Client Management
Add clients, track health records, set goals, and manage your practice roster.
Clients are the center of your MealStack practice. Every meal plan, consultation, and invoice ties back to a client profile.
Adding a client
Quick create
Go to Clients in the sidebar and click Add Client. A compact dialog opens with just the essentials — first name, last name, email, phone, gender, and dietary preference. Only the first name is required.
After clicking Create Client, the dialog shows a success screen with two options:
- Send Intake Form — generates a shareable link for the client to fill out their health details (see Intake Forms)
- Edit Full Profile — opens the full client form for detailed data entry
The quick create + intake form flow is the fastest way to onboard clients. Create with just a name and phone number, send the intake form, and let the client fill the rest before their appointment.
Full client form
For detailed data entry, click Edit Full Profile after quick create, or navigate to an existing client and click Edit. The full form has 10 sections with a sidebar navigator. | Phone | +91 98765 43210 | | Email | priya@example.com | | Date of birth | 1996-03-15 | | Gender | Female | | Height | 162 cm | | Weight | 72 kg | | Target weight | 60 kg | | Goal | Weight loss | | Activity level | Lightly active | | Dietary preference | Vegetarian |
BMI auto-calculates
From the example above: height 162 cm, weight 72 kg → BMI 27.4 (overweight). MealStack calculates this automatically.
You don't need to fill everything upfront. Start with name and goal, then add health details, allergies, and lifestyle info as you learn more during consultations.
Client profile sections
Each client profile has multiple sections you can fill in over time.
Personal details
Basic identity and contact — first and last name, email, phone, date of birth, gender, and optional profile photo.
Body & goals
Each measurement field has an inline unit selector — click the unit dropdown next to the input to switch between metric and imperial. Your practice default (set in Settings → Practice Defaults) determines the initial unit, but you can change it per field.
| Field | Units | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Height | cm / ft′ in″ | Used for BMI calculation. Ft/in mode shows dual inputs. |
| Weight | kg / lbs | Current weight |
| Target weight | kg / lbs | Goal weight |
| Activity level | — | Sedentary, lightly active, moderately active, very active, extremely active |
Goals
Clients can have multiple simultaneous goals — for example, "Weight Loss" + "Manage PCOS" + "Improve Energy". Each goal is a card with:
- Goal type — preset from clinical types (weight loss, muscle gain, diabetes, PCOS, thyroid, cholesterol, pregnancy, postpartum, sports, general health) or custom
- Target value + unit — measurable target (e.g., 65 kg, HbA1c 6.5%)
- Current value — auto-populated from client weight for weight goals
- Baseline value — starting measurement for accurate progress calculation
- Target date — optional deadline
- Status — active, completed, paused, abandoned
- Motivation — client's stated reason for this goal
- Notes — practitioner clinical rationale
Each goal also auto-generates clinical metrics — multiple measurements tracked per goal. For example, a Diabetes goal tracks HbA1c (quarterly), fasting glucose (weekly), post-meal glucose (as needed), and weight (weekly). See Goals & Metric Tracking for the full metric system.
The primary goal (★) is the first active goal and drives the Auto-Calculate feature for daily calorie and macro targets. Drag goals to reorder priority.
When you add or change the primary goal, MealStack automatically recalculates the daily calorie and macro targets based on the goal type, client's body stats, and activity level. For weight-type goals, the goal's target value also syncs to the Target Weight field — so setting "Target: 65 kg" in a Weight Loss goal automatically fills the Target Weight input.
Daily targets
Auto-calculated from height, weight, age, gender, activity level, and primary goal type using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. You can also set targets manually.
The protein calculation uses adjusted body weight for more accurate results:
- For overweight/obese clients (BMI > 25), protein is based on ideal body weight + 25% of excess weight — preventing inflated targets for clients with high body fat
- For underweight clients (BMI < 18.5), protein is based on the target weight when available — ensuring adequate protein for healthy weight gain
- For normal-weight clients, protein is based on current body weight
Calorie adjustments are goal-specific and clinically referenced:
- Weight loss: 20% deficit
- PCOS: 10% deficit (insulin sensitivity)
- Cholesterol: 10% deficit (lipid management)
- Thyroid: 5% deficit (avoids metabolic slowdown)
- Pregnancy: trimester-aware (+0/+340/+452 kcal per ACOG)
- Postpartum: breastfeeding-aware (+200 to +500 kcal)
- Muscle/weight gain: +300 kcal surplus
- Sports performance: +200 kcal surplus
When date of birth is not set, the calculator defaults to age 30. An amber warning badge appears next to the Auto-Calculate button to alert you — add the client's DOB for more accurate results.
| Target | Description |
|---|---|
| Calories | Total daily energy target (kcal) |
| Protein | Grams per day |
| Carbs | Grams per day |
| Fat | Grams per day |
| Fiber | Grams per day |
Diet & food preferences
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Dietary preference | Vegetarian, non-vegetarian, vegan, eggetarian, pescatarian, jain |
| Cuisine preferences | Multi-select — South Indian, North Indian, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Continental, Mediterranean, and more |
| Allergies | Tag input — peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, sesame |
| Intolerances | Tag input — lactose, gluten, fructose, FODMAP, histamine, caffeine |
| Foods to avoid | Free text |
| Food likes | Tag input |
| Food dislikes | Tag input |
Medical history
- Conditions — diabetes, hypertension, PCOS, thyroid disorders, etc.
