The AI Nutrition Targets feature uses your client's profile data, historical nutrition compliance, and your coaching philosophy to generate personalized calorie and macro recommendations. This guide walks you through the full workflow — from opening a client to saving targets to Trainerize.
Before You Start
AI Nutrition Targets is available on the Starter and Business plans. If you are on the Essential plan, you will see an upgrade prompt when attempting to use this feature.
You can customize how the AI generates its recommendations — including your coaching philosophy and preferred macro distributions — from the AI Nutrition Targets configuration page.
Step 1: Open a Client
Go to Trainerize Clients and click on a client to open their profile.
Step 2: Navigate to Goals & Nutrition
In the client dashboard, open the Goals & Targets section. You will see tabs for Nutrition Targets, Daily Habits, Body Composition, and Scheduler. Make sure the Nutrition Targets tab is selected.
FitMetrics will automatically load the client's current nutrition goals from Trainerize. If no goals exist yet, you will see an empty form ready for input.
Step 3: Set a Client Goal
Before generating an AI suggestion, the client must have a goal set (for example: Fat Loss, Lean Bulking, Maintenance). If no goal is set, the AI button will be disabled and you will see a warning: "Client Goal Required."
You can set or edit the goal directly from the nutrition targets page using the goal dropdown.
Step 4: Generate an AI Suggestion
Click the "Generate AI Nutrition Recommendation" button.
The AI analyzes the following data to produce its recommendation:
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) — calculated from the client's age, gender, weight, and height
TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) — BMR multiplied by the client's activity level multiplier
Activity level — set on the client's profile (Sedentary, Lightly Active, Moderately Active, Very Active, or Extra Active)
Client goal — the stated goal (e.g., Fat Loss, Muscle Gain)
Goal weight and starting weight — if available
Body fat percentage — if available
Historical weekly nutrition data — up to 4 weeks of compliance history from Trainerize
Your coaching philosophy — configured on the AI Nutrition Targets settings page
Required Client Data
The AI button will be disabled if the client is missing any of the following:
Weight — either a current weight from Trainerize or a starting weight
Height — from the client's Trainerize profile
Age — calculated from the birth date in Trainerize
Gender — must be male or female (the BMR equations do not support "other")
Goal — the client must have a goal set
All five fields are needed to calculate BMR and TDEE. If any are missing, the calculation returns 0 and the button remains disabled.
Step 5: Review the AI Recommendation
Once generated, the AI displays its recommendation in a summary card showing:
Calories per day — the recommended daily caloric target
Protein — grams and percentage of total calories
Carbs — grams and percentage of total calories
Fat — grams and percentage of total calories
Below the numbers, the AI provides a detailed "AI Reasoning" section that explains why it chose those specific values — referencing the client's BMR, TDEE, goal, activity level, and any other relevant factors. This explanation is written for coaches, not clients — it is technical and specific so you can review the logic.
Step 6: Apply or Adjust the Suggestion
Click the "Apply These Targets" button to load the AI values into the nutrition form. This does not save to Trainerize yet — it only populates the form fields so you can review and adjust before saving.
You can manually edit any value (calories, protein, carbs, fat) after applying the suggestion.
Step 7: Set Adherence Tolerance
Choose an Adherence Tolerance percentage that determines how strict the compliance tracking is. Available options: 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%.
For example, with a 2,000 calorie target and 10% tolerance, any intake between 1,800 and 2,200 calories counts as "good" adherence. A lower percentage is stricter; a higher percentage is more lenient.
Step 8: Choose a Macro Input Mode
Select how macros are tracked for this client in Trainerize using the Macro Input Mode dropdown:
Full Macros — track calories, protein, carbs, and fat individually
Calories + Protein — track only calories and protein (carbs and fat are not shown to the client)
Calories Only — track only the calorie target (no macro breakdown shown to the client)
This setting controls what the client sees in their Trainerize app. Simpler modes can be helpful for clients who are new to tracking.
Step 9: Save or Schedule
When you are ready, you have two options:
Apply Now — immediately saves the nutrition targets to the client's Trainerize account
Schedule for Later — pick a future date and time to apply the targets automatically. Weekly nutrition goals must be scheduled for a Monday to ensure proper weekly cycles.
You can also optionally notify the client when targets are saved or scheduled.
Troubleshooting
The AI button is disabled
Check that the client has all required data: weight, height, age (birth date), gender, and a goal. Without these, the AI cannot calculate BMR/TDEE and the button remains disabled.
The AI suggestion seems off
Review the "AI Reasoning" section to understand the logic. You can customize the AI's behavior — including your coaching philosophy and preferred approaches — on the AI Nutrition Targets configuration page.
Goals not syncing to Trainerize
After saving, FitMetrics automatically refetches goals from Trainerize to confirm they were applied. If you see a sync issue, try clicking the refresh button to reload the current Trainerize goals.