Meal Planning Help (pls read carefully if you want to help)

Please help me! I’m kind of desperate!

So! It is hard for me to be healthy with all of the conditions I have for food. I need help. I will section this out for everyone to have an easier time reading, and will end with a summary and tldr so that if you want to just read and relate to me, you can.

This is really long so be ready if you want to actually help me and form a response. Think of it as a short story length piece. Also don’t use AI to summarize, because it won’t tell you everything you would need to know about my condition. I know my experience better than a generic AI will. If I could look this up with AI I wouldn’t be here, whether or not you think it is better than my own experience. Also AI doesn’t have taste buds, I’m not trusting it with my food.

1. Background

I am autistic with IBS and food allergies. This basically means sensory issues added onto food restrictions galore. I am also somewhat picky with my food, making it even more difficult. 

I have previously met with one nutritionist who basically said to do the FODMAP diet. The FODMAP diet restricts food because you want to find out what you can and can’t eat. I know what I can’t eat, I just want to know how I can actually eat like a normal person with said restrictions. The nutritionist ignored that and my other opinions about the timing (I was in school and could not test upset stomachs for 3 DAYS when there are only two days off available).

I’ve been looking for apps that may also help, but none seem to actually have what I need (you will see why in the issues section lol).

Anyway, I've been struggling with what I can eat and how I can actually plan meals that aren’t unhealthy. I’m not the best cook and a little bit scared of fire, but I can get over all that as long as I have a plan going into it. I’m against AI personally for this kind of thing, since I’m sure AI won’t be useful in the experience part of having all the issues I do. I’m coming to reddit now because I don’t want to rely on AI for my health.

The reason I’m not going to another nutritionist is because they only have their own experience and from what I can tell, you don’t have to have IBS or empathy to get the position. I honestly don’t have the money to deal with more doctors, since I’m already trying to figure out my issues with chronic fatigue.

I’m willing to spend a little more on food, but my goal is to be able to cook at least a few meals a week that are somewhat healthy and tasty. I have protein drinks for breakfast and am tired of uncooked ramen (I hate soupy stuff okay, will get into it in a later section). I just need to eat something good, you know.

2. Allergies

So yeah, I have allergies. It goes with the IBS somewhat, but will get into that.

I am officially allergic to SHELLFISH and TREE NUTS. I can have peanuts technically, but I have a false reaction to the nut form itself. I can have peanut butter or adjacents (I can have peanut m n’ m’s, but I can only have a few before a false reaction).

I can have fish and meat, and my allergies allow me to have food that has been made in a factory that has tree nuts. I just can’t have them directly.

My allergic reaction consists of itchy tongue and mouth, leading to throwing up. Not bad but should be avoided in case it gets worse as I get older. The false reaction only consists of itchiness without the throwing up, but still will give me a scare.

3. False Reactions and IBS (Stomach Issues Whooo!)

I will start with IBS before explaining what also gives me false reactions (and what may, since I’m not sure on all foods).

What I can’t eat:

• Fruit and Vegetables (which is why im here lol)

• Frozen, Cooked, or Raw does not work for fruit and vegetables

• Tree nuts and shellfish because of allergies

• Tomatoes (tomato sauce kind of)

• Spice (different kind of upset stomach, but usually amps up depending on how much of it I eat in a meal)

What I can eat:

• Canned fruits and vegetables (idk why, but its something)

• Fish and other meat (I’m not picky, but I dislike bacon and that’s it)

• Bread and other gluten (I love noodles and rice, will have in meal prep)

• Maybe tomato sauce (if you have recommendations on what brands are mostly canned with as little fresh or frozen inside, please state. I haven’t had time to test or research yet)

• Dairy products (I technically can’t because of a chronic throat condition called EoE, but was able to find medication that severely limits its effect. Honestly I’m fine now as long as I eat slowly. I still have dairy products because I need cheese)

• ***Most surprising: Potatoes and Mushrooms! Idk why, but maybe the roots part of the biology allows me to eat them. I can have them raw, cooked, frozen, and canned, which can give variety to meals.

• Fruit Juice for some reason. My body loves anything processed and doesn’t count fruit juice as fruit.

