Before we change your diet.Let’s see your week.

01 / Before we change anything

Show me what a normal week looks like.

When someone wants to start working on their nutrition, my first step is usually a seven-day food diary.

I want to understand what you are eating now. The meals you enjoy. The portions you serve. The drinks, snacks, work lunches and weekends that make up your actual week.

That gives us somewhere useful to start. If I give you a target without understanding your routine, we are missing a big part of the picture.

You do not need to put on a performance for those seven days. Record an ordinary week as honestly as you can. If you have takeaway, include it. If a meal is hard to estimate, tell me. An imperfect entry with some context is more useful than leaving it out.

I need to see the week you actually live before we decide what to change.

Keeping a record can help you notice patterns in what you eat and the circumstances around it. That is one of the reasons food tracking can be useful when working on habits. [1]

02 / Your first seven days

What goes in the diary?

Include weekdays and the weekend. A tidy Monday-to-Friday record can miss the part of the week where your routine changes most.

• Meals and snacks: what you had, with portions as accurately as practical.
• Drinks: including milk in coffee, soft drinks and alcohol.
• The extras: cooking oil, sauces, spreads and the bites that are easy to forget.
• Useful context: a late shift, eating out, feeling particularly hungry or a meal you could not estimate confidently.

Try to record things near the time you eat, while the details are fresh. If you miss something, add what you can remember and flag the estimate.

The first win is a record we can work with. It is not a competition to show me the lowest calorie total.

03 / Turn the record into a starting point

Then we look at calories and your goal.

From that diary, I look for a starting picture of your calorie intake and eating pattern. Where is most of your food coming from? How different are the days? What already works, and what might be difficult to repeat?

A diary estimates what you have eaten. It does not, on its own, measure your maintenance calories. Missing entries, portion estimates and an unusual week can all affect what we see. Your activity, goals and weight history help give the record context.

For someone whose appropriate goal is weight loss, we can work towards an individual calorie target intended to create a deficit: taking in less energy than the body uses over time. The target needs to be something you can follow and review, while still eating a varied, nourishing diet. [2]

There is no single calorie number I want everyone reading this to copy. Your starting point and goal matter. Someone trying to maintain weight or gain size needs a different direction.

At this stage, I want a clear target and enough consistency to learn how it works for you. We can build the detail from there.

04 / Add the next layer

Once the routine improves, we narrow in on protein.

As your logging and follow-through improve, I usually start narrowing in on a protein goal as well.

That is how I tend to introduce the work: get a usable diary, establish the calorie direction, then add a more specific protein target when you are ready to manage it. Protein still matters from the start; the extra target is another layer of coaching.

Dietary protein supports the maintenance and repair of muscle tissue, which makes it relevant alongside your training. [3] The amount we aim for needs to suit you.

We can then look at how it fits into meals you already eat. You might have plenty at dinner but very little earlier in the day. Or you might need a lunch option that is easy to take to work.

I would rather help you build a routine you understand than hand you several targets you cannot yet keep track of. As your confidence improves, we can make the plan more specific.

05 / The weekly review

What I mean by “above 90% compliance”.

Compliance is the word I use for how consistently you have followed the targets we agreed. Simply logging a meal and actually meeting a nutrition target are different things, so we need to be clear about what we are reviewing.

When the previous week shows above 90% compliance with the agreed targets, that is usually my checkpoint to weigh in, review progress and decide whether anything needs adjusting.

That percentage is a coaching checkpoint, not a guarantee that the scale will drop. We still look at the quality of the record, the result and how you are getting on. You can also check in when a week has been difficult—you do not have to earn support by getting a high score.

For comparable weigh-ins, use the same scales under similar conditions, ideally at a consistent time of day. [4] I want to understand the direction over time, rather than change everything because of one reading.

In the app, a goal being triggered can be a useful milestone. It still belongs in the wider review of your progress.

06 / Often, the right change is no change

If the plan is working, keep following it.

This is a big part of how I coach.

If your follow-through is strong, you are progressing towards your goal and the plan is manageable, I will often leave the targets alone.

There is no need to keep cutting food simply because another week has passed. Equally, hitting a milestone does not mean we stop looking at how you feel or whether your goal has changed.

The purpose of reviewing is to make a useful decision. Sometimes that decision is an adjustment. Quite often, it is to give the existing plan more time.

07 / More detail when you are ready

Make the meals easier to keep eating.

For clients who want more detail and are ready to use it, we can start reviewing meal choices more closely. We look at what fits the targets, what you enjoy, and what works around your time and budget.

Food quality and variety matter throughout the process. This later step is about spending more time on the practical detail, rather than treating a calorie total as the whole picture.

If the same lunch every day is becoming a chore, we can build alternatives. You do not need a completely new approach every time you want a different meal.

The portions, ingredients and protein content will differ. We would adapt an option to your targets, preferences and any dietary requirements. The idea is to give you choices you can actually use.

More detail should make the plan more useful. If it only adds work without helping you follow through, we need to rethink it.