How the Eat This Much App Works
Eat This Much (ETM) is an AI-powered meal planning tool that puts your diet on autopilot by creating weekly nutrition plans tailored to your specific dietary requirements and fitness goals. The process starts with a user-profile setup where you define your goals, such as weight loss, muscle gain, or maintenance. You input your personal metrics (height, weight, age), activity level, and dietary preferences (e.g., vegan, keto, paleo), and the app's algorithm generates a daily or weekly meal plan that meets your calorie and macro targets.
The app's core feature is its automatic meal generation, which provides a randomized weekly menu at the click of a button. For each meal, it offers alternative options that still fit your nutritional profile, allowing for flexibility. Once a weekly plan is generated, it automatically creates a corresponding grocery list, which can be dynamically updated if you swap or remove a meal. A useful 'Pantry' feature tracks what you already have, prioritizing those ingredients in new meal plans and helping to reduce food waste.
Customization and User Experience
ETM offers robust customization options that go beyond simple preferences. Users can block specific foods they dislike, set recurring meals for consistency, and input their own custom recipes to build their personal food database. For those with more complex schedules, it's possible to adjust meal frequency and allocate different calorie or macro targets for specific days, such as higher carbs on workout days. While the app and website work well together, some users note that the user interface can feel a bit clunky at first, requiring some time to navigate all the features.
Eat This Much Free vs. Premium Features
The value of Eat This Much largely depends on whether the free version is sufficient for your needs or if the premium features are a worthy investment.
Free Version
The free version is ideal for users who want to experiment with macro tracking and meal generation. It allows you to generate a single day's meal plan and customize it completely. This lets you test the app's recipe quality and planning capabilities without any financial commitment. It is a great starting point for figuring out if the app’s automatic approach suits your lifestyle.
Premium Version
The premium tier, which costs around $8.99 per month or $50 per year (prices vary and may be subject to change), unlocks the full suite of automation tools. Premium users gain access to the weekly meal planner, which is the app's flagship feature. This includes automatic weekly meal generation, the dynamic grocery list feature, and integrations with grocery delivery services like Instacart or AmazonFresh. While the free version lets you see what's needed for one day, only premium subscribers get the full automated shopping list for the entire week.
Comparison Table: Eat This Much vs. MyFitnessPal
| Feature | Eat This Much | MyFitnessPal (MFP) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Function | Automatic Meal Generation based on macros/calories | Manual Food Logging & Calorie Counting |
| Best For | Users who prefer an automated, done-for-you meal plan | Users who prefer manual logging and a massive food database |
| Recipe Database | Built-in recipe database plus user-added recipes | Vast database, often requiring manual entry for barcode scanning |
| Meal Planning | Generates full day or weekly plans automatically | Diary-based, requires planning meals manually |
| Grocery List | Automatic, dynamic grocery list included with Premium | Created manually based on logged meals |
| User Control | High control over meal generation rules and preferences | High control over individual food items and portion sizes |
| Exercise Tracking | No dedicated exercise tracking feature | Includes an extensive exercise tracking component |
| Pricing | Free basic version; ~$8.99/month for Premium | Free basic version; Premium offers more features |
The Pros and Cons of Eat This Much
The Upsides
- Eliminates Decision Fatigue: For users who struggle with planning what to eat, the automatic generation feature is a game-changer. By setting preferences once, you can have a full week of meals planned instantly, reducing the mental load of meal prep.
- Goal-Oriented Planning: The app is specifically designed for people with dietary goals like weight loss or macro targets. It ensures that each meal fits precisely within your nutrition plan, taking the guesswork out of hitting your targets.
- Automated Grocery Lists: The dynamic shopping list saves significant time by compiling all the necessary ingredients for your weekly meals. Premium integration with grocery delivery services adds another layer of convenience.
- High Customization: The ability to add custom recipes, block unwanted foods, and reuse successful meal plans means the app can be tailored to your tastes over time, making it a more permanent and enjoyable tool.
The Downsides
- Initial Learning Curve: The app's interface can be overwhelming initially due to its many features and options. Users may need to spend some time exploring and setting preferences to make it work effectively.
- Recipe Quality Concerns: Some older user reviews have noted that the automatically generated recipes can be bland or unappealing. The value improves significantly as users add their own preferred recipes.
- Missing Features: ETM does not include a built-in exercise or water intake tracker, which are standard features in many competing fitness apps. This may require using multiple apps for a comprehensive health overview.
- Limited Free Version: The basic free version is very limited, offering only a single day's meal plan at a time. Accessing the most valuable features, like weekly planning and grocery lists, requires a premium subscription.
So, is the Eat This Much app worth it?
The Eat This Much app is undoubtedly worth it for individuals who struggle with the mental effort of daily or weekly meal planning, especially if they have specific calorie and macronutrient targets. The premium version excels at automating the entire process, from planning to shopping, which is a huge time-saver for busy people committed to a structured diet. The app's value increases over time as you customize it with your own recipes and preferences, making it a powerful, personalized tool.
However, for those who enjoy manual tracking, don't mind planning meals, or need comprehensive exercise tracking, free apps like MyFitnessPal may offer more bang for no buck. Furthermore, users who find the automatically generated recipes unappealing may be disappointed until they invest the time to input their own. Ultimately, taking advantage of the free account to generate a single day's plan is the best way to test if the app’s automated, goal-focused approach aligns with your needs before committing to the premium version.
Visit the official Eat This Much website for more information