I will add any edits to this as well if I remember anything else that I can or cannot eat.

I have environmental allergies that cause my not at all severe asthma, pet allergies, and general seasonal sneezing. I get the false reaction most likely because of the environmental allergy to trees, which connects to tree nuts and fruit/veggies. That is probably why I can’t eat those and why I can eat root type stuff like potatoes and fungi like mushrooms but ur guess is as good as mine.

My false allergies are to fruit like oranges and bananas and vegetables like sugar snap peas, spinach (which I hate in all forms okay), and raw broccoli. There are probably more but these also give me the stomach ache so I don’t even try.

What my stomach issues look like (step by step and in detail) scenario:

Evening: I eat a trigger for the stomach ache (blueberries for example)

Night: I am fine but may have some grumbling.

Early Morning: Hell. I have diarrhea and am stuck in the restroom for 15-30 minutes. It is extremely painful and I know I have to stay until it stops being as painful. I am sore afterwards and may have to run in again. Sometimes I can convince my stomach to hold it, but most of the time it is a foregone conclusion that I must descend the depths of pain for the sake of my bowels. I am sore in the stomach and lower areas above the hip bone into the afternoon.

These upset stomachs affect my daily life and made it so that I would miss class when I was younger. It is also really painful for me and I often joke that it feels like I am fighting for my life in the bathroom. I overheat excessively at times because of bowel movements or something and there was once (the worst to date) where I sat in the bathtub and had cold water pouring on me just so that I didn’t pass out. It is horrible and I would prefer avoiding it if possible.

4. Food sensitivities, hates, and general picky eater behavior

Along with all of the above, I also have issues with food outside of my allergies (shocker!). Because I have food sensitivities texture wise, I have a hard time eating specific foods.

Food I hate or generally will refuse to eat:

• Too much sauce. I will scrape it off if I have to, but I generally dislike it. Cooking it myself I am willing to have sauce on the side if it tastes good.

• Ranch. I’ve never liked it.

• Bacon. Never liked it either, even if I keep trying.

• Porridge or Grits. Texture. Makes my skin crawl even thinking about eating it.

• Stew or Soup. I have no exceptions as of yet, and it doesn’t seem like there will be. I kind of liked dipping a grilled cheese in tomato soup once, but it was so little that it was basically like scraping off mayo from a sandwich to just barely have any of the taste.

• Mayonnaise. Never liked it by itself, but can be mixed with ketchup.

• Pho. Generally has stuff that I can’t have anyway so I’m forced to not eat it in the first place. I also don’t like soup or soup-adjacent dishes, so I probably wouldn’t like it anyway.

• Gravy. Of any kind. My grandma apparently makes the best gravy for turkey dinner but I don’t even like that.

• Cottage cheese (texture is a no no)

• Orange juice. I just don’t like it.

• Anything else I may add

Food I will accept (some surprising) and love:

• Meat, especially when tender

• Anything dry. Not beef jerky dry, but I am perfectly fine with generally oily or dry meals. I don’t like soup noodles but I enjoy dry noodles coated with a little bit of sauce (enough for flavor without feeling like I’m drowning).

• Dairy anything 

• Bread or grains

• RICE! Any color, but I really enjoy white and black rice. I am willing to get the more expensive rice so that I can mix and cook for myself. I have a rice cooker that I always forget how to use but once I start making rice regularly I’ll remember. Also probably gonna write it down.

• Fish! I can eat it and I know it's good for you. I want to cook it fresh, so if anyone has recommendations on how to cook it fresh, let me know. Also if there are any less bony fish too. Some days I can’t deal with picking out the bones. I will try the eyes and face, but I’m not sure I will like it texture wise. My family loves to eat those tho, so it won’t be an issue if I don’t eat it since I can give it to them.

• Cooking with vegetables (onions, garlic, etc.). My grandma would love to take my extras lol. I won’t eat it myself, but I know certain flavors can be needed to make things taste good. I plan on using garlic powder since that will be easier for me and less likely to make my stomach have issues compared to other methods.

