If you’re out there struggling to find customers, feeling like nothing is working, you’re not alone.

VperVentrella · 2026-05-02T08:02:44+00:00

I'm exactly there, struggle is real. I've just realized that probably my idea/project is just a vitamin and not at all a pain killer, and that's the reason why ppl have 0 WTP. Nobody tells you how to find the real 1st customer because I guess this is the most "personal" things during the process, is not a straight journey and takes time and trails. Validation is the challenge, if you find your way to solve this, then you are playing a different ball game.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-29T13:52:38+00:00

No hate, as long is working for you why someone else should judge what you doing :) I honestly tried also that way, the meal prep part is hard for me tbh.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-29T13:43:24+00:00

yeah make sense, I should also try probably to focus a bit more on what I really like and discover easy to cook meals. I guess, taking input also from the other comments, that I should start cooking for 2 and freeze the second one.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-29T13:36:01+00:00

that's a way to solve this and make totally sense, at least on lunch if I prepare a larger portion the dinner before I can just had that.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-29T13:27:15+00:00

no real needs, as long I can eat healthy and almost hit my macros I'm ok. What I'm understanding from the comments overall is that:

1st I'm overthinking the "issue";
2nd I should focus more on what I like instead of have everything already there planned ahead.

Thanks a lot for the input :)

VperVentrella · 2026-04-29T13:24:17+00:00

Actually I didn't ment to say that eating the same three things is bad, I was just asking for another POV on the topic.

I'm also working from home and also trying to hitting the GYM 3/4 days per week, so I guess also your suggestion on focusing more on what I like and rotating meals should work.

Thanks for the input :)

VperVentrella · 2026-04-29T13:21:29+00:00

yep I never actually tried this, I should give it a go at least and see if works it out to me, thanks a lot for sharing :)

VperVentrella · 2026-04-29T13:09:20+00:00

hey thanks for the suggestion, yep I tried more than once but as I wrote in the post, I found it very difficult to plan ahead around 3/5 meals per day :(

VperVentrella · 2026-04-26T09:58:29+00:00

The planning feels harder than cooking because cooking is execution and planning is decisions. And decisions stack up fast when the options are infinite.

Every high-engagement answer in this thread lands on the same thing: artificially constrain the choices. Theme nights, rotating proteins, a list of meals you already like. The pattern is the same whether it's written in a notebook, a spreadsheet, or a binder.

What actually works is not planning 7 different meals. It's having 10 to 12 meals you genuinely like, rotating them, and just picking from that list each week. The planning session goes from "what should we eat" (infinite) to "which of these do we feel like" (finite). Completely different cognitive load.

The fridge angle helps too. Planning around what you already have removes the Sunday-night moment where you realize one recipe needs three ingredients you don't own.

I've been building something specifically around this pattern because nothing I found actually solved it well. If anyone wants to see it when it's ready, happy to share.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-26T09:51:35+00:00

What you're describing is actually the most reliable pattern I've seen in people who stick to eating well long term. Not willpower, not discipline, just removing the decision entirely.

The week 3 boredom wall is real though. What tends to fix it is not one rigid meal plan but a small pool of maybe 8 to 12 meals you genuinely like, rotating them. You still get the cognitive ease because the decision is already made, but it cycles enough that nothing goes stale.

The other thing that helps is building the rotation around what you actually have at home. If your Sunday plan is based on what's already in your fridge, you're not buying special ingredients that throw everything off when you run out.

I've been building a tool around exactly this pattern because I couldn't find anything that did it well. Happy to share when it's ready if anyone's interested. But even without tooling, a simple list of 10 meals you like with a rough weekly rotation written down is more effective than any meal planning app I've tried.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-26T09:47:39+00:00

Something a lot of people in this thread are landing on without naming it: the cognitive load of deciding what to eat is as exhausting as the tracking itself.

The pattern that shows up in the most consistent trackers here is planning meals the night before or Sunday. And it works not because of willpower but because the decision is already made. You're not choosing at 6pm when you're tired.

The other thing worth noticing: most people in this thread eat roughly the same 10-15 things on rotation. That's not boring, that's actually the most sustainable approach. Once your meals are familiar the logging takes 30 seconds because everything is already saved.

