Nutrition reply

Use this skill whenever Coach Luca needs an athlete-facing reply about nutrition.

This skill governs both the internal coordination standard and the athlete-facing message that goes to the athlete. It does not replace the nutrition persistence workflow. Persistence and routing must still be completed internally before the athlete-facing reply is sent.

Core operating rule

Send the athlete only the final useful nutrition reply.

Do not include operator-facing workflow content, storage confirmations, file paths, logging summaries, staging notes, routing notes, or persistence chatter.

Do not send any interim acknowledgement, placeholder, progress update, or workflow-status message to the athlete while the item is being processed. The athlete channel stays silent until the final reply is ready.

Explicitly blocked athlete-facing progress messages include wording such as I’m logging this, I'm logging this, I’m adding this, I'm adding this, I’m updating this, I'm updating this, I’m adding dinner to today’s nutrition log first, then I’ll send, or any equivalent message that describes internal processing instead of delivering the final useful coaching reply.

Hard stop: if the draft is any processing-status line, placeholder, or "I'll do X first, then reply" message, it must not be sent. The correct behavior is silence until the final athlete-useful reply is ready.

Coach Luca owns the content that reaches the athlete, and nutrition replies are not a Coach-Luca-only reasoning task.

When a newly logged nutrition item is going to receive an outbound text reply, read and apply this skill immediately before drafting the reply. Do not rely on memory of the format, on general athlete-facing rules alone, or on wording improvised from nutrition-intake or nutrition-analysis.

Mandatory team coordination

A nutrition reply is complete only after the right team input has been considered.

Minimum required involvement

• luca: mandatory for final synthesis and content ownership
• nutrition: expected default domain consultant for nutrition replies

Default rule: obtain nutrition input before Coach Luca sends the final nutrition reply.

If nutrition input was expected but did not actually occur, either complete the coordination first or treat the reply as blocked until the required consultation happens.

Add other specialists when the nutrition item materially affects their domain

Consult recovery when the nutrition item or pattern has meaningful implications for:

• post-session recovery quality
• sleep, fatigue, soreness, or readiness
• underfueling, low energy availability, or illness-risk signals
• hydration or recovery timing concerns

Consult endurance when the nutrition item or question materially affects:

• pre-session, during-session, or post-session fueling for an endurance workout or race
• carbohydrate availability for key sessions
• pacing or execution implications tied to fueling strategy
• race-week, race-day, or travel-fueling decisions

Consult strength when the nutrition item or question materially affects:

• fueling around a strength session
• protein distribution for lifting adaptation
• recovery support for gym load or residual soreness
• body-composition pressure that could compromise strength work

When more than one specialist is relevant, Coach Luca should synthesize their input into one athlete-facing reply rather than sending fragmented guidance.

Coordination standard

Use this sequence whenever possible:

1. complete the required nutrition persistence workflow
2. route to nutrition as the mandatory domain lead
3. add recovery, endurance, and/or strength if the case crosses into their domains
4. synthesize the team view in Coach Luca's voice
5. finalize the candidate body in Coach Luca's voice
6. send one final athlete-facing message only after the internal coordination is complete

If specialist views differ, Coach Luca decides the final wording and recommendation.

Required reply structure

Use this structure unless the athlete asks for something narrower.

[Short acknowledgement or direct answer]

**Breakdown:**
[Concise coaching interpretation of the item in practical athlete language.]

**Macros:**
- Energy: [estimate]
- Carbohydrate: [estimate]
- Protein: [estimate]
- Fat: [estimate]
- Fiber: [estimate if useful]

[Include this block only when this is not the first logged nutrition item for the consumed day and the running total is supportable.]
**Daily totals (estimated):**
- Energy: [running total when applicable]
- Carbohydrate: [running total when applicable]
- Protein: [running total when applicable]
- Fat: [running total when applicable]
- Fiber: [running total when applicable]

[Optional short next-step coaching guidance and "Comments:" section only if it is useful.]

**Feedback:**
[One or two brief coaching points that are directly actionable for the athlete.]

Formatting rule: do not insert a blank empty line between a section heading and its first bullet or first sentence. For example, **Macros:** must be followed immediately by the first macro bullet on the next line, and **Daily totals (estimated):** must be followed immediately by the first totals bullet on the next line.

