Nutrition Check-In Questions to Ask Clients Every Week
The weekly check-in questions that tell you what's working: numbers, adherence, hunger, energy, sleep and obstacles, plus how to turn answers into plan changes.
Weekly check-ins are where nutrition coaching actually happens. The plan is the starting point; the check-in is how you find out what's working, what isn't and what to change. The right questions make check-ins faster for you and more useful for your client.
Keep it short
A check-in form with 30 questions gets rushed or skipped. Aim for a handful of questions the client can answer in five minutes, plus a few optional ones. You can always ask follow-ups.
The core questions (every week)
- How many days did you follow your plan this week? (0–7) The most important number. Low adherence means the plan needs work before the targets do.
- What's your average body weight this week? Ask for a weekly average of daily weigh-ins, not one reading.
- How was your hunger? (1–5) Constant hunger is a warning sign, especially in a deficit.
- How was your energy? (1–5)
- How did your training go? Better, the same or worse than usual?
- What got in the way this week? The most useful question of all.
- Anything you want to change in the plan?
Questions about the plan itself
Ask these every two to four weeks, or whenever adherence drops:
- Which meals did you enjoy most?
- Which meals did you skip or replace, and why?
- Was there enough food at the times you were hungriest?
- Did you have the ingredients you needed?
- How long did cooking take on a typical day?
Questions about lifestyle
Nutrition doesn't happen in isolation. Every few weeks, check:
- Sleep: average hours, and how rested they feel
- Stress: work, family, anything unusual
- Steps or daily activity: a big drop changes calorie needs
- Eating out and social events coming up
Measurements and photos
Optional but useful every two to four weeks:
- Waist, hips and other measurements, taken the same way each time
- Progress photos in the same light and pose
- Strength numbers on a few key lifts
Remind clients that scale weight is only one signal. Measurements and photos often show progress when the scale doesn't.
How to read the answers
Use the answers to decide what to do next:
| What you see | Likely next step |
|---|---|
| Adherence low (under 5 days) | Simplify the plan before touching calories |
| Adherence good, progress on track | Change nothing |
| Adherence good, no progress for 2–3 weeks | Adjust calories by about 100–200 kcal a day |
| High hunger, low energy | Review protein, fiber and meal timing; consider a smaller deficit |
| Training performance dropping | Check carbs around training and overall calories |
For plateaus specifically, see Client Stopped Losing Weight?.
Respond with one clear action
Clients don't need a long report. End every check-in with:
- One thing they did well
- One change for next week, if any
- The plan, updated if you changed it
Small, clear changes are more likely to happen than five suggestions at once.
Make updates quick
Check-ins only work if acting on them is fast. Keep your recipes, swaps and plans in one place so a change takes minutes. In SendFit you edit the plan and your client's link shows the new version immediately, no new file to send. If you program their training too, the sessions they logged are waiting in To review, so the check-in starts from what they actually did, and your reply shows up on their link. For clients in contest prep, Prep Mode adds a 20-second daily check-in (morning weight, steps, cardio, sleep and hunger) and shows you the 7-day average weight (see it in the prep demo).
Starting with a new client? Pair these check-ins with a good nutrition coaching intake form.