Profile Setup

Platebreaker calculates personalized nutrient targets from your biological details. The profile setup wizard collects what it needs to figure out your recommended daily intake for up to 113 nutrients.

Creating a Profile

The wizard opens automatically when you first use Platebreaker. After that, create more from Settings then Profiles. There are no profile categories or types. Every profile works the same way. The wizard adapts its questions based on the person’s age, sex, and life stage.

Each profile gets its own nutrient targets. You might have one for yourself, one for your partner, one for each kid. When you search for recipes or plan meals, you can select any combination of profiles.

The Setup Wizard

The wizard is a swipeable carousel. You move through steps by swiping or tapping Next. You can always swipe back to change previous answers. A progress bar at the top shows where you are. Some steps only appear based on earlier answers.

Name

A display name for the profile. This is how you’ll identify it when switching between profiles or selecting who a meal is for. Examples: “John”, “mom”, “little-sis”. If you enter a name that already exists, Platebreaker asks whether you want to edit the existing profile or pick a different name.

Date of Birth

Select from the calendar picker. Platebreaker calculates age from this and shows it below the picker. For infants it shows days or months, for everyone else years. Age determines which life stage group the health authorities use for their nutrient recommendations. A 30-year-old female gets different targets than a 12-year-old male.

Biological Sex

Female or Male. This affects nutrient requirements (iron recommendations differ, for example) and determines whether the life stage step appears next. Switching from Female to Male clears any pregnancy or breastfeeding data you may have entered.

Life Stage (Females Only)

Five options: None of the Below, Pregnant, Breastfeeding, Trying to Conceive, or Postmenopausal. Each one adjusts nutrient calculations. Selecting Pregnant also asks whether it’s a single pregnancy or twins.

If you select Pregnant, the next step asks for your estimated conception date. The wizard shows how many weeks along you are. This determines which trimester you’re in, which affects energy needs and specific nutrients like folate and iron.

If you select Breastfeeding, the next step asks for the child’s birth date. The wizard shows weeks postpartum. Lactation energy costs change over time, so the date matters for accurate calculations.

Height

Enter in metric (cm) or imperial (feet and inches). You can toggle between the two and it converts automatically. The choice is remembered for the weight step too.

Weight

Enter in metric (kg) or imperial (lbs). Same unit toggle as height. There’s a text field for quick entry if you don’t want to scroll pickers. Weight is used for BMI calculations, body composition estimates, and per-kilogram nutrient targets.

Nutrition Authority

Choose which health authority’s guidelines to use for your initial nutrient targets. Five options:

Platebreaker Default takes the highest recommended target and lowest upper limit across all four authorities. Most conservative option.

NASEM covers the United States and Canada. EFSA covers the European Union. NHMRC covers Australia and New Zealand. NNR covers the Nordic countries. You can change this later from profile settings, and individual nutrient targets are always customizable regardless of which authority you pick here.

Activity Level

Four options, each with example activities to help you decide:

Inactive — activities of daily living only. About 30 minutes of walking plus 90 minutes of light activity.

Low Active — daily living plus roughly 60-80 minutes of walking at 3-4 mph.

Active — daily living plus a mix of walking, moderate cycling, and something like doubles tennis.

Very Active — daily living plus cycling, jogging, and additional sport.

Each level corresponds to a Physical Activity Level (PAL) range. An info button explains PAL if you want the details. Activity level directly affects your Estimated Energy Requirements.

Energy Requirements

This step shows your calculated Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) based on everything you’ve entered so far: age, sex, height, weight, activity level, and life stage.

A bell curve visualization shows where your estimate sits relative to population norms. You can drag a line on the chart or type a number to adjust the estimate up or down. The adjustment is added to or subtracted from the base EER.

The info button explains that energy estimates are inherently imprecise for individuals. The EER is a population-level calculation. The adjustment lets you account for things the equation can’t capture, like a faster or slower metabolism. If you’re unsure, leave it at zero and adjust later based on whether your weight trends match your goal.

Weight Goal

The top of this step shows your current BMI. For adults, it displays the BMI value with a category (underweight, normal, overweight, obese). For children and adolescents (ages 2-19), it shows BMI percentile instead, since BMI interpretation changes with age during growth.

You choose between Maintain and Change.

Maintain is straightforward. Your current weight is your target. No further steps needed for weight goals.

If you choose Change, adults get three ways to express the goal: a target body weight, a target body fat percentage, or a target BMI. Children (ages 4-19) set goals by BMI percentile, which accounts for normal growth patterns.

Whichever method you choose, you enter the target value on the next step. The wizard shows what that target implies for the other metrics. For example, if you set a target weight, it estimates the resulting BMI and body fat percentage.

Goal Date

Pick when you want to reach your weight goal. Range is tomorrow to five years out, default is three months.

The wizard calculates the daily energy surplus or deficit needed to reach your goal by that date, and shows it alongside your adjusted EER and target energy consumption. If you’re losing weight, the target energy consumption is below your EER. If gaining, it’s above.

A projection table shows your current weight, body fat, and BMI alongside what they’d be at the target date. For pregnant profiles, a note explains that pregnancy energy costs are added on top of weight goals and projections include recommended gestational weight gain. For breastfeeding, it notes the assumed postpartum weight loss offset.

If the goal requires an unrealistic daily deficit or surplus, a warning appears explaining the concern.

Projections

The final data step shows interactive charts projecting your trajectory over the goal period. You can swipe between tabs for different metrics.

For adults: Weight, Body Fat %, BMI, and Energy tabs. Each chart plots the projected path from now to your goal date. The energy chart shows two lines: your adjusted EER and your target energy consumption, with the gap between them representing the daily surplus or deficit.

For pregnant profiles: Same tabs, but the weight chart includes IOM recommended gestational weight gain bands. A shaded area shows the healthy range.

For children (ages 4-19): BMI, Weight, Height, and Energy tabs. All charts overlay CDC percentile reference bands so you can see how the child tracks relative to population norms at each age. Blue bands show percentile lines from the 3rd through the 97th.

All charts are interactive. You can drag across them to see values at any point in the timeline.

Summary

A review screen showing everything you entered before the profile is created. Sections cover basic information (name, date of birth, age, sex), physical information (height, weight, BMI, activity level), life stage if applicable, and settings (nutrition authority, weight goal). Tap Create to save.

After Setup

Once saved, Platebreaker calculates nutrient targets from the information you provided. These targets drive recipe search rankings, daily intake tracking, and gap analysis.

To edit a profile later, go to Settings then Profiles and select the one you want. The wizard reopens with your existing values pre-filled. You can also customize individual nutrient targets beyond what the wizard calculates. See Nutrient Targets for the target editor.

Household Planning

Create as many profiles as you need. Each one maintains its own set of targets based on its own details.

When you search for recipes, you select which profiles to search for. Platebreaker finds recipes that fill the combined nutrient gaps across all selected profiles. When adding meals to the planner, you choose which profiles the meal is for. One person can do all the meal planning for a household while accounting for everyone’s different nutritional needs.