- Medications — current prescriptions
- Supplements — vitamins, minerals, protein powders
- Allergies — food allergies (nuts, dairy, gluten, shellfish, etc.)
- Intolerances — lactose, fructose, etc.
- Family history — hereditary conditions
- Surgeries — past surgical history
- Blood group — A+, B+, O+, AB+, etc.
Lifestyle
Factors that influence nutrition planning:
| Factor | Options |
|---|---|
| Sleep | Hours + quality (good, fair, poor) |
| Stress level | Low, moderate, high, very high |
| Smoking | Never, former, current |
| Alcohol | None, occasional, moderate, heavy |
| Cooking skill | Beginner, intermediate, advanced |
| Meal prep time | Minimal, moderate, flexible |
| Eating out | Rarely, weekly, daily |
Plus: occupation, caffeine intake, exercise details, water intake.
Women's health
Optional section for female clients, organized into three subsections:
Pregnancy & Nursing — pregnancy status with week number, estimated due date (auto-calculated from week), trimester indicator with calorie adjustment recommendations (+0/+340/+452 kcal per ACOG guidelines). Breastfeeding status with baby's age in months and calorie guidance — exclusive breastfeeding (0–6 months) adds +500 kcal, partial breastfeeding (7–12 months) adds +400 kcal, and not breastfeeding adds +200 kcal for recovery.
Menstrual Cycle — cycle regularity, average cycle length in days (important for PCOS clients), last period date, menopausal status.
Other — contraception type, hormonal/menstrual notes.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding data is used by the meal plan builder for food safety warnings (e.g., flagging alcohol, raw foods, high-mercury fish) and by the AI assistant for trimester-aware calorie adjustments.
This section only appears when the client's gender is set to female. All fields are optional.
Diet history
Record what the client currently eats — typical breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, eating patterns, food cravings, primary concern, motivation, previous diets tried, and referral source.
Meal schedule
Customize meal times for individual clients. The schedule starts from your practice defaults (set in Settings → Meal Structure) and lets you override per client:
- Drag to reorder — rearrange meal slots by dragging the grip handle
- Enable/disable slots — turn off "Bedtime" for clients who don't need it
- Adjust times — shift breakfast from 8:00 AM to 7:00 AM for early risers
- Reset to defaults — one click to revert to practice-wide settings
Client meal preferences are applied when creating a new plan. If a client has "Bedtime" disabled, new plans for that client won't include a bedtime slot. Existing plans are not affected.
Food preferences
Link specific foods from the database as likes or dislikes for each client:
- Open a client profile → Preferences tab
- Search for a food (e.g., "bitter gourd")
- Mark it as liked or disliked
Recording food preferences upfront saves time when building meal plans. You'll know to avoid bitter gourd for a client who dislikes it, or to include paneer for someone who loves it.
Client status
| Status | Meaning | Visible in default list? |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | New prospect, no active plan yet | Yes |
| Active | Currently under your care with active plans | Yes |
| Inactive | Paused or between programs | Yes |
| Expired | Package or program expired | Yes |
| Completed | Finished their program | Yes |
| Archived | No longer a client | No (use filter to show) |
When you activate a client's first meal plan, MealStack automatically upgrades their status from Lead to Active. You don't need to change it manually.
You can't activate a meal plan for an archived client. Restore the client first, then activate the plan.
Searching and filtering
The client list supports:
- Search by name, email, or phone
- Filter by status, goal type, dietary preference
- Sort by name, date added, or last activity
Archived clients are hidden from the default view to keep your list clean. Use the status filter to find them when needed.
Assigning practitioners
In multi-practitioner setups (Clinic plan), you can assign clients to specific team members. Each practitioner sees their own client list by default, with the option to view all clients.
Configure team members in Settings → Team.
Client hub tabs
Each client profile has 10 tabs for complete practice management:
| Tab | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Timeline | Activity feed — consultations, notes, assessments, billing events |
| Profile | Personal details, body & goals, medical history, lifestyle, diet history |
| Plans | Meal plans assigned to this client — with clone, next cycle, and version history |
| Goals | All active goals with multi-metric tracking, trend analysis, progress history, and Goal Review Banner — see Goals & Metric Tracking |
| Follow-ups | Scheduled sessions with Start Visit, reschedule, and no-show actions |
| Consultations | Session records with linked clinical note previews |
| Clinical Notes | SOAP/ADIME structured charting with templates and vitals |
| Assessments | Weight, body measurements, body composition, lab values — see Assessments |
| Billing | Packages, invoices, payments |
| Files | Uploaded documents — lab reports, prescriptions, consent forms |
| Portal | Portal access toggle, link sharing (copy/WhatsApp/QR), expiry settings, engagement dashboard, and feature toggles — see Client Portal |
The Follow-ups tab is your daily starting point. Use "Start Visit" to document sessions — it chains the consultation record, clinical note, and follow-up completion into one flow. See Consultations & Follow-ups for the full workflow.