How we worked it out
6 hours back, every week.
Someone who cooks their own meals and tracks macros spends about 9 hours a week on food. Following a Coast meal plan takes about 3. Here is every number, and where it comes from.
Without the app: about 9 hours a week
Low-end figures throughout, for someone who cooks most meals and logs their food.
| Where the time goes | Figure used | Hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Cooking and cleaning up | 51 minutes a day, Australian men who cook (ABS) 1 | 6.0 |
| Grocery shopping | One trip a week, 56 minutes door to door 2 | 0.9 |
| Deciding what to eat | 5 minutes a day, the most common answer 2 | 0.6 |
| Logging food in a tracking app | 14.6 minutes a day, after six months of practice 3 | 1.7 |
| Total | 9.2 |
With Coast: about 3 hours a week
We ran the app's meal planner for 12 test users over 8 weeks (84 weekly plans) and added up the hands-on minutes: the weekly cook, splitting it into tubs, and breakfasts and snacks during the week. Slow cooker and oven time doesn't count, since you're not standing there.
| Where the time goes | Figure used | Hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-on cooking | Median of the 12 test users, including reheating and sides | 1.7 |
| Cleaning up | One cook day of pots instead of every night (our estimate) | 0.5 |
| Grocery shopping | One trip, same as above | 0.9 |
| Deciding what to eat | The plan decides | 0 |
| Logging food | Nothing to log. The day is already planned to your macros | 0 |
| Total | 3.1 |
9.2 − 3.1 = 6.1 hours
That uses the low-end figure for every line. Using typical figures instead of the low end (59 minutes of cooking a day, two shops a week, 10 minutes deciding, 23 minutes logging), the saving is closer to 9 hours.
What this doesn't cover
- The cooking figure comes from everyone who cooks, including people cooking for a family. Cooking for one can be quicker, which is one reason we use the low end.
- Recipe times are the app's estimates, not stopwatch timings. A first-time cook will be slower.
- The 12 test users are mostly people eating two tubs a day. Your week depends on how many meals you batch and which breakfasts you pick.
Sources
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, How Australians Use Their Time 2020-21, Table 1 (about 20,300 people). abs.gov.au
- McCrindle for HelloFresh, Australia's Cooking Landscape, 2017 (1,005 Australians). mccrindle.com.au
- Harvey J, Krukowski R, Priest J, West D. Log Often, Lose More: Electronic Dietary Self-Monitoring for Weight Loss. Obesity 2019;27(3):380-384. pubmed
For comparison, the US time-use survey (BLS 2025) puts food preparation and cleanup at 1.09 hours a day for people who do it. bls.gov