How we calculate this

Calories and macros

Your daily calorie target starts from your resting metabolism, then adjusts for how active you are and your goal.

• Resting metabolism (BMR): Mifflin-St Jeor equation, or Katch-McArdle when you have entered a body-fat %. Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51(2):241-247. View source
• Activity adjustment: standard PAL multipliers (1.2 sedentary to 1.9 very active).
• Protein target: 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of bodyweight (ISSN position stand). Jäger R, et al. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:20. View source
• Fat: 0.4 g per pound of body weight, never below 20% of calories. Mediterranean uses 38% of calories and paleo 35%; keto fills what is left after a 30 g carb cap.
• Your diet style changes the split: vegetarian adds 5% protein and vegan 10% (plant proteins are digested less completely), paleo adds 10% protein with higher fat, Mediterranean is higher in unsaturated fat, and keto caps carbs. Pescatarian uses the omnivore split and differs in food choice. PREDIMED (NEJM 2018), Cordain 2002, Feinman 2015. View source · View source · View source
• Food nutrition values come from USDA FoodData Central (public domain). View source

Body-fat estimate

The scan estimates body fat with the U.S. Navy circumference method using your height and tape measurements. It is an estimate (about a 3% margin compared with a DEXA scan), not a diagnosis.

The ORO Score

The 1 to 10 grade is computed by ORO's own rules engine (not AI) from a product's nutrition facts and ingredients. It builds on three published frameworks. Read the full ORO Score method.

• Nutrient profile: Nutri-Score (2023 FSA-NPS algorithm). View source
• Processing level: NOVA classification (Monteiro et al., 2019). View source
• Additive notes: EFSA and IARC public positions. View source
• Sugar-free is not a free pass. Artificial sweeteners cap any product at 7 out of 10, and a sweetened drink with no protein or fiber at 4, because zero calories is not the same as nourishing. The World Health Organization advises against non-sugar sweeteners for weight control. View source

ORO Menu recommendations

When you photograph a restaurant menu, two different things happen, and only one of them involves AI:

• The calories and macros per dish are an AI estimate read from the menu text, anchored to standard reference values for comparable prepared foods (USDA FoodData Central) and typical restaurant portion sizes. View source
• The ranking is not AI. ORO's own rules engine compares each dish to the calories and macros you have left today, your goal, your diet style, and your allergies, the same targets explained above.
• Restaurant kitchens vary, so every dish is shown as a range rather than an exact number, and lower-confidence dishes are labelled. A menu can never confirm allergens: always check with the restaurant.

AI photo and meal estimates

When you photograph a plate with ORO Scan, the calories and macros are an AI estimate from the photo. Portion size and preparation change the real numbers, so treat it as a close estimate and adjust the amounts before you log.

AI meal ideas work differently: every food in a suggested meal is matched to ORO's own food database, and its calories and macros come from those reference values (USDA FoodData Central). A food ORO cannot match keeps the AI estimate and is labelled "Estimate".

Diary check marks

A day earns its check when logged calories are within 10% of the current calorie budget and protein reaches at least 90% of the current target. Opted-in training credit is included. Past days use your current targets because target history is not stored. This is a tracking convention, not a medical threshold.

Water goal

Water is tracked in US fluid ounces. The goal choices are personal tracking preferences. One quick-add glass records 8 oz (about 237 mL); use the water sheet to choose a different amount.

Your hydration goal is a general guideline for drinking water, roughly half an ounce per pound of bodyweight (a default near 80 oz / 2.4 L for many adults). It is not a personalized medical target. For broader context, the U.S. National Academies' total-water reference, including water from food, is about 3.7 L/day for men and 2.7 L/day for women.

Goal Vision projections

Goal Vision estimates where your weight and body fat could be by your target date. It is a deliberately conservative estimate, not a prediction, and real results vary from person to person.

• Fat loss is paced at about 0.7% of your bodyweight per week, inside the 0.5 to 1% per week range recommended to protect muscle while you lose fat. View source
• How much of a weight change comes from fat and how much from lean mass depends on how much body fat you start with. ORO uses a conservative fixed split instead of the full model, so it is more likely to under-promise than over-promise. View source

Calories burned in training

Estimated with the ACSM metabolic equation and MET values from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities. An estimate that varies from person to person.