# A diet chart your client can follow, built from their targets.

This free diet chart template sets a client’s daily calories, protein, carbs, fat, fibre and water, then lays out three to six meals with foods, portions in grams or household measures like a katori, and notes. You type each food’s figures; it adds them up against the targets. Edit it, then print it.

Use the template on the page: https://trainaq.com/guides/diet-chart-template. A general template for healthy adults, not medical advice or a diet for any condition. The example figures are from USDA FoodData Central for the grams shown; replace them with your own. Nothing you type is saved or sent.

## What is a diet chart?

A diet chart is a written plan of what a client eats in a day: their calorie, protein, carb, fat and fibre targets, the meals and their times, each food with its portion, and notes. A good one starts from the client’s targets and the foods they already eat, so it fits their kitchen and their routine.

- Daily targets for calories, protein, carbs, fat, fibre and water
- Three to six meals, each with foods, portions in grams or household measures, and notes
- The same chart every day, or a different one for each day from Day 1 to Day 7
- You type each food’s figures; the template adds them up against the targets

## How do you use this diet chart template?

Fill in the client and their daily targets, choose one chart for every day or a chart for each day of the week, then add three to six meals. For each food, write the portion and type its calories and macros. The template adds them up against the targets, and you print it.

### 1. Fill in the client and the targets

Write the client’s name, start date, goal, diet type and the foods they avoid. Then enter the daily targets for calories, protein, carbs, fat, fibre and water. The template checks that protein, carbs and fat add up to roughly the calorie target.

- Protein and carbs count 4 kcal a gram and fat 9, the general Atwater factors

### 2. Choose one chart or seven

Same every day is the easiest to shop for, cook and follow. Day by day gives Day 1 to Day 7 their own meals, for training and rest days or a weekly rotation of dishes. Copy a finished day to the next and change only what differs.

- Switching to day by day starts every day from your current chart
- Each day prints on its own page

### 3. Add meals and foods

Set three to six meals at the times the client really eats. For each food, write the portion the way the client measures it, such as 1 katori, 2 roti or 1 glass, and the weight in grams you planned it at.

- Add the oil or ghee used in cooking as its own food
- Use the meal note for preparation, swaps or eating out

### 4. Type each food’s figures

Enter the calories, protein, carbs, fat and fibre for that portion, from your food database or the pack label. The template looks nothing up: it adds what you typed for each meal and the day, and shows the difference from each target.

- A minus sign means the day is under the target

### 5. Add your note and print

Write a short note to the client: what matters most this week and when to message you. Print the chart or save it as a PDF from the print dialog. Nothing is saved on this page, so print it before you close it.

- Only the chart prints, in black on white

## Where should a diet chart start?

With the client’s targets, not the menu. Estimate their maintenance calories, set a calorie target for the goal, then protein, fat and carbs, plus fibre and water. Write those at the top, then build meals that add up to them. A chart without targets is a list of foods you cannot check.

- Maintenance calories: the TDEE calculator, from weight, height, age and activity
- Protein first: the protein calculator gives a range for the client’s weight and goal
- Then fat and carbs: the macro calculator splits the rest of the calories
- Water: the water intake calculator gives a daily starting point

[Work out maintenance calories](https://trainaq.com/tools/tdee-calculator)

## How much of each food group goes into a day?

ICMR-NIN’s My Plate for the Day shows one balanced day of about 2,000 kcal: led by cereals and millets, with pulses, milk or curd, plenty of vegetables, some fruit, nuts and seeds, and a measured amount of oil. Use it to check a chart’s balance; for weight loss, ICMR-NIN suggests cutting down on cereals.

| Food group | Raw weight a day | Share of calories |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cereals and millets | 250 g | 42% |
| Pulses (eggs, fish or meat can replace part) | 85 g | 14% |
| Milk or curd | 300 ml | 11% |
| Vegetables and green leafy vegetables | 400 g | 9% |
| Fruit | 100 g | 3% |
| Nuts and seeds | 35 g | 9% |
| Fats and oils | 27 g | 12% |
| Total | About 1,200 g | About 2,000 kcal |

Source: ICMR-NIN, My Plate for the Day: raw weights for about 2,000 kcal, with about 15% of calories from protein and 30% from fat. ICMR-NIN notes that the plate is not for any specific medical condition, and that sugar, if eaten, should stay within 25 to 30 g a day. Its Dietary Guidelines for Indians cap added salt at 5 g a day.

## How do you use household measures in an Indian diet chart?

Write each portion the way the client serves it, such as 1 katori of dal, 2 roti or 1 glass of milk, and put the weight in grams beside it. Katoris, cups and rotis differ from home to home, so weigh the client’s own once and plan with those weights.

- Ask the client to weigh their usual katori, glass and spoon, filled, once on a kitchen scale
- Say whether a weight is raw or cooked: ICMR-NIN’s plate gives raw weights, and cooked dal or rice weighs more than raw
- Weigh a roti from the client’s own kitchen, as size and thickness vary
- Count oil and ghee in teaspoons and add them as a food of their own

## How do you plan a diet chart around a client’s food preferences?

Start from what the client eats, not from a standard menu. Ask their diet type, the foods they avoid for religion, taste or allergy, who cooks, their budget and their fasting days. Then build each meal from those foods. In a Pew Research Center survey published in 2021, 39% of adults in India said they follow a vegetarian diet.

