Tek / Field notes
Food is messy. The math can be calm.
Useful thinking on calorie estimates, photo logging, and habits that work outside a spreadsheet.
Sep 22, 2026
10 min read
Food tracking
How to Calculate Calories in a Recipe: Weigh the Pot, Not the Servings
Add up the raw ingredients, weigh the finished dish, and divide by what is actually on your plate. A step-by-step method, a worked example, and the mistakes that quietly throw the number off.
Read the field note
Aug 6, 2026
11 min read
Food tracking
Tracking Food on a GLP-1: Aim at the Protein Floor, Not the Calorie Ceiling
A GLP-1 handles the calorie ceiling for you. It does nothing about the protein floor, and most people on one are well under it. Here is what to track instead, and what the body composition research actually shows.
Read the field note
Jul 21, 2026
10 min read
Eating out
Chipotle's High Protein Menu: What to Order, and How to Build Your Own
Chipotle launched a high protein menu with orders from 15 to 81 grams of protein. Here is what is on it, the numbers behind each one, and how to build a higher-protein bowl yourself.
Read the field note
Jul 20, 2026
10 min read
Calorie planning
Reverse Dieting: What It Does, What It Does Not, and How to Ramp Back Up
Reverse dieting will not repair your metabolism. It still solves a real problem after a diet: finding the maintenance number you lost track of. Here is the evidence and the method.
Read the field note
Jul 17, 2026
9 min read
Calorie planning
How Many Calories to Lose Weight? Build a Deficit You Can Keep
A plain guide to the calorie deficit: how to estimate your maintenance calories, choose a safe target, and set a daily budget you can actually stick to.
Read the field note
Jul 16, 2026
8 min read
Food tracking
AI Food Scanners: Can a Photo Really Count Calories?
A clear look at how AI food scanners estimate calories, where photo estimates go wrong, and how to get a result that is actually useful.
Read the field note