The five ways to log a meal, and when to use each

Calerio gives you five ways to log food because no single method is fastest in every situation. Here's a rough guide to which one to reach for.

Photo — home-cooked and restaurant plates

The default for anything on a plate in front of you. Fastest when the meal is visually distinct — a bowl of stir-fry, a sandwich, a salad. Works less precisely on things that all look like brown mush, like casseroles, where a quick text description alongside the photo helps.

Barcode — anything packaged

Scan it. Packaged food has a known nutrition label, so this is the most accurate of the five methods by a wide margin — there's no estimating involved.

Voice — hands full, driving, cooking

"A cup of oatmeal with a banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter," logged out loud while you're stirring a pan, is faster than putting the pan down to type it.

Text — you already know the exact numbers

If you're tracking a recipe you've made before and already know the macros, typing them directly skips the estimation step entirely.

Menu — eating out

Point at a restaurant menu and Calerio matches it against known nutrition data for that dish where available, or estimates from the description. Especially useful for chains with published nutrition info.

Most people end up using two or three of these regularly, not all five daily. The point isn't to use every method — it's that whichever one is fastest right now is always available, so logging never becomes the reason you stop.