A substitute is a food the trainee may eat in place of the one in their menu. In the app the trainee taps Swap on a food and picks from the list you allow. There are two ways to decide what is on that list: A plan uses one or the other. The switch for automatic alternatives decides which.

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Choose substitutes for a food

1

Open the window

On the food row in the nutrition builder, choose Alternatives. The Choose alternatives window opens. It shows which food you are replacing.
2

Pick foods

Search or browse the columns and click each food you want to offer. Foods closest to the original are listed first, and recommended foods carry a star.
3

Check the amounts

Each substitute gets an amount, worked out so the swap is fair. You can change it.
4

Confirm

Confirm to save the selection on the food.

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How the amount of a substitute is set

When you pick a substitute, Perform sizes it against the original food:
  • In portions mode, the substitute is sized to the same number of portions as the original. If the original is 1 protein portion, a carb food picked as a substitute is sized to 1 carb portion. The number stays the same. The kind of portion follows the substitute’s own macro type.
  • In calories mode, or when the original has no portion data, the substitute is sized to match the original’s calories.
Amounts are rounded to a tidy number where that still gives the exact portion count, and left precise where it does not. For a food that can count as protein or carbs, the Counts as: choice is kept per substitute.

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See and edit what you picked

Under the food row, each substitute shows as a small tag with its name and amount. When there are more than fit on one line, the last tag reads how many more there are.
  • Click any tag to reopen the window with that substitute in view.
  • The Alternatives button on the row shows the number of substitutes.
  • To remove every substitute, open the window, clear the selection and confirm.
Clicking Alternatives also opens a panel under the food headed Equivalent alternatives, with the count and a reminder that the client chooses in the app. From there you can adjust an amount, delete a substitute or choose Add alternative.

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Automatic alternatives

In the day toolbar, turn on Suggest alternatives to the trainee automatically. With the switch on:
  • The trainee can swap any food in the plan for any suitable food of the same macro type in your library. A protein food is offered other protein foods, a carb food other carb foods, a fat food other fat foods.
  • The closest foods come first: the most similar balance of protein, carbs and fat.
  • Every suggestion is sized to the same number of portions as the original, as described above. Swapping does not change how many portions the trainee eats.
  • The substitutes you chose by hand are not shown to the trainee. They stay stored in the plan and come back when you turn the switch off.
  • The Alternatives button on each food is disabled, and the substitute tags are hidden. The tooltip explains that alternatives are suggested automatically and that you need to turn the switch off to set them yourself.
With the switch off, the trainee is offered exactly the substitutes you chose. A food with none offers none. The switch applies to the whole plan.
Automatic alternatives never cross macro types. Substitutes you choose by hand can. If you offer a carb food in place of a protein food, the swap keeps the portion number but changes which kind of portion it is, so the trainee’s day ends with one protein portion less and one carb portion more.

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Which foods can be suggested

A food is offered as an automatic alternative only when all of these are true:
  • It has the same macro type as the food being swapped.
  • Include as automatic alternative is on for the food. See The food editor.
  • The trainee has not excluded it. See Food preferences.
  • Perform can size it. A food with no portion amount and no servings cannot be sized to a portion count, so it is left out.
If a trainee says they cannot find a food among their substitutes, check these on the food. Studio foods created with only a name and macros are the usual cause. Open the food, add a serving and save. A food with a Macro type set is offered within that type even when its macro grams are empty. A food with no macro type set is typed by its macros, so a mixed food can land in a type you did not expect. An egg entered with only its macros can come out as a fat food and then not show among protein swaps. In portions mode, set the Macro type on such foods yourself in the food editor.

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What the trainee sees

  • A food with substitutes shows a Swap action. The list opens with the options and a search field.
  • With automatic alternatives on, the list holds every suitable food of that macro type from your library. The trainee can search it.
  • A swapped food carries an Alternative badge in their menu, and the day’s totals count the food they chose.

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Substitutes and retired foods

Turning off Include as automatic alternative on a food removes it from substitutes everywhere, including where you picked it by hand. The tag disappears in the builder and the trainee stops seeing it. Your plan is not edited. Turn the switch back on and the substitute returns. If a trainee had already swapped to a food that is later retired or excluded, their menu falls back to the original food.

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Tips

  • Use automatic alternatives for general plans. It gives trainees freedom without you listing options for every food.
  • Choose substitutes by hand when a trainee has a medical or dietary restriction and you want to control every option.
  • Keep the food library tidy. Automatic alternatives are only as good as the macro types, servings and switches on your foods.