Question 1

What is yourahara?

Accepted Answer

Think of yourahara as a personal chef who knows your fridge. You scan your ingredients, tell us your goals and cuisine, and we build a full day of meals — breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks — around what you already have, with a grocery list that only buys what's missing.

Question 2

Do I need to sign up to try it?

Accepted Answer

No — dive straight in. Hit "Try it free" or "Get started", complete the 4-step setup, and your first full day's plan is ready. No card, no commitment. Create a free account when you're ready to save your plan and keep generating days.

Question 3

What happens to my trial plan after I sign up?

Accepted Answer

It's waiting for you. Your trial plan is automatically saved to your new account — confirm days, browse your grocery list, and generate the next day exactly where you left off. Nothing is lost.

Question 4

How long does it take to generate a plan?

Accepted Answer

About 30 seconds — and it's worth the wait. Every plan is built fresh from your exact inputs, not pulled from a template, so what you get is truly yours every single time.

Question 5

Is yourahara free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, completely free during early access. Every registered user gets 1,000 usage credits per month — enough for a full week of personalised meal planning — with no credit card or hidden fees. Refer friends to earn +250 bonus credits per referral; they stack permanently and never expire.

Question 6

How does the meal plan work?

Accepted Answer

Set up once, eat well every day. yourahara generates Day 1 — a complete day matched to your kitchen, goals, and cuisine — and you confirm it when you're ready to follow it. Day 2 unlocks, built with variety so you never repeat the same meals twice.

Question 7

What does "Confirm Day" mean?

Accepted Answer

It's your green light. Confirming a day tells yourahara you're following that plan and unlocks the next day for generation. One tap — your day is locked in, your next day is ready.

Question 8

Can I view Day 2 before confirming Day 1?

Accepted Answer

Days unlock in sequence — confirm Day 1, get Day 2. This keeps your nutrition coherent and ensures variety is tracked properly across the week. It's a feature, not a limitation.

Question 9

What is a "reopened" day?

Accepted Answer

When you update your goals, diet, or pantry, any confirmed day still in the future is "reopened" — flagged so it can be refreshed to match. Use Flexi Restart to pick a resume date, then keep each day as-is or regenerate it with new meals. Regenerating uses your regular usage credits — there's no extra charge for refreshing an already-confirmed day.

Question 10

How many cheat meals do I get per plan?

Accepted Answer

Three — and they're guilt-free. Choose "A little naughty" for comfort-food upgrades or "Full send" for no-rules maximum indulgence. The tally updates as you go so you always know what's left.

Question 11

What's the difference between Swap, Custom, and Cheat?

Accepted Answer

Three ways to make any meal yours. Swap gives you 3 AI alternatives with similar macros. Custom lets you reinterpret the dish — Air Fryer, Instant Pot, Salad, or your own spin. Cheat replaces it with something indulgent entirely. All three stay nutritionally aware.

Question 12

Can I adjust serving sizes?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely — slide from 1 to 5 servings on any meal and every ingredient quantity and nutrition figure updates instantly. Cook for yourself or the whole family with one tap.

Question 13

How do I generate a recipe for a meal?

Accepted Answer

Tap the Recipe button on any meal card. You get prep time, cook time, numbered steps, and a full ingredient checklist — generated on demand, specific to your exact meal. Never generic, always actionable.

Question 14

Can I edit an AI-generated recipe? What is "Make it your own"?

Accepted Answer

Yes — every recipe sheet has a 🖋 Make it your own button next to Share. Tap it, describe your change in plain English — "use ghee instead of olive oil", "swap potato for sweet potato", "less spicy" — and Regenerate. Ahara rewrites the recipe: new ingredients, updated calories/protein/carbs/fat/fibre, new cooking steps, and a new name if the swap really changes the character of the dish. Your version overwrites the original on your plan, so day totals refresh automatically. A "✨ Edited N ago" caption on the sheet always tells you when the recipe was last changed. Uses one small AI call from your usage credits per remix.

Question 15

Can I share my meal plan with friends?

Accepted Answer

Yes — every confirmed plan day has a 🌐 Share button in the day card. Tapping it generates recipe steps for each meal (using a small number of usage credits, once per meal — resharing the same day reuses the cached recipe at no extra cost) and makes that day visible on your profile and in any gangs you're in. Friends see the meal names, full recipe steps, and macros. You can share an entire day at once or individual meals separately: tap 🌐 Share on any single meal card to share just that recipe. Everything you've shared appears in your Shared Recipes tab (My Plate → 📋 Shared Recipes).