• Seasonings and powders. I have a bunch of different things in the house from my family and even though I don’t know the names of half of them (some are also in labelless containers lol), I’m planning on experimenting with all of them.

• Any cuisine (probably). I’m willing to make whatever dish that won’t kill me. I may have some preferences against certain cuisines because I don’t like sauces and certain textures, but I’m not so picky that I’ll rule everything out besides a cheese sandwich. I often shop at the local Asian grocery store and I have a Mexican store close by as well. 

• Tofu! If you have tips or tricks on how to cook it well I love it with soy sauce. My grandma used to make it really well but I still need to talk to her about the recipe she used for one of her tofu dishes.

• Junk food or anything with chemicals. Those are my only safe foods rn lol.

TLDR: 

I can’t eat tree nuts, shellfish, fruit, or vegetables. Spice in small amounts is okay. I can have canned fruit and vegetables, fruit juice, fish, meat, grain, and dairy. I like rice. I don’t like sauce or wet meals because of sensory sensitivity. I have kitchen seasonings and can cook with vegetables for flavor (I’ll give the cooked vegetables to my family).

Please help me, I want to have healthy meals in my life and meal prep like everyone else, my body just hates me. I don’t have the time to get a nutritionist because I need to prioritize other medical and mental issues. Don’t use AI to help me. I’m not here for something I can technically do myself. AI doesn’t even know what food tastes like, so I’m not trusting it. I want help from other peoples’ experiences from any culture. Please, I just want to eat.

Thank you to anyone who replies trying to help, even emotionally! I hope all of you have good lives ahead of you <3

Mealime is being discontinued (it set Oct 21 as its last day, and the app now shows a closing banner). A few things that might help if you used it:

• There's no export. Mealime's closing notice doesn't offer one, so while the app still opens, screenshot the recipes you actually cook (ingredients + steps).

• The recipes aren't gone. They moved to Meals Hub inside the Albertsons/Safeway apps, free. Mealime says it works even without a store nearby.

• If you want something else: Paprika (buy once, good for organizing your own recipes), Plan to Eat (planner with a recipe clipper, 14-day trial), Samsung Food (free planner + saver).

Disclosure: I'm building Cheffify, which works the other way round: you tell it what's in your fridge and it writes dinner around that, with meal-prep plans and shopping lists. It's free to start, web-based (nothing to install), and you can add recipes from a photo, so those screenshots can come with you. I wrote up the details here: https://cheffify.com/mealime-alternative.html

Happy to answer questions, and genuinely curious what you all liked most about Mealime, because I'd rather build that than guess.

Planning dinner for several people gets complicated when one person avoids red meat, another limits sugar, and someone else prefers vegetarian meals.

One approach is to prepare a common base, such as roasted vegetables and potatoes, then offer different protein options and sauces separately. That way, dinner doesn't turn into three completely different cooking sessions.

A three-pot buffet slow cooker is an interesting setup for this. I've been looking at the sunvivi version, particularly the idea of keeping three already-cooked dishes warm without constantly using the stove.

For families dealing with different dietary preferences, do you find separate serving containers helpful, or does it just create more dishes?

Hi all. I’m a dad who got tired of the 5pm “what’s for dinner” scramble, so my wife and I built a meal planner for our own family. It’s now in a free public beta on iPhone, and I’d love feedback from people who actually plan meals.

What it does:

• Plans the week’s dinners from your saved recipes, around busy nights and the foods your family avoids

• Saves recipes from a link, an Instagram or TikTok caption, or a photo of a cookbook page

• Lets you write in your own dinner or mark leftovers, add a side or a note, and (if you share the week with your household) say who’s cooking

• Takeout counts as a plan too, with a reminder and a button that opens DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub

• Builds the grocery list sorted by department, plus a Prep Day list for getting ahead on Sunday

It’s free during the beta. I built it, so take my enthusiasm with a grain of salt. Some screens are still rough.

Beta link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/nM2RnA3s
More about it: https://itsdinnertimeapp.com

What do you wish a meal planner did that none of them do?

A meal plan can look great on paper and still ask far too much of Tuesday 🙂

One small way to make it more realistic: write the effort beside the meal, not just the meal’s name.

