Starter sheet · nutrition targets
Set a client’s protein and macros in plain steps
What the numbers mean, where a first target comes from and how to change it. For coaches who set nutrition targets and want clients to understand them.
Free download
Get the macro setting sheet
One sheet per client: a stop check, a four-step starting estimate and a weekly log. Type your email and the PDF opens right here.
Where it hurts
The meal plan lives in a sheet and your client logs food in another app, so you copy numbers across to see how the week went. When the average moves, you retype the targets by hand, client by client. A sheet is good at the sum and says nothing about where the first number comes from or when to change it.
How it gets fixed
The page works one first target through with a made-up client, and the sheet above is the one you fill in per client: a stop check first, then the starting estimate, then a weekly log for adjusting. The sum is plain: calories equal 4 times protein grams plus 4 times carb grams plus 9 times fat grams. A target is a first guess you check after two to three weeks. It is general information, not medical advice: some clients go to a doctor or a registered dietitian for their targets, and the check is listed in the example below.
Enter protein and fat, then calories, and carbs fill in; enter all three and calories are summed. The app’s own estimate uses a different formula: use the sheet’s or the app’s, not both. Clients log by barcode or AI photo scan (an estimate) and you read their 7-day calorie and protein average. Meal plans do not import from a sheet.
In Strength Academy you set macro targets for a client and read their food log next to the plan.
Try it now
A first target for one client, worked through
Check scope first. A client who is pregnant or breastfeeding, has a medical condition or takes a medication that affects diet, has a history of disordered eating, is under 18 or is cutting weight for a weight class gets targets from a doctor or a registered dietitian. Everything below is general information, not medical advice.
Illustrative example, not a client: a man of 80 kg, 180 cm and 30 years old who trains three to five times a week.
- Resting energy: 10 × 80 + 6.25 × 180 minus 5 × 30 plus 5 = 1,780.
- Daily energy: 1,780 × 1.55 (moderate, 3 to 5 sessions a week) is about 2,760.
- Goal: 15 percent below, to lose body fat, is about 2,350 calories. That is above the resting energy of 1,780, so go on. If goal calories land below resting energy, stop: doctor or registered dietitian.
- Protein: a common starting range for a client who lifts is 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg, and 2.0 is picked here. 2.0 × 80 kg = 160 g, which is 640 calories. Fat: at or above about 0.6 g per kg, here 0.8 g per kg = 64 g, which is 576 calories.
- Carbs: 2,350 minus 640 minus 576 leaves 1,134 calories, so about 283 g. Check: 4 × 160 + 4 × 283 + 9 × 64 is about 2,350.
Tell the client: “This number is our first guess. Your next two weeks of weigh-ins tell us whether to move it.” Then put the first review in the calendar two weeks out, not tomorrow.
Prefer to try it first?
Try the Meal-Plan Time CalculatorCount the hours your meal-plan sheets cost you.
A few taps, no email
Where does your macro work break?
A few taps with Emma. Find the one place your macro work breaks.
Hi, I’m Emma, co-founder of Strength Academy. Answer as best you can.
4 quick rounds
Open next
- The Client Meal Prep Guide
One hour, four days of meals, a shopping list and a rescue plan. For coaches who set nutrition targets and want clients to follow them.
- Eating Around Training
Before, during and after, by session type. For coaches whose clients ask what to eat on a training day.