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Meal plans are a great idea. The fact that you can have the exact foods planned out in advance and know exactly what and when to eat can help even the most diet-adverse people stick to their plan. This helps remove any uncertainty from the equation and improves adherence. At least in theory.
Unfortunately, meal plans don't work the way most people expect them to work. I actually avoid giving meal plans to my clients, even when they specifically ask for one.
The reason?
I can tell someone exactly what to eat and when to eat it, but they probably won't enjoy the foods - meaning they won't stick to the plan.
The feeding times I recommend probably won't fit their schedule - meaning they wont' stick to the plan.
I can't possibly provide enough food variety to prevent boredom - meaning they won't stick to the plan.
Even the most focused and devoted client will have difficulty adhering to someone else's eating schedule and food recommendations. Small modifications will eventually be made, food substitutions will become common, and before long nothing resembles the original meal plan. Or the plan is abandoned all together.
I'm not alone in saying this. Most nutritionists and fitness instructors agree. Meal plans - prescribed by someone else - don't work.
Here's What To Do Instead
Let's observe the old aphorism: "Give them a fish, they'll eat for a day. Teach them to fish, they'll eat for a lifetime."
I want you to create your own meal plan using the foods you like, scheduled around your lifestyle. This will take a little planning and preparation on your part, and it won't happen overnight, but it will be far superior to any meal plan I give you. I suggest creating this plan in stages, gradually improving the quality, variety, and specificity of your meal plan.
Step 1 - Identify your current eating habits (1 Week)
Step 2 - Determine your calorie and macronutrient goal (1 day)
Step 3 - Merge your current habits with your goal (2-4 weeks)
Step 4 - Refine your habits, increase food variety, and maintain good habits (3+ months)
Creating the meal plan this way will ensure you're eating foods you enjoy, at a convenient time of day, and makes it more agreeable to your lifestyle. This means you're more likely to follow the plan!
Here are the details of each step.
Step 1 - Identify Your Current Habits
Before making any sweeping changes, take a close analytical look at what you're currently eating. Maybe you're already eating the right foods! Use a free food tracking app like MyFitnessPal to monitor and track EVERYTHING you eat for one week (7 days). This is arguably the hardest part of the whole process.
Be as specific as possible.
If you're eating out, find the restaurant's menu online which may have calories and macronutrient information. If you're making a complex meal at home, track everything you use. MyFitnessPal has a barcode scanning feature (Yes, the free version has it) to make scanning the ingredients quick and simple.
The more complex your home meal is, the greater the likelihood of having to add up total calories and calculate portion sizes. But it can be done! I usually recommend keeping your meals as simple as possible anyway.
If you don't know exactly what's in your food, take a guess. Search MyFitnessPal for the closest approximation. Roughly estimate the portion sizes and when in doubt, assume it's more calories than you think.
If all of these options fail then you obviously don't care that much and thus, a meal plan wouldn't have worked anyway.
Step 2 - Determine Your Calorie and Macronutrient Needs
Now that you know your average calorie consumption, it's time to double check your actual needs. There are several ways to do this:
Consult your tracking sheet or ask me how many calories you need. OR
Use my Calorie Calculator to determine your maximum daily calories. OR
Get a second opinion with this Calorie Calculator to determine your daily calories.
In addition to calories, it's useful to know how much protein, carbs, and fats you should eat. This is slightly more complex, but not by much. Here's how to determine your macronutrient intake:
Consult your tracking sheet for exact numbers, or ask me. OR
Take your total number of daily calories, and multiply it by 0.20 (20 percent), then divide THAT number by 4 (protein has 4 calories per gram). That's your MINIMUM protein intake in grams.
Don't worry too much about carbs or fats right now. As long as you're getting the minimum protein without going over your calorie limit.
Great! Now you know how many calories you SHOULD be eating, and how much protein you should get. Do your logs from Step 1 match the numbers from Step 2? If so, fantastic! Now use that weekly log as your meal plan. You're all done!
If those numbers do not line up, let's move to Step 3.
Step 3 - Merge Your Habits and Goals
Here begins the great reconciliation. You'll need to modify your daily habits to line up with your calorie and macronutrient goals.
Take a look at your 7 day food log and start making small substitutions. Calories should be your first priority. What can you remove or substitute? Maybe you need to add calories?
What foods can you substitute or add to hit your protein goals? (Without going over calories)
Do this for all 7 days.
If needed, start from scratch and make a few "perfect" nutrition days using foods you like to eat.
Bingo! Now you have a meal plan for a full week! Stick to the plan and eat those foods.
Step 4 - Refine, Expand, and Maintain
Now comes the really hard part. You need to stick to the plan long enough for changes to take effect. Changes may occur in as little as 2 weeks, but usually it takes 3+ months to see noticeable differences.
During this time, your goal should be to expand your food log by adding additional days to your meal plan. Incorporate more variety and interesting foods so you don't get bored. Make subtle changes though!
During this step, you won't need to log every meal, or even need to log your food at all. It should be automatic by now. By following the plan, you know exactly how many calories and macronutrients you're consuming.
Some people see success by eating the same breakfast and lunch foods, but have a varying healthy dinner rotation during the evenings with family. This gives consistency and accountability early in the day, with variety at night. Of course, all the calories are accounted for!
Backup Plans
In the event you veer off-script, no worries! Sometimes things get tricky and we can't always stick to the plan. When you're caught making last-minute decisions, try to log your food in advance - BEFORE you eat it. Make a note of how the food you're about to eat fits with your goals. Of course, going off-plan one day won't hurt, just remember the 80% consistency principle.
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