What happens when you press Generate
The AI reads everyone’s profile, writes a week of meals grounded in real USDA nutrition data, checks each recipe for calories and allergies, and rewrites anything that misses. No hallucinated numbers, no allergy slip-ups.
- Real USDA nutrition data
- Every meal checked before you see it
- Bad recipes are rewritten, not shipped
When you press Generate, the AI reads each person’s profile and writes a week of meals one day at a time. Every recipe is grounded in real USDA data. Each meal is checked for calories, macros, allergens, diet fit and language — anything that misses is rewritten up to five times.
When an AI writes my menu, I want to know it didn’t make up the calorie numbers, respected every allergy I listed, and caught its own mistakes before handing me the plan.
What the AI uses to write your plan
Everything you set up in the first three steps. Nothing extra, nothing missing.
- The people on the plan — their age, height, weight, and activity level from Step 1.
- Each person’s nutrition profile — calorie target, macros, preferred diet, medical conditions, allergies, vitamins, and any custom notes from Step 2.
- Your plan settings — duration, dish mode, cooking complexity, budget, cuisine, and free-text instructions from Step 3.
- The USDA nutrition database — the same public food database dietitians use, so every calorie and macro comes from a real measurement.
Step-by-step, what the AI actually does
A short progress dialog shows each step as it happens.
- 01
Reads your plan settings
Duration, language, and whether people share dishes or eat individually.
- 02
Groups participants by how they eat together
Who shares a recipe, who gets their own. Based on your dish-mode choice.
- 03
Loads each person’s nutrition profile
Calorie target, macros, preferred diet, allergies, medical notes — everything the AI needs to know.
- 04
Opens an empty plan you can watch fill up
The plan page appears right away with placeholders, so you see progress, not a spinner.
- 05
Writes meals day by day
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks — each day at a time. Shared meals get smart portions so everyone stays on target.
- 06
Checks every meal before it’s accepted
Calories, macros, allergies, diet fit, language. Anything that misses gets rewritten automatically.
- 07
Saves the finished plan
You’re redirected to your new meal plan, with one shopping list for the whole household.
The checks every meal has to pass
Before a recipe makes it to your plan, the AI verifies it against your profile. If any check fails, the meal is rewritten — up to five tries per meal.
What happens when a meal fails
The AI rewrites it and tries again, up to five times per meal. If nothing passes, the run stops and tells you — rather than shipping a bad plan.
Shared meals, smart portions
When two or more people eat the same dish, they don’t automatically get the same amount. The AI adjusts portions per person so each one stays inside their own calorie and macro targets.
Example — one omelette, two plates. John is on a high-protein profile, Sarah is on a balanced one. John gets 4 eggs and a bigger portion of cheese, Sarah gets 2 eggs and a smaller portion. Same pan, same recipe, different plates — each inside their own targets.
One plan, one shopping list, even with different plates
Even if five people on the plan eat five different dishes, the shopping list combines all the ingredients into one household-level list. One weekly calendar, one trip to the store, and you can regenerate a single day or a single meal if something doesn’t suit.
How a generated plan looks in the app
The card updates live while the AI runs, then locks to a versioned record once every check passes.
Mediterranean Family Plan
Mediterranean Family Plan
The screen you'll see right before AI runs
Locked summary + chef notes + a single Generate button. No surprises.
Ready to build the plan
The AI will use the configuration you locked in and write a full week of recipes, portions, and a shopping list.
You can re-run, edit, or roll back any version after the AI finishes. Your data is never used to train models.
Questions people ask
Short answers.
Can the AI make up the calorie numbers?
No. Macros come from the USDA public food database, and every meal is checked against your calorie target before it’s accepted. If a recipe is out of range, it’s rewritten. If five attempts all fail, the run stops rather than hand you a bad plan.
How long does generation take?
A typical 7-day plan for two people finishes in about 40–90 seconds. You see live progress the whole time, not a loading spinner.
Will it respect my allergies and medical notes?
Yes. Allergies and restrictions are treated as hard rules. Any recipe that slips an ingredient from your list is rejected and rewritten. Medical notes (diabetes, hypertension, PCOS, IBS) steer the AI away from trigger ingredients.
What data leaves my account?
Only what the AI needs to write meals: your calorie targets, macros, diet tags, medical notes, and allergies. Nothing identifying beyond a first name. Your account data stays in your account.
Can I regenerate just one day or one meal?
Yes. You can regenerate a single day, a single meal, or the whole plan. Previous versions are saved, so you can go back if the first one was better.
- Reviewed by
- Melio Nutrition & AI Platform Team
- Last updated