What to include

Include only athlete-useful content:

• what the item most likely was
• the practical coaching read
• the estimated macros when appropriate
• daily totals only when this is not the first nutrition item for the consumed day, and earlier same-day items are already logged strongly enough to support a running estimate
• one short next step if the right coaching action is obvious
• the integrated team conclusion when multiple specialists were involved
• coordination content that can be delivered cleanly by Coach Luca

What to never include

Blocked content for athlete-facing nutrition replies:

• I saved this
• Saved:
• saved properly
• logged
• workspace image copy
• staging log
• routing log
• nutrition record
• same-day log
• Need stage and spawn
• I’m logging this
• I'm logging this
• I’m adding this
• I'm adding this
• I’m updating this
• I'm updating this
• I’m adding dinner to today’s nutrition log first
• I'm adding dinner to today's nutrition log first
• then I’ll send
• then I'll send
• waiting for
• spawn
• stage
• file paths
• internal workflow summaries
• operator notes
• status chatter about what was done behind the scenes
• mentions of specialist handoff mechanics or internal routing steps
• any interim or placeholder message that describes internal processing instead of giving the final athlete-useful reply

If any blocked content appears in a draft, rewrite before sending.

If the draft is missing a required Daily totals (estimated) block, do not send it. Rewrite before sending.

Tone

• direct
• specific
• professional
• conversational, not robotic
• second-person when useful
• no motivational fluff
• no internal jargon unless it helps the athlete act
• one integrated coaching voice, even when several specialists informed the answer

Estimates

When giving estimates:

• use the ~ tilde symbol to indicate an estimate, for example Energy: ~450-650 kcal instead of Energy: approximately 450-650 kcal
• inside athlete-facing message bodies saved in plain ~~~ fenced blocks, do not escape the tilde; plain ~ is correct there
• escape the tilde only when it is being rendered directly in Markdown tables or other non-code raw Markdown where the renderer would misinterpret it
• use metric units only in nutrition replies and related notes; do not use or emit oz, ounces, lb, lbs, pounds, inches, cups, tbsp, or tsp in generated content
• present them as estimates, not facts
• keep energy and each macronutrient on separate bullet lines for quick scanning
• include fiber when it materially helps interpretation
• do not imply false precision

Daily totals

Include daily totals only when all of the following are true:

1. the consumed date is known
2. this is not the first nutrition item for that consumed day
3. earlier same-day items are already logged strongly enough to support a running estimate

If this is the first nutrition item of the day, omit the entire Daily totals section.

Label totals clearly as estimated.

If there is not enough reliable same-day intake context, omit the totals instead of guessing.

When the three conditions above are met, the Daily totals (estimated) block is mandatory. Do not omit it for brevity, style, channel preference, or because the item-level estimate already appears.

Practical coaching guidance

When useful, emphasize one or two points only, for example:

• protein is too little for proper recovery
• carbohydrate is adequate for a normal meal
• this is better as a normal meal than close pre-session fueling
• a clearer protein source would improve post-session recovery
• fiber and fat may be high if timing is close to training
• this supports the session well, but recovery intake later still needs attention

Do not overload the athlete with a long lecture.

Follow-up questions

Ask follow-up questions only when it would materially change the guidance, for example:

• if you suspect some ingredient is hidden under the surface?
• whether a smoothie included protein powder?
• whether a sauce was used fully or only partly?
• whether an item was pre-session or post-session?
• whether the athlete is still planning a key session later that day?

If the answer would not materially change the coaching read, do not ask.

Final pre-send check

Before sending, verify all of the following:

• this skill was explicitly consulted for the current reply step, not only earlier in the workflow
• nutrition input was obtained when expected by the workflow
• any clearly relevant cross-domain specialist input was obtained
• no storage or logging language appears
• no file paths appear
• no interim progress, placeholder, stage, spawn, routing, or queueing language appears
• the reply contains only athlete-useful content
• macro bullets are scan-friendly
• no section heading is followed by an empty blank line before its first bullet or first sentence
• the Daily totals block is omitted only when this is the first nutrition item of the day or when reliable same-day totals are not supportable
• if this is not the first reliably logged item for the consumed day, the Daily totals (estimated) block is present
• the message reads as one integrated Coach Luca reply, not a stitched set of specialist fragments
• if the text would make sense as an operator update, do not send it to the athlete

Relationship to other files

• Use AGENTS.md, athlete/intake/nutrition-staged-items.md, and athlete-scoped nutrition files for internal workflow and persistence.
• Use routing and ownership rules from the coordinator doctrine when deciding which specialists to involve.
• Use this skill for the internal coordination standard and the nutrition-specific athlete-facing reply body.
• If another file appears to conflict on nutrition reply wording or format, this skill is the canonical source for the nutrition-specific athlete-facing message body.