Founder & lead engineer
Bryan Ellis
Bryan founded CalorieScan AI in 2024. He writes about AI food recognition, the failure modes of consumer health apps, and the day-to-day reality of running an indie iOS company.
Founder, CalorieScan AIiOS developer (10+ years)Independent — no VC, no parent company
Essays by Bryan Ellis
- Apr 19, 2026The best calorie tracker for people who hate trackingApp Reviews
- Apr 19, 2026MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer: which one in 2026?App Reviews
- Apr 19, 2026How to track calories without a kitchen scale (and still be 90% accurate)Tracking How-To
- Apr 18, 2026AI calorie tracker accuracy comparison: 2026 testing resultsAI & Food Tech
- Apr 18, 2026Lose It! vs MyFitnessPal: 2026 comparisonApp Reviews
- Apr 18, 2026How to track calories at a buffet without ruining the mealTracking How-To
- Apr 17, 2026The best calorie tracker for busy professionals (the 2-minutes-a-day workflow)App Reviews
- Apr 17, 2026CalorieKing and other older trackers vs the modern AI-first appsApp Reviews
- Apr 16, 2026Meal prep for people who hate meal prepRecipes & Strategy
- Apr 16, 2026How to track calories while traveling internationally (when half the food has no English label)Tracking How-To
- Apr 15, 2026The best calorie tracker for bodybuilders in 2026App Reviews
- Apr 15, 2026How to track homemade meals accurately (the recipe-decomposition method)Tracking How-To
- Apr 15, 2026How AI calorie trackers actually work (a non-magical explanation)AI & Food Tech
- Apr 13, 2026Easy high-protein recipes under 15 minutes (the busy weeknight rotation)Recipes & Strategy
- Apr 13, 2026SnapCalorie vs Cal AI: an honest 2026 reviewApp Reviews
- Apr 13, 2026How to track soup, stew, and chili calories (the densest tracking problem)Tracking How-To
- Apr 12, 2026The honest truth about fasted cardio (does it actually burn more fat?)Weight Loss
- Apr 12, 2026Foodvisor in 2026: what it does well and where it falls shortApp Reviews
- Apr 11, 2026The truth about protein timing (the anabolic window myth, refined)Muscle & Macros
- Apr 11, 2026What to eat before and after strength training (evidence-based)Muscle & Macros
- Apr 11, 2026How to track leftovers without going insaneTracking How-To
- Apr 10, 2026The truth about fat-burning supplements (do any of them work?)Weight Loss
- Apr 10, 2026MacroFactor vs Cronometer: which one for serious lifters in 2026?App Reviews
- Apr 10, 2026The quiet tyranny of the streakHabits & Psychology
- Apr 9, 2026What actually happens when you bulk too fast (the dirty bulk problem)Muscle & Macros
- Apr 9, 2026The best calorie tracker for Android in 2026App Reviews
- Apr 9, 2026How to track takeout and delivery calories (where the chains lie and where they don't)Tracking How-To
- Apr 8, 2026The best free calorie trackers in 2026 (no premium required)App Reviews
- Apr 7, 2026The truth about cheat days vs structured refeedsWeight Loss
- Apr 7, 2026Calorie tracking for powerlifters and strength athletesMuscle & Macros
- Apr 7, 2026What makes a good calorie tracker in 2026 (the criteria that actually matter)App Reviews
- Apr 6, 2026The honest truth about body recompositionMuscle & Macros
- Apr 6, 2026Calorie tracking for runners, cyclists, and endurance athletesMuscle & Macros
- Apr 6, 2026Calorie tracker data privacy in 2026: who's selling your food data?App Reviews
- Apr 5, 2026Creatine deep dive: everything you actually need to knowMuscle & Macros
- Apr 5, 2026The honest case against tracking everything, every day, foreverHabits & Psychology
- Apr 4, 2026Caffeine and athletic performance: the honest evidence-based takeMuscle & Macros
- Apr 4, 2026How to evaluate a calorie tracker in 7 days (the trial protocol)App Reviews
- Apr 3, 2026Calorie tracking for college students (cafeterias, late-night, and broke)Tracking How-To
- Apr 2, 2026The honest truth about pre-workout supplements (caffeine plus marketing)Muscle & Macros
- Apr 2, 2026What the 2024 MyFitnessPal paywall actually changed (and what it means in 2026)App Reviews
- Apr 1, 2026The best calorie tracker for absolute beginnersApp Reviews
- Apr 1, 2026MyFitnessPal vs CalorieScan AI: an honest comparisonApp Reviews