- WHO notes that the make-up of a healthy diet varies with age, gender, lifestyle, physical activity, culture, local foods and dietary customs
- Vegetarian: dal, chana, rajma, soya, paneer, milk and curd carry the protein; ICMR-NIN advises cereals and pulses in a 3:1 ratio for better protein quality
- Eggetarian: vegetarian plus eggs; ask whether eggs are fine every day or only on some days
- Jain: many leave out root vegetables such as potato, onion and garlic, and 67% of Indian Jains in the Pew survey said they do; ask exactly what the client follows
- Non-vegetarian: ask which meats and fish, and which days they skip meat; 42% of Indians in the same survey said they are not vegetarian but avoid meat on certain days
- Vegan: no milk, curd or paneer, so plan protein from pulses, soya, nuts and seeds
- Allergies and intolerances: write them on the chart, and send suspected ones to a doctor

## How do you make a diet chart a client will follow?

Keep it close to how they already eat, at the times they really eat, with portions they can measure at home. Change a few things at a time, give swaps for the foods they get bored of, and review it each week against their food log and weight trend before you change it.

- Plan around their workday, family meals and the dishes cooked at home
- Aim for slow, steady change: ICMR-NIN warns that extreme approaches to weight loss may harm health
- Write swaps in the meal note, such as poha for upma, and check the figures still add up
- Plan for eating out, festivals and travel days instead of pretending they won’t happen

## When does a client need a registered dietitian or a doctor?

When food is part of treating or managing something. Refer clients with a medical condition such as diabetes, kidney, heart or thyroid disease, clients on regular medication, pregnant or breastfeeding clients, anyone under 18 and anyone showing signs of an eating disorder. A general diet chart is not medical advice.

- Medical conditions: the diet becomes part of treatment, which is for a doctor or registered dietitian; even ICMR-NIN’s model plate is not for any specific medical condition
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding: ICMR-NIN calls for extra food and healthcare in both, planned with the client’s doctor
- Under 18: children and teenagers are still growing, and ICMR-NIN discourages indiscriminate dieting at those ages
- Eating disorders: the NHS lists signs such as eating very little, very strict food rules, vomiting or laxatives after eating and exercising excessively; encourage the client to see a doctor

## How do coaches build diet charts in Trainaq?

As meal plans. Set each client’s calories, protein, carbs, fat and fibre from a start date, and build meal plans from Indian and global foods in grams, servings or household measures, with totals against the targets. Today assigning a plan sets the client’s targets; the meal plan view in their app is coming soon.

- Targets keep their history, with a note the client reads as “From your coach”
- Assign one plan to up to 100 clients from a start date, each with their own copy
- AI drafts a week of meals from the client’s intake on the web dashboard, each day within 5% of your targets, on Pro and Studio; you review it before you assign it
- Clients log meals in the free Trainaq app by search, barcode, AI photo or quick add, and you see each day against the targets
- The meal plan view in the client app is coming soon; today clients get the targets set from the plan
- Trainaq has no printable diet chart yet, so use this template when a client wants one on paper

[Nutrition coaching in Trainaq](https://trainaq.com/features/nutrition)

## Sources

1. [ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Dietary Guidelines for Indians. Hyderabad: ICMR-NIN; 2024. Read online.](https://www.nin.res.in/dietaryguidelines/index.html)
2. [ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Dietary Guidelines for Indians: short booklet of the 17 guidelines. Hyderabad: ICMR-NIN.](https://www.nin.res.in/downloads/DGI_Booklet_English_CMYK.pdf)
3. [ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. My Plate for the Day. Hyderabad: ICMR-NIN.](https://www.nin.res.in/downloads/My_Plate_for_the_day_J24.pdf)
4. [World Health Organization. Healthy diet. Fact sheet.](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet)
5. [NHS. Eating disorders: overview. Page last reviewed 23 January 2024.](https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/eating-disorders/overview/)
6. [Pew Research Center. Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation. Chapter 10: Religion and food. 29 June 2021.](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/06/29/religion-and-food/)
7. [FAO. Food energy: methods of analysis and conversion factors. FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 77. Rome, 2003. Chapter 3.](https://www.fao.org/4/y5022e/y5022e04.htm)
8. [USDA Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, SR Legacy (the template’s example figures).](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/)

## FAQ

### Is this diet chart template free?

Yes. There is no sign-up and no email gate. Edit the chart on this page, then print it or save it as a PDF from your browser’s print dialog. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere, so print or save the chart before you close or reload the page.

### Why doesn’t the template work out calories from the food names?

Because the same dish differs from kitchen to kitchen: oil, recipe and portion all change the numbers. The template has no food database, so you type each food’s figures from the database you trust, the pack label or a food composition table, and it adds them up for you.

### How many meals should a diet chart have?

As many as fit the client’s day: often three meals and one or two snacks, but a shift worker or an early trainer may need a different pattern. Plan meals at the times they really eat, and check the day’s totals. This template takes three to six meals, each with its own time and note.

### Can I give a client a diet chart for diabetes, PCOS or a thyroid condition?

Not as a fitness coach. A diet for a medical condition is part of its treatment, so it belongs to the client’s doctor or a registered dietitian, and this general template is not built for it. As a coach, follow their plan, keep the client consistent and coach training and habits around it.

### How often should I update a client’s diet chart?

When the targets change or the client stops following it. Review the food log and weight trend each week, and change the targets only after two to three weeks of data. Swap foods sooner if the client is bored or a meal does not work, keeping the totals close to the targets.

## Related

- [Macro calculator](https://trainaq.com/tools/macro-calculator): Split the calorie target into protein, fat and carbs
- [Client intake form template](https://trainaq.com/guides/client-intake-form-template): Diet type, allergies and health questions first
- [Weekly check-in template](https://trainaq.com/guides/weekly-check-in-template): Review adherence and weight every week
- [Nutrition coaching in Trainaq](https://trainaq.com/features/nutrition): Targets, meal plans and food logs for clients

Source: https://trainaq.com/guides/diet-chart-template