Goals & Metric Tracking

MealStack's goal system goes beyond simple weight tracking. Each client can have multiple goals, and each goal tracks multiple clinical metrics — giving you and your clients a complete picture of progress.

Goal architecture

Client
├── Goal: Weight Loss (primary ★)
│   ├── Metric: Body Weight (weekly, ↓)
│   ├── Metric: Body Fat % (monthly, ↓)
│   └── Metric: Waist Circumference (biweekly, ↓)
├── Goal: Manage Diabetes
│   ├── Metric: HbA1c (quarterly, ↓)
│   ├── Metric: Fasting Glucose (weekly, range 80-130)
│   ├── Metric: Post-Meal Glucose (as needed, range <180)
│   └── Metric: Body Weight (weekly, ↓)
└── Goal: General Health
    ├── Metric: Body Weight (weekly, maintain)
    └── Metric: Energy Level (weekly, ↑)

The primary goal (★) drives auto-calculated nutrition targets. Drag to reorder priority.

Creating goals

From the client form

Open any client → Goals tab (or the Goals section in the Profile tab). Click Add Goal and select a clinical type:

From the consultation wizard

During Step 4 — Goals, MealStack auto-suggests goals based on the client's medical conditions and intake form responses. Click a suggestion to add it instantly.

From the intake form

When a client submits their intake form with a goal type selected, MealStack auto-creates the first goal with:

• Baseline value from their current weight (for weight goals)
• Progress direction inferred from goal type
• Motivation from their intake responses
• An initial progress entry recorded

Goal-specific metrics (clinical presets)

When you create a goal, MealStack auto-generates clinical metric definitions based on evidence-based guidelines. Click "Add Clinical Metrics" on any goal card to activate them.

Weight Loss / Weight Gain / Muscle Gain

Manage Diabetes

Manage PCOS

Manage Thyroid

Manage Cholesterol

Pregnancy

Tracking progress

Practitioner side

Each goal card in the client profile shows its metrics inline. For each metric you can:

1. See current status — value, target, direction icon, progress bar
2. Log a measurement — hover and click "Log" for quick inline recording
3. View history — click ↓ to expand the time-series
4. Check trend — click 📈 to see trend analysis (rate, plateau, warnings)
5. Batch record — for lab reports with multiple values, use the batch recording endpoint

Client side (Portal)

Clients see their metrics in the Goals section of the portal:

• Overdue alerts — amber banner showing which metrics need logging
• Metric cards — each with progress bar, current/target display, and "Log Measurement" button
• Inline logging — tap to enter value + optional note
• History view — expandable timeline of past entries
• Auto-complete — goals auto-mark as completed when target is reached

Trend analysis & plateau detection

MealStack runs continuous analysis on metric progress:

What it calculates

Health warnings

MealStack automatically flags:

Plateau detection

A metric is "plateaued" when its weekly rate of change falls below the noise threshold:

Goal Review Banner

When starting a consultation (Step 4 of the Discovery Wizard), MealStack shows a Goal Review Banner at the top:

• Status badges: "3 on track", "1 stalled", "1 off track"
• Overdue measurement count
• Auto-generated discussion points:
  • "2 metrics overdue — take readings today"
  • "Weight plateau >3 weeks — discuss refeed strategy"
  • "Rapid weight loss — check for muscle loss"
• Per-goal metric summary with color-coded status

This ensures practitioners never miss important goal context during consultations.

Goals tab

The client detail page has a dedicated Goals tab (between Plans and Follow-ups) that shows:

1. Goal Review Banner with trend analysis
2. All active goals with drag-to-reorder priority
3. Metric panels under each goal (with inline recording)
4. Completed/paused goals (collapsible)

AI integration

Active goals influence AI meal plan generation:

The AI considers all active goals simultaneously — so a client with "Weight Loss" + "Manage Diabetes" gets plans optimized for both caloric deficit AND glycemic control.

PDF export

Meal plan PDFs include a Goals section in the client summary showing all active goals with current → target values and deadlines. Toggle this in PDF settings with the "Show Goals" checkbox.

Measurement frequency reference