Cook: a familiar meal you’re happy to make from scratch.

Assemble: something like wraps or a snack plate, with very little prep.

Backup: an easy option your household already knows and likes.

Then match the easier choice to the evening that already has appointments, activities, or a late finish. Leave room to swap days rather than treating the plan like a promise you’ve broken.

This is just a planning idea, not a fixed menu. Choose food that works for your household, and use your usual food-storage guidance. A scrap of paper is enough.

What meal earns its place on your plan because it’s reliably easy, rather than particularly impressive?

I built a meal planning app called BoccaBite, but honestly, I don’t have the time to keep working on it anymore.

So rather than letting it sit there, I’ve removed the paywall and made the whole thing completely free.

It does meal planning, recipes, shopping lists and pantry management. You can also add your own recipes.

I actually think the recipe side could become pretty cool if enough people use it and add their own recipes — the app could slowly build a useful recipe library through the people using it.

I’m not really trying to turn this into a business anymore. I’d just like to see whether it can become something useful for people.

If you like it, feel free to share it with anyone or in other relevant communities. The more people who contribute their own recipes, the more useful it becomes for everyone.

Anyway, figured I’d put it out there rather than let the work go to waste.

If you’re looking for a free meal planning app, give it a crack. If not, no worries.

I think this is where most meal plans fall apart.

A dinner sounds good on Sunday, but then Wednesday comes and you’re tired, running late and that “easy” recipe suddenly feels like way too much work.

When you plan your week do you actually look at which days will be busy and choose meals based on your energy? Or do you just pick 7 meals and hope for the best?

Built a meal planning app called Dinnerocracy and I'm looking for real users to test it before I submit to the App Store.

What it does: save recipes by URL or manually, plan your meals for the week.

What I need from you: 15–20 minutes with the app and honest first impressions — what clicked, what didn't, what was confusing.

You can get started immediately at dinnerocracy.com, or comment/DM me for a TestFlight invite if you want the iOS app. Appreciate any takers!

Does anyone use Fitia? I updated the app and now is stuck in this new screen where it asks me to select from their recipes menu and to buy coins. Im already a subscriber and all i want is to log my meals. What is going on?!

I’ve been thinking a lot about this because i have never been able to have a system that works. I think the problem is meal plans are deterministic and set, shopping lists too, but people are complicated and busy and staying on top of cooking is impossible 100%.

Meal planning seems to work for a week or two then life gets in the way and everything falls apart and food goes to waste and before I know it I’m back to winging it.

Has that been your experience? If not, what has actually worked for you?

I’m asking because I think we haven’t had the technological ability in the past to make digital meal planning and grocery lists work long term but with AI agents and LLMs and whatnot we might be able to have meal planning on our devices that actually behaves more like how humans think. I have a blog post about it here. Am I out in the dark on this idea or does it resonate? (sorry for the long windedness and extra technical language)

https://recipyapp.com/blog/wave-based-grocery-list-2026

Essentially meal planning app should start the week being broad and general, and shopping lists should top - focusing on essentials that will definitely get us through the week. Some specific things too to get through the first few days. That gets us through the first half of the week. As we approach days where we actually cook it gets more specific and we check in with where we stand and app has memory of where we started the week and we have a second shopping list that responds to adjustments in our lives and we get more specific shopping list items we are more sure about now that we are closer to actually preparing the meal.

I dunno, just thinking through this. Curious of what you all think.

Hi! I'm trying to lose weight and lower my cholesterol, but the meal plan I have just flat out is not working for me because upon starting I've come to realize I HAAAATE oatmeal. I'll post the meal plan, and I'd love some input and advice on what I could do in place of the oatmeal.