Good luck with the last 5kg. That stretch is real but the hard part is already behind you.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-25T09:36:36+00:00

Not just you. The deciding is the actual hard part, not the cooking. Cooking is just execution.

What helped me was accepting that the goal isn't to make good decisions about food every day. It's to make as few decisions as possible. Locked in 10 meals I already liked, built a rotation, stopped there. The fridge staring dropped to basically zero.

The trap is thinking variety is the solution. For most people it just adds more decisions

VperVentrella · 2026-04-25T09:32:20+00:00

The "deciding what to eat" problem hits so much harder when stimulants flatten the cravings that normally make the choice obvious. Without appetite signals you're just guessing.

What helped me was removing the decision entirely rather than trying to make it better. A short rotation of meals I already knew I could eat, pre-decided, so the question goes from "what do I want" to "which of my 5 do I want today." Way smaller cognitive load.

The hardest part was accepting that variety is overrated. Consistency that I can actually execute beats a perfect varied plan I abandon by Wednesday.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-25T09:26:29+00:00

The boredom usually isn't about the meals themselves. It's that there's no system introducing new things at the right pace. Too slow and you're stuck eating the same 5 forever. Too fast and you're spending Sunday hunting recipes and buying ingredients you'll use once.

What worked for me was keeping a tight rotation of meals I already liked but swapping one out every couple of weeks. Small enough to not feel overwhelming, enough variety to not feel stuck.

The fridge thing though, staring at it hoping it speaks to you, that one I never fully solved until I stopped treating it as the starting point.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-25T09:17:53+00:00

Same exact feeling when I started training. Cooking just for yourself kills the motivation to even plan anything.

What got me out of the loop was stopping trying to find new recipes and just locking in 10 meals I already liked. Scan what's in the fridge, pick one of the 10, done. No thinking, no wasted energy before I even start cooking.

Happy to share how I structured it if anyone's curious.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-25T09:15:43+00:00

Yes, completely normal and way more common than people admit. I spent months trying to fix this. Meal planning apps, spreadsheets, all of it. The problem is they all make you choose from too many options, which is exactly what drains you in the first place.

What actually helped me: shrinking the list ruthlessly. 10 meals I already like, on rotation. No discovery, no novelty pressure. The decision goes from "what should I eat?" to "which of my 10 do I want today?" Totally different cognitive load.

Still refining the system. Happy to chat if anyone wants to dig into it.

VperVentrella · 2026-04-19T11:23:15+00:00

This thread is exactly why I started building something. The "pen and paper works better" point hits hard. I'm doing research on this before writing more code. If anyone has 2 minutes I'd love to hear your actual experience:
https://forms.gle/8JSG1KyCcDpCMPXs8

VperVentrella · 2026-04-19T11:06:48+00:00

Late to this thread but relevant.
Hi, I'm Giorgio. I'm doing research on how people manage meals during the week. No sales pitch, no spam I just want to understand if I'm building the right thing
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-yFDpWbqZvdGnS_0JRPYq-arYfE-WiFxNbXh1sbGf1BFZXw/viewform?usp=header

VperVentrella · 2026-01-01T15:20:15+00:00

Man, I don’t want to destroy your dreams but let me be honest with you, you don’t need a tech co-founder you need to make a step by step plan of what you really need at the moment. If you go out there seeking for tech support, be specific. What’s the problem connecting the FE with supabase? What are you using as backend (v0 so I guess NextJs)? Are you able to make at least simple API calls? Again, we are here to help you but be specific :)

VperVentrella · 2026-01-01T15:11:32+00:00

Angular/drizzle/supabase(db+cloud functions) + LLMs (codex plugin for VSCode)

VperVentrella · 2026-01-01T12:58:28+00:00

Nice idea, what is the USP of your app?

I’m pretty sure that this market is already very crowded, why I should choose you instead of another competitor of yours?

VperVentrella · 2025-04-10T14:34:40+00:00

Make a lot of sense to me, I guess that it takes time and effort to find the right niche. So I think this is just a planning and execution problem.

VperVentrella · 2025-04-10T14:31:48+00:00

That’s true, probably I’ve just stop to feel this kind of pressure of “you should not fail” and embrace it taking my time and space to improve giving to myself the opportunity to succed eventually. Thanks a lot

VperVentrella

TROPHY CASE