How Mero plans a week.

Deterministic planning, not AI

Mero’s app builds your week with deterministic, rule-based logic, not generative AI. The same inputs produce the same plan every time, which makes the system transparent, repeatable, and auditable. There is no model guessing at your food. The inputs are your goal, body metrics, training week, default eating pattern, and any preferences or allergies you set. The output is a fixed weekly plan you can inspect, edit, and rerun.

How targets are estimated

Mero estimates your resting energy needs with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the same starting point most dietitians use. That resting figure is scaled by an activity factor and adjusted for your goal to reach a daily calorie target. Protein is set per unit of body weight, fat is set as a share of energy, and carbohydrate fills the remainder. These are population starting points, not a personal prescription, and they are meant to be adjusted as your own results come in. You can see the baseline version of this math in the free calculator.

How training shapes the week

Mero does not treat every day the same. Protein stays roughly steady across the week, while carbohydrate moves with the demand of the day: harder training days get more fuel, easier and rest days settle back. This matches the idea that fuel should follow the work required rather than being fixed at one flat daily number. Mero keeps this at the level of hard, easy, and rest days. It does not attempt intra-session fueling, race-day protocols, or clinical carbohydrate manipulation.

Where the food numbers come from

Ingredient macros come from USDA FoodData Central or a product’s own nutrition label, not a generic crowd-sourced recipe database. Portion math is handled per meal so the day’s totals reconcile against your targets. The starting recipe library covers the patterns most macro-aware athletes default to, with room to swap and exclude.

How the plan adapts

Each day is a short checklist: you tap the meals you actually ate. That check-off is the only input the next plan needs. On the next planning cycle, Mero rebuilds the week from your goal, your training, and what actually happened, so the plan gets more realistic over time. It is a feedback loop, not a system that quietly changes your targets without telling you.

What you should verify, and the limits

The plans and numbers are examples and starting points, not personal prescriptions, and you are always responsible for reviewing meals for allergens and suitability. I am not a registered dietitian, and Mero is not medical advice. Mero is built for healthy adults who already understand macros and train on a real schedule. If you have a clinical condition, a history of disordered eating, are pregnant, or are chasing a competitive weight-class goal, please work with a qualified professional instead.

Sources

These sources inform the general framework above. They support the approach, not any single number in your plan.

• Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. PubMed.
• International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise. PMC.
• Impey SG, et al. Fuel for the work required: a framework for carbohydrate periodisation. PubMed.
• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine joint position on nutrition and athletic performance. PubMed.

Questions

More about the person building this on the about page. For anything else, email [email protected].