as well. For me personally, not beauty/weightloss or athlete....but overall health & wellbeing. The four apps I use in the space are: MyFitnessPal, Fitness/AppleWatch, Health/Apple, and Renpho/WIFI scale
PS. down 66 pounds and feeling incredible.
I'm really proud of your success! Back in the days i also lost about 80 pounds (and during and after university gained them all back :D) and know how awesome that must feel!
Keep rocking buddy!
PS: I also tried out MyFitnessPal and i really missed the meal planning part. I did some more research and found a few feedback pages for various Calorietracker apps and it's actually a much requested feature to have custom meal plans (some do offer pre-made meal plans by the app publisher)
Thank you. My wife does all the cooking (lucky for me), so meal planning isn't my bag. We did the whole food plant based eating thing, so the weight loss (66 pounds down, 10-15 more to go) has been entirely driven by food choices and no exercising (may get into that in 2022). Thnx for the kind words and encouragement and good luck w/ the app.
you are not the only one :)
there a lot of different ways how meal planning can help. not only for weight loss or athletes, there like tools for diabetes and stuff.
But I don't like how most of the popular tools were built.
I'm curious: Do you have some examples of what you don't like about the popular tools?
For me it's mostly the US focus (a lot of the more processed food is not available in the apps) and that i "only" have a diary and not something to plan ahead. As i mentioned a more comprehensive app that also includes workouts would be nice but in this case one could just use two different apps. :)
yep, most tools were built from scratch. they often reinvent the wheel and it slows things down a lot. probably this is one of the reasons why functionality is limited - tech debt prevents from a quick growth
Do you really need a meal planning? Why can't you just change your dietary (if it's not healthy) or eat less? The second one works perfect without any planners!
try meal planning yourself. you'll see the difference pretty quickly. it's beneficial if:
does anything from this list resonate?
Nevertheless, I don't use meal planning and don't plan to. I just know what I like to eat, I try to eat as healthy food as possible and spend as less time and money as possible - all without meal planning!
Due to limited time during the week I am meal prepping and the meal plan is essential for me for groceries and preparation :-)
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