Question 16

What is an inspired day and how do I add one?

Accepted Answer

When you visit a friend's profile who has shared their meal plan, their shared days appear at the top. Tap "Get a plan like this →" then "Add inspired day →" to append a new day to your existing plan, inspired by their cuisine style. The new day is built entirely around your own pantry contents, dietary restrictions, and calorie targets — only the cuisine direction is borrowed from your friend. It costs credits like any other day generation, and the day goes into your plan immediately: Meal Plans will show a generating screen while it builds, then you confirm it like any other day.

Question 17

What is Flexi Restart?

Accepted Answer

Life happens — Flexi Restart lets you re-date your meal plan forward from any day you choose, without losing progress. It steps in two ways: when you fall behind and your next day is stuck in the past, or when you change your preferences and your upcoming days reopen. Either way you pick a fresh start date and your plan slides neatly forward from there.

Question 18

I fell behind on my plan — how do I get back on track?

Accepted Answer

Open the day that's waiting for you and tap "Restart plan →". Pick today (or any upcoming date) and that day — plus everything after it — re-dates forward, so you're never staring at meals scheduled for last week. If your whole plan has slipped into the past, you can also restart it straight from the Plan Status sheet (☰ → Plan Status → "Restart current plan").

Question 19

I changed my preferences — what happens to my upcoming days?

Accepted Answer

Any confirmed day still in the future is "reopened" so it can reflect your new goals, diet, or pantry. Tap "Restart plan →", choose when to resume, then for each reopened day pick "Keep existing" or "Regenerate". Regenerate rebuilds the meals around your updates using your regular usage credits — no extra penalty — and days you've already eaten stay exactly as they were.

Question 20

Does restarting cost me any credits?

Accepted Answer

Re-anchoring your dates is free. Two things do use your regular monthly usage credits, the same as any generation: regenerating a reopened day, and resuming an abandoned plan (which builds you a fresh day for today). There's no extra penalty either way.

Question 21

How far ahead can I restart my plan?

Accepted Answer

As far ahead as you need — there's no calendar ceiling on restarting or extending your plan. Pick any future date and your plan slides neatly forward from there. The only practical limit is your usage credits, which refresh monthly and can be extended indefinitely with referral bonus credits.

Question 22

Where do I see my plan's status, and what do the labels mean?

Accepted Answer

Open the menu (☰) and tap "Plan Status" at the bottom. It shows when your plan started, how many days you've confirmed, and a status label: "Active" — you're following it, with a current or upcoming day in play. "Not started" — a fresh plan that's ready, but you haven't confirmed Day 1 yet. "Needs restart" — you changed your preferences, so upcoming days reopened and are waiting for a Flexi Restart. "Abandoned" — every day is now in the past and you've paused. It's a quick pulse-check on where your plan stands.

Question 23

What's the difference between "Restart current plan" and "Start a new Plan"?

Accepted Answer

Restart current plan keeps the plan you're on — it re-dates it forward (or resumes it from today) so you pick up where you left off, with every confirmed day intact. Start a new Plan builds a brand-new plan from scratch using your current settings and pantry, and your old plan moves to your history. In short: Restart = continue this one; Start new = begin a fresh one. Both live in the Plan Status sheet (☰ → Plan Status), and "Restart current plan" only appears when your plan actually needs one.

Question 24

What happens when I start a new plan?

Accepted Answer

You get a fresh Day 1, generated from your current goals, diet, and pantry — no need to redo setup. Your settings and pantry carry over, your grocery list starts fresh from the new plan, and your streaks and habits keep counting. Your previous plan isn't deleted — it moves to your history. Like any generation it uses your usage credits, and it's blocked if you've run out, the same as other AI actions.

Question 25

My plan says "Abandoned" — what should I do?

Accepted Answer

It just means every day of your plan is now in the past and you've paused — nothing you've eaten is lost. From the Plan Status sheet (☰ → Plan Status) you have two one-tap options: "Restart current plan" picks up your existing plan from today, or "Start a new Plan" begins a fresh one. Pick whichever fits.