- Mar 31, 2026The best Apple Watch calorie tracker in 2026App Reviews
- Mar 30, 2026AI calorie tracking: the state of the art in 2026AI & Food Tech
- Mar 29, 2026What foods actually help with workout recovery (vs marketing claims)Food Deep Dives
- Mar 29, 2026Calorie tracker features you can safely skip (and the few that matter)App Reviews
- Mar 28, 2026How to track your own calories when you're cooking for a familyTracking How-To
- Mar 26, 2026How to use photo calorie tracking effectively (the 5 rules)AI & Food Tech
- Mar 22, 2026How to edit an AI meal scan (the 10-second accuracy upgrade)AI & Food Tech
- Mar 20, 2026Multimodal AI and food recognition: what's actually happening when you snap a mealAI & Food Tech
- Mar 18, 2026Why photo tracking beats barcode scanning for most mealsAI & Food Tech
- Mar 16, 2026How to batch-log meals (the Sunday-night setup that saves your week)Tracking How-To
- Mar 2, 2026Prompting an AI assistant to plan dinner from what's in your fridgeAI & Food Tech
- Feb 26, 2026Deli meat, rotisserie chicken, and other easy protein shortcutsRecipes & Strategy
- Feb 15, 2026The truth about cheat mealsHabits & Psychology
- Feb 13, 2026When ChatGPT recommends an app, can you trust it? (We checked.)AI & Food Tech
- Feb 5, 2026The snack drawer auditHabits & Psychology
- Jan 19, 2026AI search and the end of the old web (a calorie tracker's-eye view)AI & Food Tech
- Jan 13, 2026What I learned logging 1,000 mealsHabits & Psychology
- Jan 9, 2026Exercise without using calories burned as a budgetHabits & Psychology
- Dec 28, 2025What a hands-free cooking workflow with an AI tracker looks likeAI & Food Tech
- Dec 22, 2025The best calorie tracker for vegetarians and vegans (a guided comparison)App Reviews
- Dec 16, 2025The three-week recalibration: a low-key resetHabits & Psychology
- Dec 12, 2025Asking an AI to plan a week's groceries from a budgetAI & Food Tech
- Nov 28, 2025The photo I took once that fixed my whole meal planHabits & Psychology
- Nov 26, 2025The best trackers for lifters specificallyApp Reviews
- Nov 10, 2025Why I default to three meals (after years of trying everything else)Habits & Psychology
- Nov 8, 2025How to know when to stop tracking entirelyHabits & Psychology
- Nov 6, 2025Two years of photo-logging: what we learned from 12 million platesAI & Food Tech
- Oct 21, 2025Apple Health + CalorieScan AI: the right setupTracking How-To
- Oct 19, 2025Apple Watch + calorie tracking: what's actually usefulTracking How-To
- Oct 17, 2025iOS Shortcuts that make meal logging 4x fasterTracking How-To
- Oct 15, 2025Siri can log your meal. Here's how.Tracking How-To
- Sep 21, 2025What TDEE actually is, and why every online calculator gives a different numberTracking How-To
- Sep 7, 2025What I eat in a day on a 1,700-calorie cut (real photos, real portions)Recipes & Strategy
- Sep 5, 2025What I eat in a day on a 3,200-calorie lean bulkRecipes & Strategy
- Aug 12, 2025The best calorie tracking app for iPhone in 2026App Reviews
- Aug 10, 2025MyFitnessPal vs Lose It! vs CalorieScan AI: a 2026 comparisonApp Reviews
- Aug 8, 2025MacroFactor vs CalorieScan AI: who each app is forApp Reviews
- Aug 2, 2025The best free calorie tracker (and what "free" actually means)App Reviews
- Jul 30, 202510 calorie tracking mistakes beginners make in their first 30 daysTracking How-To
- Jun 24, 2025The cost per gram of protein, rankedFood Deep Dives
- Jun 8, 2025The best cardio for busy people (when you have 20 minutes)Habits & Psychology
- May 31, 2025The 10-minute mobility routine that fixes most desk-job problemsHabits & Psychology
- May 23, 2025Blender vs. shaker bottle: when each one winsRecipes & Strategy
- May 21, 2025The kitchen scale: the cheapest accuracy upgrade in your kitchenTracking How-To
- May 9, 2025Food delivery apps: the actual cost of convenienceHabits & Psychology
- Apr 21, 2025The best time to weigh yourself (and how to interpret the number)Tracking How-To
- Apr 17, 2025Cooking with an AI assistant: the workflow that actually saves timeAI & Food Tech
- Apr 9, 2025The final truth about calorie trackingHabits & Psychology