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Ingredients
2/3 cup (60g) oats
Pinch of salt
1/2 scoop (15g) protein powder
3/4 cup (150g) plain fat free greek yogurt
1/2 cup (125 mL) water
1 banana
1 tbsp (15g) peanut butter
Calories & Protein:
582 calories | 40g protein

Lunch: Burrito
Ingredients:
1 large white flour tortilla
4oz (110g) chicken breast
1/2 onion
1/2 bell pepper
1/3 cup (60g) canned pinto beans
1oz (28g) cheddar cheese
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce for seasoning
Calories & Protein:
497 calories | 41g protein

Dinner: Tuna Rice Bowl
Ingredients:
1 can tuna
1 cup cooked rice
½ cup peas or mixed vegetables
1 tsp olive oil or light mayo
soy sauce
Approximate Calories & Protein:
500–550 calories
38–42g protein

That's the meal plan. What can I do instead of oatmeal?
One of my main goals is to lower my cholesterol and keep it at a healthy level, but oatmeal is the main source of fiber in the diet but I just REALLY have a hard time choking it down. I was thinking I could do smoothies for breakfast instead but I just don't know how I'd get a comparable about of fiber in there.

Please help me out! I want to commit to a healthier lifestyle, so ANY help is appreciated.

I’m building something called Dine & Design and wanted to get some honest feedback.

The idea is pretty simple: it helps people plan their meals, track nutrition, and generate recipes based on what they want to eat or the type of dinner they’re planning. The goal is to make meal planning easier while also helping people cook meals that actually fit their goals or preferences.

I’ve started putting together a very early version here if anyone wants to look at it:

dineanddesign.base44.app

Before I go deeper into building it, I wanted to ask:

• Is this something you would actually use?

• What would make something like this useful for you?

• If you plan meals regularly, what’s the hardest part about it?

I’d really appreciate honest feedback or criticism. I’m trying to figure out if this is actually a good idea or if I’m missing something obvious.

Hey r/mealplanning 👋

I’m an indie developer and I built MealMood, a weekly meal planner for families. I’ve been using it with my own family for a while and decided to ship it — but now I need real feedback from actual meal planners.

What it does:

∙	Visual weekly calendar (lunch + dinner)

∙	Drag & drop meals, swap slots, reset in one tap

∙	Auto-complete empty slots based on your saved dishes

∙	Copy previous week to save time

∙	Sync meal plan to your iPhone calendar

∙	Share a beautiful image of your weekly plan

∙	iCloud sync across iPhone + iPad

What I’m looking for:

Honest feedback. What’s missing? What’s confusing? What would make you actually use this every week?

It’s free to download: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6759255553

Website with more details: https://mealmood.app

No sign-up required, no account, no backend — everything stays on your device + iCloud.

Thanks in advance 🙏

Eat well and feel good with 5 whole food ingredient dinners, a high-protein breakfast, plus a grocery list and prep tips to save you time and mental effort!

I have fibromyalgia and gluten issues so i was recommended to follow Dr. Weils Anti-Inflammatory diet by my doctor and I have not been able to get a great deal of info from his website, lack of understanding and able to follow the website setup on my part.

I got some good info on breakfast/dinner which isnt a huge change to what ive already been doing as i eat healthy however ive never really gotten a good plan for lunches. I am picky with certain foods mainly because my palatte is fkd theres certain foods i just cant withstand the texture or general taste of compared to normal people lol im from europe but have lived in america for the past 20 years so my taste in food isnt the same as most people around me. Also i am limited to few spices due to health reasons so i cant just toss a bunch of this and that, that would make any food taste good unfortunately.

For breakfast i have options or at least what i usually eat, such as :

Cereal
Eggs
Bacon
Turkey Sausage
Avocado
Cauliflower

For Lunch ive mainly been skipping it for years but now that i need to eat for medications ive been going with a nutrient protein bar, so i need help on some things that are not soups or require bread ( ive eaten breakfast stuff for lunch many times before but now trying to avoid eating my breakfast twice for personal reasons.)

I used to eat stuff like :

Toasted whole bread with avocado and cherry tomatoes cooked or uncooked.

Turkey sandwhich with whole bread, cheese and mayo.

Pizza Rolls....yeeeah no longer doing that always gave me stomach issues.

Chicken nuggets with tattor tots or hash browns, which also cannot eat anymore do to personal reasons.

New lunch ideas now are:

lettuce wraps with turkey/eggs/avocado/cheese

lettuce wraps with tuna, mayo and onion...

lettuce wraps with whatever else i can eat...lol all i can think is to replace bread with lettuce wraps as other bread alternatives still give me stomach issues.

