Every time you log food, DietPal shows two numbers: today's running total and your 7-day average. The average is the one that really matters.
What each number means
- Today's total — the calories you've logged so far today, against your target.
- 7-day average — your average daily calories over the past week.
Why the average is the truth
Single days bounce around. You'll go over at a birthday dinner and under on a busy day — that's normal and expected. Those ups and downs largely cancel out, so your weekly average sits much closer to your real intake than any single day does.
That's also why DietPal won't shame you for one heavy day. If you go over your target, the overflow shows in amber, never red — it's information, not failure. What moves your weight is the trend across weeks, not the score on any one day.
How to use it
- Glance at today's total to steer the rest of your day.
- Watch the 7-day average to judge whether you're on track overall.
- Don't try to "make up" for one big day by under-eating the next — just get back to your normal plan and let the average do the work.
A note on accuracy: because no single estimate is perfect, the daily total and especially the 7-day average are far more reliable than any one meal. See Why is my calorie estimate different from what I expected?