A weekly meal planner built around your grocery budget

Your budget shapes the meals before they are generated

You do not have to choose every recipe first and discover the cost only when you reach the shop. In Sthenia, your weekly budget is one of the settings used to build the plan. The meals, portions and ingredients to buy are planned together.

The goal is practical: open your week and see what you can prepare, which ingredients you need and the estimated budget. You still decide what you buy and cook.

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From your settings to your plan: what Sthenia prepares

Costs are estimated from prices in France. The amount paid depends on your purchases and the shop you choose.

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1. Decide what your grocery budget needs to cover

Before generating your plan, define what the budget includes. Meals cooked at home, lunches bought outside and household products are different expenses. To compare the plan with your actual shopping, keep the same scope from one week to the next.

Check your schedule too: a dinner out, a trip or an evening when you have little time to cook. Manger Bouger recommends planning menus around your schedule. Keep that practical check in mind when reviewing the proposed week.

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2. Connect the weekly meals to your fitness goal

A budget alone does not tell you how to divide your meals. Sthenia also uses your profile, sport and goal to prepare portions adapted to your calorie and macronutrient targets: protein, carbohydrates and fat.

Whether your goal is muscle gain, fat loss or maintenance, the principle is the same: turn nutrition targets into meals you can cook. You do not have to start from a blank page to organise the week.

For a detailed example, see how to go from macros to a muscle gain meal plan.

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3. Use the shopping list to prepare your purchases

The Sthenia shopping list comes from the meals in your plan and shows the ingredients and quantities required. Before shopping, compare it with what you already have: Santé publique France recommends checking cupboards, the fridge and the freezer before writing the list.

1. Check your cupboards, fridge and freezer.

2. Compare what remains with the quantities needed for the planned meals.

3. Identify food that should be used first so that it is not forgotten.

4. At the shop, check the pack size and price of the products you actually choose.

References: [1][2]

4. Separate the estimated plan cost from the checkout total

The cost shown helps you prepare your shopping. Prices are estimated from references in France and may vary by shop. The plan total is therefore not a promise that your receipt will match it exactly.

To understand a difference, compare the planned list with the products you actually bought. Did you choose another brand, add an item or buy a different pack size? The price of a full packet and the cost of the quantity used in a meal are not the same.

Keep track of these differences so that you can choose a more realistic budget the following week.

References: [1]

A meal changed? Keep tracking what you actually eat

A restaurant lunch or an unplanned dinner can take you away from the menu. The food diary lets you track the calories and macros you actually consume, even when the meal was not in your plan.

If you want an idea using ingredients already available, the fridge scan can suggest a meal based on the macros remaining for the day. Scan results are estimates that you can correct. The plan gives your week a structure; the diary records what really happened.

References: [1]

Free or Pro: which level fits your job to be done?

The food diary and calorie and macro tracking are free and unlimited. You can start by observing what you eat from day to day.

If your goal is to delegate the organisation of the week, Sthenia Pro includes the personalised seven-day meal plan, the integrated grocery budget and the quantified shopping list with estimated costs. The terms and limits of each offer are shown in the app and on the Sthenia plans page.

References: [1]