Solve Meals questions and answers

Short answers to the questions people ask once they have solved a first meal. The home page already answers what no exact fit means, why the tool shows grams and whether every food stays in, so those are not repeated here.

Getting started

What do I type in as macros left?

The grams of protein, carbs and fat you want this one meal to supply. If you hold a day target and have already eaten, subtract what you ate from the target and use the remainder. The article on macros left versus daily targets shows the subtraction with real numbers.

Do I need to know my calories?

No. The solver works in grams of protein, carbs and fat. It shows the kcal for the meal as a result, calculated from those three, so you can see it but you never have to enter it.

How many foods should I load?

Load the foods you actually plan to eat, usually a protein, a carb and something for fat or vegetables. A short loadout is easier to read and easier to fix. The article on how many foods one meal needs goes through it.

Reading the result

Why does one macro land a little off even when the display says on target?

On target means every macro is within 5 g of what you asked for. It does not mean equal. A gap of a gram or two is normal, and it counts as a hit. The display shows each gap so you can see how close the meal came.

Why did the grams change after I moved one slider?

Each macro depends on the others. Many foods carry more than one macro, so moving the carbs changes the rice, the oats and every other food that also carries carbs. The solver finds the amounts that make all three numbers work together, so a single change can move several rows.

What is the household hint next to the grams?

A rounded helper, such as about 2½ eggs, so the portion is easy to picture. It is not exact. Where there is no sensible household unit for a food, the row shows only grams. The article on grams first, cups and pieces second explains the rounding.

When it misses

What should I add when the display says no exact fit?

Add the food the reason line offers. It is checked before it is shown, so adding it lands the meal on target. If you prefer a different food, the reason line still tells you which macro to cover. See reading the reason line.

Can I take a food out of the meal?

Yes, and you are the only one who does. Remove a row yourself, or switch a vegetable or fruit row between fixed and solved. The article on fixed foods and solved foods covers the switch.

What the tool leaves alone

Does the tool decide what I should eat?

No. You choose the foods and the macros. The tool says how many grams of each food make the numbers add up and says plainly when they cannot.

Are my targets checked or judged?

No. The numbers you type are used as given. The page is a calculator for one meal and does not review your targets.

Where do the food values come from?

From USDA FoodData Central, per 100 g. The data service notes that its values are a snapshot of particular foods sampled at a particular time, so treat any total as a close estimate. The full list of rules is on the method page.

Can I send the solved meal somewhere?

You can copy the grams. The page also offers a way to continue the meal in OnMacros, which solves every meal of the day around what you have already logged.