Part of healthy eating and nutrition is setting goals for your clients to achieve. Now, with meal tracking through Fitbit or MyFitnessPal, you can do that directly through Trainerize Follow the steps below to create a nutrition goal for your clients and invite them to download the Fitbit or MyFitnessPal app.
Step 1.
In the Client's profile, select the Goals and Habits tab.
Step 2.
Select +NEW, then select Daily Nutrition Goal from the drop-down menu.
Step 3.
Select one of the three types of Nutrition Goals (Calories only, Calories and Protein, Calories and Full Macros)
Step 4.
Select the Variance for the Nutrition Goal.
The Variance is the allowance of calories and/or macros above or below the Nutrition Goal where the client will still be set to compliant for the day. We added the Variance % for Nutrition Goals since, in practice, it would be very difficult for a client to hit the goal exactly as listed.
You can think of the Variance as the "wiggle room" that the client has to meet their Nutrition Goal.
For example, a 10% Variance on a Calorie Goal of 2000 Calories will allow the client to eat 200 calories above or below the goal while still being set as compliant for the day. Ie. The client could eat 1800-2200 calories and still be set as compliant. Similarly, the Variance % will also apply to any of the macros that are also being tracked for the goal (Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates).
The Variance will be visually reflected in the Client's Progress > Nutrition Graphs > Calories Intake section by the solid yellow line for the Goal itself and the dotted yellow line for the Variance. Yellow bars indicate hitting the Goal within the set Variance. Gray bars mean the client is above or below the Variance for the Goal and is set as non-compliant for the day.
To read more about tracking Client Compliance, please see our article on Measuring Client Compliance and Engagement.
Step 5.
Select from the four Meal Tracking and Compliance options.
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Follow meal plan but do not track meals
- Nutrition compliance will not be calculated. i.e. Clients will never "Hit their daily nutrition goal"
- If a client is also a participant in a Challenge, they will not receive points.
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Track meals In-App
- Monitor client calories, macros, and full meal details using the In-App Meal Tracking feature.
- To learn more about Trainerize In-App Meal Tracking, please view our article on Calories and Full Macro Tracking (In-App).
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Track meals with Fitbit
- Monitor client calories, macros, and full meal details. Nutrition compliance will be calculated. Nutrition goals will be automatically synced to the client's Fitbit account.
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Track meals with MyFitnessPal
- Monitor client calories and macros. Nutrition compliance will be calculated.
Note: Changing the nutrition compliance tracker will update the client's meal workflow/tracker. However updating the client's meal workflow/tracker, via the client's profile or their app's settings, will not update how nutrition compliance is tracked. This must be complete in the step above.
Step 6.
Select Save. If you've chosen the option to track meals through MyFitnessPal or Fitbit and your client has not yet connected to their account, you will be prompted to send them instructions on how to download and connect the Fitbit or MyFitnessPal app.
Once created, nutrition goals can be edited or deleted at any time by the trainer by selecting the drop-down menu at the top right of the goal.
Using Basal Metabolic Rate and Total Daily Energy Expenditure in Trainerize
Whenever you’re creating a nutrition goal for a client, you have the option of using our automatic built-in calculations to determine a client’s Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This provides you with important baseline numbers to work with and makes it easier to select effective calorie and macro-based goals.
Learn more about BMR and TDEE: How to use the Daily Caloric Goal Calculator
Changing the Nutrition Goal for a Client
You can easily edit or adjust the nutrition goal for your client by navigating back to the daily nutrition goal under the client's Goals and Habits tab and choosing the edit icon.
Note that when updating the nutrition goal for a client, the meal details on the client's dashboard will always reflect the goal at the time the meal was logged. Nutrition compliance, however, will reflect the current/updated goal.
Additionally, when a meal is tracked, it saves a copy of the latest nutrition goal. This means that if a nutrition goal is changed, a client could go back and update a meal in the past which will change the nutrition compliance for that day.