Question 26

Can I look at my previous plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. At the top of Meal Plans, tap the small Current / Lapsed tab attached just above the day selector to flip to your previous plan. You can browse its days and open meals and recipes, but it's read-only — no confirming, swapping, or editing (those belong to your current plan). Only your current plan and the one before it are available; older plans aren't shown. Tap the tab again to return to Current.

Question 27

What do the sliders (Gut health, Protein focus, Recipe style) do?

Accepted Answer

They tune every meal to your body and lifestyle. Gut health adds fermented foods and plant diversity as you dial it up. Protein focus shifts meals toward leucine-rich, muscle-supporting ingredients. Recipe style moves from familiar comfort food to bold fusion — your call, every day.

Question 28

Can I change my dietary preference after signup?

Accepted Answer

Any time. Head to Settings → Preferences (or My Ahara) and update whatever you like — goals, cuisines, dietary needs. New days reflect the change immediately, and any upcoming confirmed days are reopened so you can refresh them too via Flexi Restart — keep each as-is for free, or regenerate using your regular usage credits. Days you've already eaten stay untouched.

Question 29

Can I have multiple cuisine preferences?

Accepted Answer

Select as many as you love. yourahara blends your chosen cuisines with what it reads from your pantry to create meals that feel cohesive, not random. Italian and Japanese? We make it work.

Question 30

How are my calorie targets calculated?

Accepted Answer

We use the Mifflin-St Jeor BMR formula — the same method used by registered dietitians — which factors in your weight, height, age, and gender to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate. That's then multiplied by your activity level (PAL) and tuned to your goal: reduced for fat loss, elevated for muscle building, balanced for maintenance. The result is a personalised daily calorie range (±7% around your TDEE) with macro splits tailored to your specific goal. Two people with the same weight and goal but different ages or genders will get meaningfully different targets.

Question 31

Can I change how many meals per day I get?

Accepted Answer

Yes — registered users set their own meal count in Settings → Preferences: 2 or 3 main meals, 0 to 2 snacks. Trial users start with the full 3-meal, 2-snack setup. Your plan, your schedule.

Question 32

What dietary options do you support?

Accepted Answer

Vegetarian, Eggetarian, Vegan, Pescetarian, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Halal, and Kosher — plus allergy filters for 9 major allergens and a free-text field for everything else. Every ingredient in every meal is checked against your restrictions, every single time.

Question 33

How does the pantry scan work?

Accepted Answer

Take 2–5 photos of your fridge, pantry, or countertop and our AI does the rest. It identifies your ingredients, lets you confirm or edit the list, and infers your "culinary world" from what it sees — a pantry with miso and sesame oil signals a Japanese kitchen, which shapes your whole plan.

Question 34

Can I type my ingredients instead of taking photos?

Accepted Answer

Of course. Tap "Type instead" on the pantry step and enter items one per line or comma-separated. Perfect if you'd rather keep your kitchen private — you still get the full AI-powered plan.

Question 35

How is the grocery list generated?

Accepted Answer

Automatically, from every confirmed day in your plan. Quantities are aggregated across all meals that share an ingredient, grouped by category, and anything you already have from your pantry scan is flagged so you never buy what you already own.

Question 36

What does "in pantry" mean on the grocery list?

Accepted Answer

"In pantry" means you already have it — we spotted it in your scan. It's there for reference so you can plan your shop with complete confidence, not guessing what's already on your shelf.

Question 37

How do I add a grocery item to my pantry?

Accepted Answer

Swipe left on any grocery item to move it straight to your pantry. yourahara will then build future plans around it — you bought it once, you'll use it again.

Question 38

Can I delete items from the grocery list?

Accepted Answer

Swipe right to dismiss any item you don't need. Tap any item to see exactly which meals use it, the total quantity needed, and its nutritional contribution. Full visibility, full control.

Question 39

How many plan days can I generate?

Accepted Answer

Unlimited — there's no ceiling on plan days. Every registered user gets monthly usage credits that comfortably cover a full week of personalised meal planning at no cost. Once your base credits are used, any bonus credits earned from referrals kick in. As long as you have credits, you can keep generating days.

Question 40

When do my usage credits reset?

Accepted Answer

On your personal billing date — the same day of the month you signed up. Register on the 10th? Your monthly usage credits refresh on the 10th, every month, like clockwork. Bonus credits earned from referrals never reset — they accumulate permanently.

