Docs/Meal Logging/Logging Best Practices

Meal Logging Best Practices

How to log meals in about 5 seconds per item using text search and a kitchen weighing scale for precise nutrition tracking.

Why Weight-Based Tracking Matters

Traditional nutrition apps rely on volume guessing or generic portion sizes. Eatomate uses your kitchen weighing scale to measure actual food weight in grams, achieving nutrition accuracy within ±5% variance by Week 4 through reconciliation.

What You Need

  • Kitchen scale: Any digital kitchen scale that reads in grams (most cost under £10)
  • Smartphone: iOS (iPhone 6S+) or Android (2018+) to search and log items
  • That's it: No special camera hardware or accessories required

The 5-Second Logging Workflow

  1. 1.
    Search for the food item

    Type what you're eating in the search bar. The system matches across 50K+ recipes and 100K+ alternative names.

  2. 2.
    Select from the top matches

    The system shows the top few candidates from across the Barcode Database (2M+), Recipe Database (50K+), and Alternative Names (100K+). Select the correct match. For barcode scans, weighing is not required — nutrition data comes directly from the barcode.

  3. 3.
    Weigh and enter the weight in grams

    Place the item on your kitchen scale, read the weight, and enter it. Precise to the gram for exact nutrition data.

Weighing Best Practices

Scale Setup

  • •Flat, stable surface: Place scale on a flat countertop or table—avoid uneven surfaces
  • •Tare before weighing: Place your plate or bowl on the scale, press tare/zero, then add food
  • •Gram mode: Ensure scale is set to grams (g), not ounces (oz)

Multi-Component Meals

  • •Weigh each item separately: For a plate with rice, curry, and salad—search, weigh, and log each one
  • •Use tare between items: Add first item, note weight, tare, add second item, note weight, etc.
  • •Pre-mixed dishes: For a mixed dish like bolognese, search for the dish name and weigh the total serving

Speed Tips

  • •Search shorthand works: Type "chick breast" instead of "grilled chicken breast"—the alias system handles partial names
  • •Recent items appear first: Foods you log frequently will appear at the top of search results
  • •Barcoded items: For packaged foods, use barcode scan instead of text search—instant lookup from 2M+ barcodes

Multi-User Meal Sessions

When multiple family members eat from the same meal (e.g., shared dinner), each person weighs and logs their own portion:

  1. 1.Person 1: Weighs their plate, searches and logs each item
  2. 2.Person 2: Weighs their plate, searches and logs each item
  3. 3.Person 3: Weighs their plate, searches and logs each item

The system automatically detects meal sessions (within 3-hour window), reconciles total consumption against pantry depletion for mass conservation, and learns each person's typical portion sizes over time.

How Meal Sessions Work

Example: Family of 3 eats spaghetti bolognese together.

  • Dad's plate: 350g (weighed on kitchen scale)
  • Mom's plate: 250g (weighed on kitchen scale)
  • Child's plate: 150g (weighed on kitchen scale)

Reconciliation: System tracks 800g total from pantry depletion. Validates 350+250+150 = 750g, identifies 50g discrepancy (leftover or serving spillage), and adjusts future predictions.

Processing Time

  • •Text search: Instant results as you type (local + server matching)
  • •Database matching: <1 second to search across all three databases
  • •Total time: ~5 seconds from search to logged meal item

Common Issues

Problem: Food item not found in search

Solution: Try shorter or alternative names (e.g., "dal" instead of "yellow lentil dal"). The system has 100K+ aliases. If still not found, the system will generate a new recipe variant using Mistral AI and add it to the database automatically.

Problem: Nutrition data seems wrong

Solutions:

  • •Check you selected the right match from the top candidates
  • •Verify the weight was entered in grams (not ounces or millilitres)
  • •Ensure scale was tared before weighing (plate weight not included)
  • •For cooked vs raw weight differences, search for "cooked [item]" specifically

Problem: No kitchen scale available

Solution: You can still log meals by estimating weight. Use common references: a fist-sized portion is roughly 150g, a palm-sized piece of meat is roughly 100g. However, a kitchen scale (under £10) is highly recommended for precise tracking.

Next Steps

Last updated: February 2026