How is this made? A binary integer programming model?
Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
201–210 of 296 posts
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
For the nutrition component at least, the USDA has a very messy, difficult to navigate, but still quite useful database of nutritional information for almost every possible ingredient. And there are several sources of structured recipe data available online. The tricky part is mapping recipe line items and preparation instructions onto the USDA data set, but once you figure that out you can get a pretty decent approx…
At least the USDA provides database dumps ( http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12354500/Data/SR2... ). Unfortunately, it comes with a 128 page guide on how to actually parse it into something useful.
That's been my experiance with pretty much every govt DB that I have used. Especially the Education Stats. Fuck that.
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#203Really cool! Needs a Rob Rhinehart mode though... Breakfast: Soylent, 20 oz. Lunch: Soylent, 20 oz. Dinner: Soylent, 20 oz.
you totally stole my joke :)
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#204Oh wow. Simply wow. I've wanted this without knowing I've wanted it. This probably sounds sad but the effort and potential anxiety required in trying to pick the right foods and what I might want to eat often means I just get lazy and eat out instead. A case where having an astounding number of options often leaves one wanting to pick none of the above. This is a great idea. Edit: Mobile website please!
I'm the same way with the food picking anxiety, except I'm also really stingy at the same time so I'll often be too lazy to eat anything at all. That was the main inspiration for starting on a diet generator - to make it easier for me to gain weight. Definitely going to work on a mobile version of the site soon!
> [...] to make it easier for me to gain weight.
Always have a jar of peanut butter handy, and boiled eggs on hand, too. This way, you'll never have an excuse not to eat.
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
The site doesn't seem to include drinks. Do you plan on adding them?
I had it suggesting whole milk for a while, but a lot of people complained that it was giving them too much whole milk so I just removed it entirely. My algorithm doesn't give any special treatment to drinks, but maybe it should to output something more realistic looking. I use the site myself, and the way I handle drinks is with the "locking" feature (via the lock icon next to a food or meal). If I know I'm going to…
Ohh, I am going to have to take advantage of that. I go through tons of energy drinks in a day. I guess I could classify them as "snack".
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
My point is that there is no such thing as "American nutrition". What does that term even mean?
A total lack of portion control.
I have to say I think this is true.
Of course not every single American eats the same. But, probably the best reflection of the "average" American diet is via "mainstream" restaurants (i.e. chains, but not fast food).
Look at places like Chili's, Friday's, Ruby Tuesday, and (gasp) Cheesecake Factory. Their portions are out of control and they are laden with fat and sodium. It is not unusual for a single meal at those places to nearly meet or exceed one's allowance of, calories, etc., for an entire day. And some meals (ex. Just about every entree at Cheesecake) are cartoonishly huge.
It's ridiculous. But, I think that defines the "average" American diet in the sense that these guys are all targeting the mass market. So, what they serve is the product of much research into what people want, and then is constantly being tweaked based on observation.
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
"A 12 oz beer contains about 300 kcalories." That's an exaggeration. Here are a few mainstream beers I looked up on that site- Sam Adams Boston Lager: 175, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: 175, PBR: 144, Guinness Draught: 128
You’re right, thanks. Fixed. It does mean that if you drink 5 pints during a night on the town, you ingest 1100 kcalories. For me, that would mean half of my recommended daily caloric intake.
There's a saying in German that five beers (pints) are a meal. But you have to have a sixth beer, because you can't have a meal without a beer.
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
Low carb doesn't mean no carb. If you limit meals to 5-10 grams of carbs or less, most low carbers would be happy. [1] One of the more extreme low carb diets, the Atkins Induction Phase, allowed up to 20 grams per day. Other diets such as keto or The Zone allow 50-100 grams. [1] http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/how-many-carbohyd...
True, but it still limits the food variety a lot. Since my recipe database isn't huge to begin with, the meals start looking stale much sooner. I'm working on expanding the recipe database a lot, so hopefully it won't be a big problem for too much longer.
Perhaps you can rely on some crowdsourcing for that?
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haha awesome, thanks! I spent a lot of time trying to pander to different eating styles, and some definitely work better with my algorithm than others. Low carb is especially rocky since I have relatively few foods/recipes with absolutely no carbs.
+1 on Low carb isn't no carb. I had fantastic results on low carbs. I tried no carb once and it really will f k with your brain. Don't try no carbs!!!
> I tried no carb once and it really will fk with your brain.
Interesting. For how long?
I have seen people fast (i.e. no calories, but water and minerals etc) for two weeks, without too much messed up brains.
Re: Show HN: Automatic weekly meal planner, also plans your leftovers
#210I am surprised and delighted by this site! I cannot stress enough how well this nailed the contingencies that may come up when I was just using this. My first thought, I actually don't know how many calories I should eat--BAM there is a button that helps me generate it. What if I want to lose weight? BAM! Button for that option. Then I see the meals generated and I think, well, I'm a vegetarian so this chicken won't…
I had sort of the opposite experience: my preferences aren't possible to indicate in the interface at all. I don't have "formal" preferences: I don't really care whether something is lamb or beef or chicken or pork or whatever. And I'm not interested in fad diets like Keto or Scientology or Paleo. Instead, I want my food to taste good while fitting into nutritional/budget constraints. What "tastes good" means varies,…
Adding spices shouldn't change the nutritions too much. But I see what you mean---and I hope the author will take your comment to heart.