Question 41

What uses my usage credits?

Accepted Answer

AI-powered features draw from your monthly usage credits: generating plan days, scoring meal logs, scanning pantry photos, generating recipe steps, and getting Swap, Custom, or Cheat alternatives. Browsing your plan, confirming days, adjusting servings, and viewing your grocery list are all credit-free. When your credits reach zero, AI features pause until you top up — invite a friend for an instant +250 credits.

Question 42

What happens when I run out of credits?

Accepted Answer

A prompt appears before any AI action — generating a plan day, scoring a meal log, getting recipe steps, swapping or customising a meal, or scanning food. The two fastest ways to top up: invite a friend (they sign up through your referral link, you get +250 bonus credits instantly) or wait for your monthly reset on your personal billing date. Paid credit packs are coming soon.

Question 43

Does regenerating a day cost extra?

Accepted Answer

No extra penalty. Regenerating a reopened day draws from your regular monthly usage credits — the same small amount as any generation. Experiment freely; you're not charged more for refreshing an already-confirmed day.

Question 44

Can I see how many credits I've used?

Accepted Answer

Yes — open the account drawer (☰) and look for the usage credits section. It shows your credits used out of 1,000 (the monthly allowance every registered user gets), when your allowance resets, and any bonus credits earned from referrals. The bar turns amber as you approach your limit and red when you're close. Hit zero and AI features pause — you'll see a prompt to invite a friend for an instant +250 credit top-up.

Question 45

How does the referral programme work?

Accepted Answer

Share your unique referral link. When a friend signs up through it, you automatically get bonus usage credits added to your account — no forms, no waiting, no minimum requirements. Just share and earn.

Question 46

How many bonus credits do I get per referral?

Accepted Answer

You earn 250 bonus credits (25% of your 1,000 monthly allowance) for every friend who signs up with your link. Refer 4 friends and you've doubled your effective monthly credits. There's no cap — refer as many people as you like.

Question 47

When do bonus credits appear in my account?

Accepted Answer

The moment your friend completes signup, your bonus credits are added automatically. Open the app and your usage credits drawer will reflect the updated balance, usually within seconds.

Question 48

Do bonus credits expire at the end of my billing cycle?

Accepted Answer

Never. Bonus credits live in a permanent pool that never resets. Your base monthly usage credits refresh each cycle, and only once that's exhausted do your bonus credits start drawing down — so they accumulate as a real reserve you can actually use.

Question 49

What is My Plate?

Accepted Answer

My Plate is your daily food journal — a place to log everything you eat, get an AI-powered nutrition score, and track how well your real eating aligns with your goals. It's separate from your meal plan so you can follow the plan, freestyle it, or mix both. Every log builds a picture of your habits that makes future plans smarter.

Question 50

How do I log a meal?

Accepted Answer

Tap "Log a meal" and describe what you ate in plain English — "two eggs, toast with butter, black coffee" is all you need. Our AI parses it into structured meals with estimated nutrients. You can also scan a photo of your food and the camera identifies it for you. Logs are timestamped automatically so spacing between meals is tracked too.

Question 51

Can I use my camera to log food?

Accepted Answer

Yes — tap 📷 Take photo or 🖼️ Upload on the log screen, point it at your food, and our vision AI identifies the dish and estimates the portion (based on the current time of day, so a photo at 8 PM is treated as dinner, not lunch). It handles plated meals, packaged food, and even half-eaten plates. The result is editable before saving so you can correct anything the scan misses, and a chip row under the photo lets you re-tag which meal it belongs to before you save.

Question 52

What happens to the photo after I log it? Can I change or remove it?

Accepted Answer

The photo attaches to the specific meal you tagged and lives on that meal card everywhere it appears: your score page, your friends' timelines (if you shared that day), and any gang feeds you're in — a small visual record of what you actually ate. On the score page each meal card has ✏️ Replace and 🗑️ Remove buttons, so you can swap a blurry shot or take it down entirely at any time. Photos automatically delete from storage after 30 days to keep things tidy.

Question 53

How is my meal scored?

Accepted Answer

Each meal gets a score from 0 to 10 based on nutritional quality, goal alignment, portion precision, and meal timing. The day also gets an overall score — a weighted blend of nutritional balance (40%) and how well it tracks your goal (60%). Scores are calculated by our AI which knows your personal calorie and macro targets, not generic population averages.

