I Don’t Believe in Meal Plans

I never give meal plans to a client. I’ve been asked before by people on social media, but I have never given one out.

There are a couple main reasons for this. The first being that i’m not a dietitian, but a personal trainer and therefore a nutritional advisor. But having said that, many personal trainers try to give out meal plans. The second reason I don’t give out meal plans, and the topic of this post is that I don’t believe in them.

I don’t believe in meal plans in my line of work as a PT because most people don’t need them nor will most people fully adhere to them. If I was to give a client a meal plan, even if it was fully tailored to them and their requirements with things that are realistic to what they enjoy and their time constraints, then what happens if they want to go out for a meal on a friday night, have one more glass of wine or they stop for a macdonalds on a long car journey. They could be on plan all week and go off of the plan on one day and either not get their desired result or just simply feel totally awful or disheartened.

Furthermore, so many PTs will give their clients awful meal plans. Plans that at the core of nutritional value are probably quite healthy, but they are disgusting, bland and full of nothing but rabbit food which their clients don’t want to eat nor will they enjoy. This isn’t the way. In most cases a client won’t adhere, at least not for very long. They won’t enjoy it, can’t satisfy a craving without feeling awful and will most likely leave as a client with such a plan and I hope they do with such a plan that makes them feel that way.

Another thought, how much learning comes with a meal plan? And how well equipped will that client be for the rest of their life once they believe they no longer need a PT? Or is the plan just an instruction? Will they leave with no independent ability for the future?

I understand that there are dieticians and nutritionists out there that make better meal plans, allowing flexibility and complete their service with the right education to ensure future independence. At least I hope so, if that’s the job they’ve dedicated their life to. I also know for a fact there will be some amazing and fantastic PTs out there with dietitian and nutritionist qualifications, doing fantastic work.

I’m just criticising the idea of most bang average meal plans from bang average PTs, to make a bit of extra money short term on their first sale. I don’t believe in it.

I much prefer the idea that clients can eat what they enjoy, track calories, track protein and still achieve their goals. Being able to actually enjoy food, giving them a much greater sense of freedom and enjoyment of their lifestyle actually gets a result. Better yet, it doesn’t taste awful, which means it’s sustainable. With clients and within fitness, anything that feels horrible is not sustainable, hence why a bang average rabbit food meal plan doesn’t work.

When I say that clients should enjoy their food, this also doesn’t mean that they’re eating chocolate and pizza and still losing body fat (although you could technically do this. You’d just be very hungry and not very healthy). But, they can actually incorporate enjoyable things into their tracked diet and not feel terrible about it, because it’s tracked. They get to have meals out and extra drinks or stop for a takeawy. I also think it important to educate a client on what types of foods will benefit and improve their health. Essentially, having a healthy caloric intake that suits the goal of the individual, macronutrient (Protein, fat, carb) guidance that supports their lifestyle and goals (but not in a set ratio or requirement) and the vitamins and fibre etc they need to have a healthy body are the most important things to me. These simple concepts, along with the ability to enjoy a diet, not restrict and binge and to learn how to do this in future are what I believe the vast majority of people in the general population need.

If healthy and enjoyable nutrition appeals to you, and if you would like to achieve your fitness goals without a bad meal plan. If you would like to enjoy eating the foods you like but also still receive full nutritional guidance and support. Essentially, if you want a coach where you don’t need to choose between 1. being left on your own with no nutritional guidance or 2. a strict list of demands to abide by, then just head to the “contact me” section of this website and we’ll get you started.

Happy munching,

Brook