Meal Photo Logging
Meal photo logging lets a client share quick photos of what they are eating from the client portal. You get a simple meal journal in their dashboard, plus one bundled to-do when they have new photos to review.
This feature is currently available only when it is enabled for your account.
What your client does
In the client portal, the client opens Meals, chooses which meal the photo belongs to, adds the photo, and optionally writes a short note.
They do not see calories, macros, scores, or AI feedback. After submitting, they see a calm confirmation that the photo was shared with you.
If the client has an active meal plan, the meal choices use the meals from that plan. They can also choose Outside a meal when the photo is not part of the plan.
Where you review photos
You can open meal photos in two ways:
- From Home, click the meal photo to-do.
- From the client's dashboard, open the Meals tab.
Photos are grouped by day so you can scan the week without opening a separate item for every photo.
Replying to a photo
Use Coach reply on any photo where you want the client to see a note from you. When you save the reply, Assistant Coach sends it to the client and marks that photo reviewed.
Good replies are usually short and coaching-focused:
- "Good choice for a busy travel day."
- "Next time, add the planned protein portion here."
- "This works well before training."
The client sees only your reply under the matching photo.
Using AI estimates
You can click Generate AI estimate on a finalized meal photo to create a coach-only draft. This uses 2 AI credits.
The draft is always private to you. Your client never sees the estimate, the numbers, the plan read, or the ingredients — only the reply you choose to write.
Reading the estimate
At the top you get a quick read:
- Plan read — a plain summary like Looks on plan or Looks different from plan.
- Calories, protein, carbs, and fat — shown as ranges, not exact numbers, because a single photo can only ever be an estimate.
When the photo is tagged to one of the client's planned meals, each range also shows what that meal was planned to hit (for example, Plan ~35g under protein) and a small tag telling you whether the meal came in on plan, lighter, or heavier than planned. A one-line summary underneath names which macros drifted.
This is what makes the estimate useful at a glance. One meal landing a little light on protein usually isn't worth a message. The same drift showing up across several meals in the week is a pattern worth a gentle note or a small plan tweak — that's the kind of thing the plan comparison helps you notice without doing the maths yourself.
If the photo isn't tied to a specific planned meal, you'll see the client's day target for context instead, and no per-meal tags — comparing one meal against a whole day's target wouldn't tell you much.
What's on the plate
Open Show details to see the main things the estimate is built from, each with a rough amount (like ~150g or ~1 tbsp) and its own calorie and macro ranges. This is where swaps show up — a planned chicken breast that looks like tofu, or an extra topping that wasn't in the plan.
Some rows are marked Less certain. That's usually hidden oils, a dressing, or a portion size the photo can't settle. Treat those as a prompt for a quick question to the client — "was that a full or half portion?" — rather than something to guess at. The amount and the ranges are deliberately soft; they're there to guide your eye, not to put a precise number on the client's plate.
Turning it into a reply
Use the estimate to spot what's worth mentioning, then write your own coach reply in your own words. Once you've replied, your note moves to the top of the photo and the AI draft tidies itself into a single line — click it any time to reopen the full estimate.
If an estimate was spot-on or off, you can tap Helpful or Needs work. That's optional feedback that helps the estimates improve over time; it changes nothing your client sees.
If the AI cannot generate a useful estimate, your credits are not used. If a draft already exists for that photo, opening it again does not consume another credit.
When your client replies back
Your client can add one short reply to your note — a quick bit of context like "swapped rice for potato, I was out" or "this was right after my morning session." It's capped at a single reply on purpose: it's there to give you the missing detail, not to open a back-and-forth.
When a client replies:
- Their reply appears right under your note on that photo when you open their meal photos.
- A gentle Replies from clients note shows on your home page so you don't miss it. It clears on its own once you've opened the photo and read the reply — there's nothing to tick off.
You don't have to reply again. Read it, let it shape your next note or plan tweak, and move on.
Clearing the to-do
If you have looked through the current photos and do not need to reply to each one, click Mark all reviewed.
That clears the current bundle for this client. The photos stay in the journal, and a new to-do appears if the client logs more meal photos later.
What is intentionally not in this version
- Clients cannot edit, retag, or delete submitted meal photos.
- Clients do not see nutrition numbers, adherence scores, or AI estimates.
- There are no charts, streaks, timelines, or daily scores.
- Meal photos are not included in coach data export yet.