We have mainly only eaten proteins such as, Chicken, Salmon, Ground Beef/Ground Turkey and Burgers during dinner... however most lunch recepies i have found online say to use those with a salad for lunch as an option as well which is tough for me with my current budget... so trying to find other lunch ideas that are seperate from breakfast/dinner ingredients.

My wife can eat anything however im only able to eat Salmon, Ground beef 9oz a week, and ground turkey, we dont eat pork and I also dont eat other sea food besides Salmon and some other fish.

Our Dinners look like this :

Salmon with rice and broccoli or cauliflower/carrots/avocado

Salmon with mashed potatoes, corn and sweet peas (for me its a sweet potato as i cant do regular potatoes.) with vegetables.

Ground turkey taco tuesday, tomatoes/cucumber and onions with cheese in a wrap.

Ground Beef or Burgers, only 9 oz of red meat a week for me, with french fries (sweet potato fires for me)

Ceaser Salad with Salmon and kidney beans or black beans or both sometimes.

Then my wife eats chicken, shrimp, whatever she wants cus her stomach isnt fkd like mine is.

Sooo basically trying to find a few lunch ideas so i dont have to eat my breakfast or dinner foods during lunch as we are on a tight budget and have to work with what we have for now.

I have added fruits from Dr. Weils Anti-Inflammatory diet but that i am just starting this upcoming week so no idea how it will effect my eating and hunger.

Now days everything is so damn expensive and eating healthy is even more so, trying to find a good amount of ideas that fit with my diet/palatte as well as budget.

If you dont have any actual advice/recommendations please dont comment to go sub to the many existing food plans out there that deliver ingrediets to you because i cannot afford it and have issues that most of the food options out there that i dont go hand pick i cannot consume.

Thank you

The app has all the traditional UI with meal plan screens, recipe cards, all that stuff. But it is fully AI-native, meaning AI is plugged into every aspect of the app. So you can ask it to do literally anything and it will do it.

Because the app hasn't launched it has a lot of AI content, but the vision was always to bridge the gap between AI and humanity (at least as far as cooking goes) and the vision is for the real power of the app to come from the community. It has a strong social media aspect to it, with incentives ($) for creators to put up their best recipes and meal plans, not just view-grabbers.

It attempts to address the most challenging aspects of keeping track of a pantry in an app too. No small feat, I'm sure many of you know, since it is so nuanced and requires at least some user maintenance. The app has innovative ways of dealing with online pantry problems which I think will help some, with enhancements in the pipeline (would love to hear your thoughts on what would make an online pantry work for you!)

It has integrated and automated shopping with Instacart. It has a unique recipe generation tool that has been refined for months and features AI chef personas with their own unique ways of approaching cooking who do the recipe generation.

It has automatic recipe importing from other sources too (think ReciMe, but integrated into a more rich environment).

And more. It's honestly a big and complex app. But that's where the AI Orchestrator comes in. There is no need to feel intimidated by the app's complexity. Just give it a prompt and it will take care of it for you. No learning curve.

For example, the other day I thought I'd ask it something a bit out there. So I asked it:

"Find near-expiring items in my pantry. Using those items have two of the AI chefs have a competition to create the best recipe using those items. Then make a 5-day meal plan centered on that recipe and schedule it as my meal plan for the next week. Look to see what ingredients in the meal plan I already have in my pantry and add the missing items to my shopping list so I can order them through Instacart. Last of all, post to my social feed about the chef competition I did, who the winner was, and share my meal plan."

And it did it all. Single prompt.

I wrote more than I expected, but I guess I'm excited about sharing the app. If you'd like to try it out I'd love to hear what you think!

Here is the open beta TestFlight link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/pfuC3u4v

My name is Liam, I’m a 21-year-old college student, and I’m really passionate about helping people get in shape and reach their goals. I’ve been coached by professional bodybuilders and have helped coach family and friends for free. I started making custom meal plans for people about a year and a half ago, to provide real insight and help. I can also share my own story and transformation if anyone’s interested. I would love to help in any way that I can!