Question 54

What do the meal scores mean?

Accepted Answer

Scores reflect how well that meal serves your specific goal. 8–10 means the meal is working hard for you — great macros, good timing, aligned with your target. 6–7 is solid with room to improve. Below 6 means the meal has meaningful gaps — you'll get specific, actionable suggestions on exactly what to add or swap. Vague logs (no portion info) are capped at 6 to keep scores honest.

Question 55

What is a Good streak?

Accepted Answer

A Good streak (🔥) counts consecutive days where every single meal scores 7 or above. It's your measure of consistent, high-quality eating — not just whether you logged, but whether you actually ate well. Miss a meal below 7 and the streak resets. It's designed to be earned.

Question 56

What is a Day streak?

Accepted Answer

A Day streak (📓) counts consecutive days where you logged at least one meal — regardless of score. It's your consistency habit tracker. Show up every day, even imperfect days, and your Day streak grows. Good streak tracks quality; Day streak tracks the habit of awareness.

Question 57

What does the macro chart show?

Accepted Answer

The macro chart shows your day's actual intake — calories, protein, carbs, fat, and fibre — compared against your personal daily targets. Those targets come from your Mifflin-St Jeor TDEE calculation, not a one-size-fits-all table, so the bars reflect what your body actually needs. Green means on track; the gaps tell you exactly where to focus tomorrow.

Question 58

How do I log my water intake?

Accepted Answer

On your score page, tap the Hydration widget — each tumbler icon represents 250ml. Tap as many as you've drunk and your total updates instantly. Hit the 2,000ml daily target and your score gets a +0.5 boost as a reward for staying hydrated. The boost is shown live on screen and resets if you remove glasses — it reflects your actual hydration, not an arbitrary click count.

Question 59

Can I log a fasting day?

Accepted Answer

Yes — tap "Fasting today?" on your score page and choose 16h, 18h, or 20h+. Logging a fast of 16 hours or more protects your Good streak and Day streak — those days are treated as neutral so a disciplined fast never counts against you. Shorter gaps (under 16h) are just your normal overnight window and don't earn streak protection. If your meals were already scored before you logged the fast, you'll see a prompt to rescore with fasting context so your eating window is properly accounted for.

Question 60

Does fasting affect my meal scores?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when fasting is logged. Our AI scores your meals within your actual eating window — it won't penalise you for eating larger portions in a compressed window or for a lower total calorie count than your full-day target. If you log fasting after your meals are already scored, tap "Rescore with fasting context" to get a fair reassessment.

Question 61

What is My Friend's Plate?

Accepted Answer

My Friend's Plate is the social side of yourahara. Connect with friends, see each other's achievements — streaks, badges and weekly plant variety — cheer each other on, and (only if you choose) share the days you've logged. It's opt-in by design: your food journal stays completely private unless you decide to surface a day.

Question 62

What is my Ahara Avatar and handle?

Accepted Answer

Your Ahara Avatar is your identity in Friends' Plate: a food emoji (your 'face' — no photos, your food is your face) plus a unique, AI-generated handle like @CaptainMangoLassi. You set it up in My Ahara › Profile, and the handle is how friends find and recognise you.

Question 63

How do I change my handle?

Accepted Answer

Go to My Ahara › Profile and tap 'Reroll names' (or 'Generate my handle' if you haven't picked one yet) to get fresh AI-generated options, choose one, and Save. You can change your handle at most once every 30 days — during the cooldown the Generate/Reroll button is locked and shows the next date you'll be able to change it (you can still update your icon and visibility freely in the meantime). When you do rename, your old handle is reserved to you for 90 days so nobody can grab it and impersonate you, and your friendships and gangs are unaffected — they're tied to your account, not your handle.

Question 64

How do I connect with a friend?

Accepted Answer

Three ways, all mutual (both sides consent, LinkedIn-style): search their Ahara Avatar handle and send a request, scan their QR code in person, or sign up through their referral link (which connects you automatically). Once they accept, you're connected.

Frequently asked questions

Getting Started

Your Meal Plan

Flexi Restart

Plan Status & Starting Over

Personalisation

Pantry & Grocery List

Account & Usage Credits

Referrals & Bonus Credits

My Plate

Friends' Plate & Gangs

Privacy & Data