Meal Plans: Good or Bad?

February 19, 2021

At uni I was taught to design & provide meals plans to my patients… ⁣

A lot of people seem to be completely against meal plans.⁣

However, through research & my own anecdotal experience with clients, I can see that meal plans do have their place, if used CORRECTLY ⚠️⁣

It is important to weigh up the pros & cons of meal plans before utilising this tool.⁣

✅PROS:⁣

Meal plans provide STRUCTURE, allows some clients to learn about appropriate portion sizes, & are less time-consuming⁣
They require < education, & result in < decision fatigue when compared to tracking macros.⁣
This can be useful during an aggressive #fatloss phase such as during a #contestprep, when #bodyfat & energy levels are very low ⬇️⁣
#Mealplans are also easy to manipulate when alterations need to be made & make it easy to troubleshoot if a plateau occurs⁣
In fact, if you are tracking & experience weight loss stall, going on a meal plan short-term may help you identify the cause (not always but can help)⁣

❌CONS:⁣⁣

Blindly following a meal plan does have many disadvantages!⁣
Meal plans by definition may lack variety, which may cause ⬇️ enjoyment of a diet(but depending on which stage you are, this may be actually good).⁣ This may be exacerbated by a lack of food palatability if you don't particularly enjoy the foods on the plan.⁣
They can be ⬇️ flexibility, making social situations difficult to navigate, potentially leading to feelings of restriction & deprivation (unless you learn to create your own meal plan-which is a skill I teach my clients)⁣
Less education required, meaning that you may not learn new skills. This may cause problems if the coaching relationship comes to an end as you won't have developed all the knowledge/skills to continue on your own⁣
A rigid meal plan could also lead to nutrient deficiencies if we don't pay attention to ensuring that the you consume a wide variety of foods by frequent rotation of sources.⁣

NOTE:⁣

It is important to mention that meal plans are a TOOL, not a METHOD!⁣ ⁣ They could be used short-term, for a purpose such as a contest prep, education for beginners, photoshoot or other extreme goal.⁣ ⁣ However, most of the time my goal goes over teaching my clients to LIVE & empower you not to need a coach on top of you to achieve your goals.⁣ ⁣ At the end of the day, I always consider where my clients are at & meet them there before progressing them along the journey. ⁣ ⁣ For some that means moving away from a lifetime of takeaways & microwave ready meals…so a meal plan could be a huge positive to help with developing some new habits before gradually progressing with further education

❤🙏 Hit SAVE & share to your story if you found it helpful!⁣