Every plan published on the Ograal blog is calculated by the engine of the Ograal app, using the nutrition rules that Ingrid Gallerini, a sports dietitian, applies with her own clients, based on an athlete profile and their training week. Ingrid then reviews every article. All the numbers in our articles come from that calculation: none is estimated by hand or taken from another source.
This page explains what the engine takes into account, how we check its numbers, and above all what it can’t do.
The starting point: a profile and a training week
The engine works from two sets of information: who the athlete is, and what they do each day of the week.
| Input | What it changes in the plan |
|---|---|
| Sex, age, weight, height | Resting energy expenditure, and protein and carbohydrate needs, calculated per kilo of body weight |
| Daily activity outside sport, physical job or not | Energy expenditure on every day, even without training |
| Sport | The type of effort and how to fuel during the session |
| Goal: performance, gentle weight loss or muscle gain | The day’s target, and how it is adjusted across the week |
| Sessions: sport, duration, intensity, race days | The day’s expenditure, and the fuel needed before, during and after |
The athletes in our articles are typical profiles, built to represent real athletes: a sportive cyclist, a female trail runner, a young runner. They are not identifiable people.
What the engine calculates, step by step
The engine applies fixed rules: the ones Ingrid prescribes to her clients. The quantities and foods in each meal follow directly from them. Artificial intelligence only steps in at the very end, to suggest a dish name that matches those foods (a spinach quiche, for example), without being able to change the foods or the quantities. The engine always follows the same order, from the day’s needs down to what goes on your plate and in your jersey pockets.
- The day’s energy expenditure: resting expenditure, estimated with the Harris-Benedict equation from sex, age, weight and height, then daily activity and the session’s expenditure, based on its duration and intensity. When the app is connected to Strava or Nolio, the session’s actual expenditure then replaces the estimate, and the remaining meals of the day are adjusted.
- The day’s target: for a performance goal, it follows expenditure. For weight loss, a gentle deficit applies on ordinary days; fuel on training days is never cut.
- The split: protein and carbohydrates in grams per kilo of body weight, adjusted to the day’s training load; fat makes up the rest.
- Fueling during exercise: grams of carbohydrate and volume of drink per hour, translated into bottles, bars and gels, with when to start and how often to eat. No brand is imposed: in the app, you can save your own products and stock for free, and your fueling plan is calculated with them.
- Recovery: a snack to have in the window after the session, with several options to choose from.
- Meals: four meals a day. Protein follows a weekly rotation that balances meat, fish, eggs and vegetarian meals. Starchy foods come with equivalents, and vegetables are a base, not a ceiling.
- Planning ahead: the engine looks at the whole week. The day before a long ride or a race, it adds carbohydrates to your meals so you start with full stores. For a race, it also takes the start time into account (morning, midday or afternoon) to spread intake over the day before and race day.
How we check every number
Before publication, an automatic check recalculates the day’s totals and compares every number in the article with the engine’s calculation. A number that matches nothing in the calculation blocks publication.
The check makes sure that the day’s protein, carbohydrate and fat are the sum of the meals, fueling and recovery. Calories follow from them: 4 kcal per gram of protein, 4 kcal per gram of carbohydrate and 9 kcal per gram of fat.
The total must also stay close to the day’s estimated expenditure. The tables in our articles carry the label “Calculation: Ograal engine”: these are the engine’s numbers, unchanged.
The text of our articles is written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on this data. It is not allowed to invent a number, cite a study or name a product that isn’t in our verified catalogue, and the check enforces this.
Ingrid’s role
Ingrid Gallerini, a sports dietitian, built into the engine the nutrition rules she prescribes to her clients. She also reviews and signs every article before it is published. An article she hasn’t approved is not published.
- She approved the editorial line and the safeguards: no restriction on training days, never a weight angle for young athletes, no medical advice.
- She adds to every article a box called “Ingrid’s note”, written by her, with her perspective as a practitioner.
- She is alerted when the check spots an unusual day, and decides whether to publish, adapt or withdraw the article.
The engine applies its rules to each profile; Ingrid judges whether the result makes sense for a real athlete.
What our plans can’t do
A plan in an article is an example calculated for a given profile, not a prescription for you. The engine has limits, and we’d rather be upfront about them.
- The starting expenditure is an estimate. The plan relies on your profile (the Harris-Benedict equation gives an average value for a profile, not yours to the exact calorie) and on the planned duration and intensity of your sessions. In the app, if Ograal is connected to Strava or Nolio, the session’s actual expenditure is sent at the end of the workout, and Ograal adjusts the day’s remaining meals so your intake matches what you really burned. The plans in our articles, however, are calculated on the planned session.
- Session time is only taken into account on race days. For a race, you choose a morning, midday or afternoon start, and the engine adapts the meals of the day before and of race day, with rules specific to each start time. For training sessions, the time isn’t known: the gap between a meal and your start is up to you, depending on your day and your digestion.
- Our articles follow an omnivorous diet. Their meals rotate between meat, fish, eggs and vegetarian dishes. In the app, a vegetarian mode can be switched on in the settings: plans are then calculated without meat or fish.
- The day’s conditions are unknown. Heat, altitude or heavy sweating change your fluid needs.
- So is your personal situation. Allergies, intolerances, medical conditions, treatments, pregnancy: none of this goes into the calculation.
- Sports nutrition products are generic by default. A bar or a gel is described by what it provides. When an article names branded products, they come from a verified catalogue, and their quantities are calculated by the engine from their composition. In the app, you can save your own products and stock for free: the fueling recommended for each session is then calculated with what you actually have. Either way, always test a product in training before a race.
Keep the logic of the plan, and get your own quantities calculated.
When to see a health professional
Our articles don’t replace medical advice. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian if you notice:
- fatigue that lasts despite rest;
- repeated injuries or frequent colds;
- weight loss you didn’t intend;
- for female athletes, periods that become irregular or stop;
- frequent digestive problems during or after exercise.
The same applies if you are on medication, have a chronic condition, or for a young athlete who is still growing.
Frequently asked questions
Are the athletes in the articles real people?
No. They are typical profiles, built to look like the athletes we work with: a sportive cyclist, a female trail runner, a young runner. Their training weeks are realistic, and their plans are calculated by the same engine as the app. But none of them is a real person, and no plan should be copied as is.
Are the plans made by artificial intelligence?
Not the calculations. The quantities and foods in each meal come from fixed rules, the ones Ingrid uses with her clients. AI only suggests a dish name that matches those foods, without touching them. The text of our articles is written with the help of AI, which comments on the numbers without being able to change or add any. An automatic check enforces this, then Ingrid reviews and signs every article before it is published.
Can I follow the plan in an article myself?
You can draw on it, but don’t copy it. It is calculated for a specific weight, session and goal, which may not be yours. Keep the logic: eat more on heavy training days, fuel early and regularly during exercise, look after your recovery. Then get your own quantities calculated.
What about you?
Want your meals to follow your training, day after day? Ograal plans your meals and in-ride fueling from your sessions: try the app. Prefer one-to-one support? Ingrid, a sports dietitian, coaches you by video call: book a session .
