Ten years of effort. Nothing to show for it.

I was the heavy kid.

220 pounds at 5 foot 8. The kid in the husky section.

For most of my life, food felt like something I had to either earn or fear.

Ten years of cardio, crash diets and random rules.

Endless cardio. Crash diets. Random rules.

I lost the weight. I put it back on. Then I did it again.

In 2022 I looked back at ten years and could not find any progress.

More than ten years of working out and managing my weight, and not a lick of progress to show for it.

My weight looked like a roller coaster. I was not stronger. I was not faster. I was not better at any sport I played.

I thought I knew the basics. Clearly I was not applying them right.

The effort was never the problem. The system was.

That year I learned to count macros and treat my week like a process.

That year I learned to count macros. Food stopped being a moral test and started making sense as information: protein, carbs, fat, calories, portions, tradeoffs.

I studied industrial engineering at Purdue. The whole degree is about one question: what is the best process for getting a result, every time?

So I treated my week like a process. I kept counting, kept adjusting, and worked out what a week has to look like for the results to last.

It worked.

Last year I got down to 150 pounds in a big cut. I lost the weight and kept it off, and I could still cook food I actually wanted to eat.

Doing it all by hand every week was wearing me out.

Knowing my targets was the easy step. The hard part was living them week to week: turning a changing training week into meals, one grocery trip, a prep session, and a decision about what to eat today. That gap, between the numbers and Tuesday dinner, is where consistency usually breaks.

I was doing all of it manually, every week. The fatigue was unsustainable.

Nobody can hold down a job, show up for the people they love, nail their nutrition, and do everything else life asks without help.

Mero does everything I used to do myself each week.

Everything I used to do myself each week, Mero now does.

• Setting my targetsMero sets them from your goal and your training week
• Planning every mealA full week of meals, drafted for you
• Working out portionsEvery meal comes with the amount
• Writing the grocery listOne list, sorted by store section
• Planning the prepA batch-prep plan, one step at a time
• Deciding what to eat todayToday’s meals and training in order

Hard days get more fuel. Rest days get less. You see the whole week before you pay.

Mero is a planner. It is not a food diary, a medical service, a race-day fueling tool, or a one-to-one coach.

I’m an engineer, so Mero shows its work.

I’m an engineer. I don’t trust what I can’t check, so Mero shows its work.

• Rules, not generative AI. The same inputs give the same plan, every time.
• A published equation. Targets start from Mifflin-St Jeor, then shift with your hard, easy and rest days.
• Macros from the source. USDA FoodData Central or the product’s own label.
• Guides that cite their work. Recognized sport-nutrition literature, cited where a claim needs it.

The full detail is in how Mero plans a week.

I am not a registered dietitian, and Mero is not medical advice. The plans and numbers are examples, not personal prescriptions.