What Bio-Fuel Calculates
Total kilocalories ÷ 2,000 kcal/day baseline — your grocery trip in days of biological uptime.
Bio-Fuel answers one question: how many days of survival did this grocery trip buy?
Bio-Fuel is Calorie-per-Dollar framed as a survival horizon. Rank items by kcal/$, sum total calories, divide by the 2,000 kcal/day baseline — that is days this trip keeps a body running. Current fuel efficiency:
kcal_per_dollar = item_kcal / item_price days_of_uptime = total_kcal / 2000
- Log every item with price, kilocalories, and protein. No estimation from memory.
- Rank items by kcal/$ — green staples first, magenta luxuries last.
- Sum total kcal. Divide by 2,000 to produce days of uptime.
- If days < paycheck gap, swap magenta items for green before checkout.
- Current efficiency reads
fuel not logged . Treat under 60% as failed cart.
Quick answer
Bio-Fuel answers one question: how many days of survival did this grocery trip buy?
▸ Key Specs
- ▸ Formula: kcal/$ per item (ranking); total kcal ÷ 2,000 = days of uptime (horizon). Current efficiency
fuel not logged . - ▸ Green pillars = efficient staples (rice, beans, peanut butter). Magenta pillars = luxury fuel (ready-meals, prepared foods).
- ▸ 2,000 kcal/day is the US dietary reference intake — an adult baseline. Adjust for your own maintenance.
- ▸ Protein-per-dollar is tracked as a secondary column. Beans and peanut butter top both metrics.
- ▸ A $30 green-pillar cart buys 15+ days of uptime. The same $30 in magenta buys 1-3. The gap is the point.
▸ Worked Examples
- Rice 5lb at $68,000 kcal ÷ $6 = 1,333 kcal/$. 4 days of uptime for six dollars.
- Ready-meal at $8700 kcal ÷ $8 = 88 kcal/$. 0.35 days of uptime — luxury fuel at 15x the cost. Efficiency reads
fuel not logged . - $40 mixed cart5lb rice + 3lb beans + peanut butter + eggs + $5 veg = ~25,000 kcal = 12.5 days uptime. Green-pillar-dominant week.
When to use which tool
- CYAN · STABLE — Over 10 days of uptime — cart clears next week comfortably.
- GOLD · GUARDED — 4-10 days of uptime — tight; swap magenta items for green staples.
- MAGENTA · CRITICAL — Under 4 days of uptime — cart will not reach next paycheck; rebuild.
Related
- Bio-FuelRank food by kilocalories per dollar and convert grocery spend into days of biological uptime at a 2,000 kcal baseline.
- When to Run Bio-FuelFive situations where days-of-uptime beats dollars-in-cart as the question.
- Five Bio-Fuel MistakesThe errors that make your days-of-uptime number bigger than reality.
- What Calorie-per-Dollar MeasuresThe single metric that tells you which grocery item buys the most fuel.
Frequently asked questions
› Is 2,000 kcal the right baseline? Trust & accuracy
US dietary reference intake for adults. Use it as a calibration point, not a prescription. Active men often need 2,500-3,000; small women or sedentary people 1,600-1,800.
› What about protein and micronutrients?
Bio-Fuel tracks protein-per-dollar as a secondary column. Micronutrients are not in the ranking — the tool assumes you will add cheap vegetables and a multivitamin once the fuel floor is secured.
› How is this different from Calorie Optimizer? How-to
Same math, different frame. Calorie Optimizer ranks items; Bio-Fuel converts the ranked cart into days-of-uptime. Use them together — one for per-item decisions, one for total-trip sanity.
› How should I use a decision framework in real life? How-to
Use a decision framework to expose the tradeoff, not to outsource the decision. Write down the inputs, compare the output with your constraints, then ask what would change the answer. The strongest use is scenario testing: base case, conservative case, and failure case.
› Is this financial, legal, or tax advice? Trust & accuracy
No, this is not legal, financial, tax, medical, or professional advice unless the page explicitly says that use case is supported. It organizes assumptions so you can inspect them. Verify high-stakes choices with qualified people who can review facts, contracts, regulations, and downside risk.