Guides

What the research says about calorie tracking, and how to get useful numbers from it. Every figure links to its source.

Best AI calorie tracker apps compared

Seven AI photo calorie trackers compared from their own store listings: free photo logging, US prices, Android, languages and ratings. By the makers of Wellix, with sources.

How many calories should I eat a day?

How many calories to eat a day to lose, maintain or gain weight: resting metabolic rate, activity, a deficit that matches your pace, and the safety floors — with the equations shown and a free calculator.

AI calorie counter vs food scale

A food scale is more precise; a photo calorie counter gets used. The published error figures for both, the meals where each one wins, and a way to combine them that costs about one minute a day.

How to photograph food for calorie counting

How to take food photos that an AI calorie counter can actually estimate: angle, reference objects, what to separate, and the one sentence to add. Based on what the published accuracy data says the camera cannot see.

How accurate are AI calorie counting apps?

Peer-reviewed data on AI photo calorie counting: a vision model estimates energy within 30.5% from a photo alone, and 13.9% once ingredients are named. Here is what that means in practice.

How to track calories at a restaurant

Restaurant meals are the hardest thing to log: you did not cook them, you cannot weigh them, and the oil is invisible. Six practical tactics, and what to do when you simply cannot know.

How to track calories without weighing your food

Five methods for tracking calories without a food scale — hand portions, the calorie-dense shortlist, photo estimation — and how much accuracy each one actually costs you.

Wellix provides general nutrition information and is not medical advice. It does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any condition. Calorie and macronutrient targets are estimates produced by predictive equations, and individual requirements vary. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before making significant dietary changes, particularly if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a history of disordered eating, diabetes, kidney disease, thyroid disease, or any other medical condition.

Try Wellix free

Photograph a meal and see every item it detects. Free to start on iPhone and Android.