How to use Ograal: the complete guide, from sign-up to your nutrition plan
Ograal calculates your meals, your fueling and your recovery every day, from your profile and your training sessions. Every feature described in this guide is free and available as soon as you sign up.
Here are the steps, in order, to get your first plan and then keep it in line with your training. For details of the calculations, see How our plans are calculated.
1. Sign up and log in
- Choose your main sport (cycling, running/trail, triathlon, swimming…). It is locked once selected.
- Create your account with an email and password.
- Log in: you go straight to setting up your profile.
2. Complete your profile (required)
Your profile is the basis of every calculation. On the Profile page, enter:
- Sex (male / female): locked after your first choice;
- Age;
- Weight (in kg);
- Height (in cm);
- Goal: performance, weight loss (three deficit levels to choose from: 8, 12 or 15%) or muscle gain (10% surplus);
- Work activity: sedentary, lightly active, active or very active. It adapts your calories to working days, weekends and rest days.
You can also switch on vegetarian mode in the settings: your plans are then calculated without meat or fish.
3. Plan your training in the Calendar
Ograal works from the Calendar: that’s where you describe your week. For each day ahead, enter:
- whether you’re training or not;
- the session’s duration;
- its intensity: recovery, endurance, tempo, threshold or race;
- whether it’s a working day or not.
Once the calendar is saved, Ograal automatically generates your nutrition plan for each day.
Key point: any change to the calendar must be saved for your plans to be recalculated.
4. What the app calculates for you
A plan that changes every day
Every day, Ograal adjusts:
- total calories;
- amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fat;
- starch portions;
- how your meals are built.
The calculation takes into account the type of day (rest or training), the session’s duration and intensity, your work activity and your goal.
Example: a 3-hour tempo ride gives you far more carbohydrate than a 1-hour recovery ride, with nothing for you to calculate.
Carbohydrate loading before a race
When a session is set as a race, Ograal automatically switches on carbohydrate loading (carb-loading) for the days before. How long it lasts depends on the length of the race:
| Race duration | Loading days |
|---|---|
| Up to 2 hours | D-1 |
| 2 to 4 hours | D-2 and D-1 |
| Over 4 hours | D-3, D-2 and D-1 |
On those days, calories and carbohydrates go up depending on race length and your body weight, and your plate adapts:
- protein is reduced to make room for carbohydrates;
- pulses and high-fibre vegetables are left out the day before and on race day;
- cheese and nuts are removed from breakfasts and snacks on those two days;
- maltodextrin is added as a drink if needed.
For a race, you also choose the start time (morning, midday or afternoon): meals on the day before and on race day are spread out accordingly. Details of the calculations are on the How our plans are calculated page.
Fueling during exercise
Ograal calculates your carbohydrate per hour based on the session’s duration, its intensity and your goal. A short, easy session is done on water; the longer and harder the session, the higher the intake, up to 90 g/h and more in long races.
Your plan gives you:
- your bottles (water or sports drink) and the fluid volume per hour;
- the gels and bars to take, with refills on long rides;
- when to take your first intake, and the rhythm to keep after that.
You can save your own products and your stock for free: your fueling is then calculated with what you actually have. It is included in the day’s totals.
The recovery snack
After the most demanding sessions (threshold, races and long rides), Ograal adds a recovery snack combining carbohydrates and protein, to take within the hour, with two options to choose from.
5. Connect Strava or Nolio
In the app, you can connect Ograal to Strava or to Nolio (one or the other):
- your sessions are imported into your Ograal calendar, with nothing to re-enter;
- after each workout, the session’s actual expenditure replaces the estimate, and the rest of the day’s meals are recalculated;
- the app tells you how many meals and food lines changed, or that no change was needed.
If you switch from one to the other, you choose whether to keep or delete the history of imported sessions. If you disconnect, your calendar goes back to manual.
Without a connection: the update button
Did your ride last longer, or turn out harder? Edit the session in the Calendar, then tap “Update my nutrition plan”: meals already eaten are kept, and the ones still ahead are recalculated.
6. View your nutrition plan
On the Nutrition page, you’ll find the details of your day:
- breakfast with precise quantities;
- lunch (starter, main, dessert);
- a snack matched to your training;
- dinner.
At the top of the page, a visual summary shows total calories, progress bars for protein / carbohydrate / fat, and your target zone (deficit, balance or surplus).
7. Move between days
With the navigation arrows, you can view today and the following days, up to D+7. Plans are generated from your calendar.
8. The chatbot
Ograal includes a chatbot you can ask your nutrition questions. Its answers take your profile into account. It does not replace medical advice.
Key points to remember
- Always save the calendar after a change.
- Carbohydrate-loading days are automatic as soon as a race is scheduled.
- For weight loss, you choose an 8, 12 or 15% deficit; for muscle gain, a 10% surplus applies.
- Connect Strava or Nolio so your meals follow your real sessions; otherwise, use the “Update my nutrition plan” button.
What’s next?
Ograal gives you a calculated starting point for every day. It doesn’t take allergies, intolerances, medical conditions or treatments into account: in those cases, talk to your doctor or a dietitian. For one-to-one support, Ingrid Gallerini, sports dietitian, offers video consultations at nutrisport.diet.
