Planning meals can be labour-intensive, but it gets easier with practice!Here's an easy-to-follow 3-step process to help you get going:&nbsp;<h3 id="1966062f-2a68-4c26-9b3b-1203beb0bd4e" data-toc-id="1966062f-2a68-4c26-9b3b-1203beb0bd4e" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2;">STEP 1</h3>You'll want to create a "master" Word file or spreadsheet where you:1. List all the foods/drinks you prefer/often consume/plan to consume/plan to put forward to your client. For inspiration, follow the meal ideas from your course modules.2. Next to each of your favourite/selected food items, list out the portion sizes and the macros in grams.3. Finally list the macros in calories per portion.You can find the macros (carbs, protein, fat) on food labels, or via a Google search: type "[food name] calories" in Google and it will come up with the nutritional values.Then, grab a calculator and work out the values for each portion. For help with this, you can use the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://courses.thehealthsciencesacademy.org/product/macronutrient-calculator-for-meal-plans/">Macronutrient Calculator (see here; optional add-on)</a>.<h3 id="3d638a5f-1892-4579-8531-b77b9fa356d4" data-toc-id="3d638a5f-1892-4579-8531-b77b9fa356d4" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2;">Optional Add-On Calculator:</h3>For extra help, we recommend the optional add-on calculator below (it helps build client plans faster; it’s entirely up to you whether you need it or not).<a target="_blank" href="https://courses.thehealthsciencesacademy.org/product/macronutrient-calculator-for-meal-plans/">Get the Automatic Macronutrient Calculator for Meal Plans HERE</a><ul><li>Plan client meals faster. The calculator will do the maths for you.</li><li>Automatically calculates the protein grams, fat grams, carb grams and calories per food item to be eaten and per meal plan.</li><li>Plan as many individual or daily meals as needed.</li><li>Save your personalised meal plans and print them for your clients.</li></ul><h3 id="9a07a932-3a3c-4d4a-8eff-6c1acd05592d" data-toc-id="9a07a932-3a3c-4d4a-8eff-6c1acd05592d" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2;"></h3><h3 id="89070995-6ef0-4cc9-b1ed-6ccb73773530" data-toc-id="89070995-6ef0-4cc9-b1ed-6ccb73773530" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2;">STEP 2</h3>After you've created your "master" file, you'll have a pretty good database with an overview of your favourite/selected foods, and you can pick, mix and match them to plan your/your client's meals.Try to plan various meal options - e.g. 3 different breakfast meal ideas, 3 post-workout meal ideas, 3 dinner meal ideas, etc.In other words, start by planning the meals that you/your client would consume throughout 3 different days.And remember to apply the principles learned in your course. For example, protein combined with carbs reduces the GI of a meal, which is good for fat loss and muscle gain (muscle is metabolically active, so the more muscle you have, the more calories/fat you burn).Planning meals is incredibly time-consuming but completely worth it. You can see why you should charge for your time if you take on clients - there's a lot of work and planning that goes around it - not to mention that you also need to take into account your client's food preferences!For extra help, so you don't have to start from scratch, we've developed <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://courses.thehealthsciencesacademy.org/product/daily-meal-plans-vegetarian-and-non-vegetarian/">30 Daily Meal Plans - Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian (see here)</a>, which is an optional add-on and entirely up to you whether you need it or not.<h3 id="b941b9b4-15ae-4089-854e-d8a9e5cc9477" data-toc-id="b941b9b4-15ae-4089-854e-d8a9e5cc9477" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2;">Optional Add-On Meal Plans:</h3><a target="_blank" href="https://courses.thehealthsciencesacademy.org/product/daily-meal-plans-vegetarian-and-non-vegetarian/">Get 30 Daily Meal Plans HERE</a><ul><li>Grab&nbsp;30 done-for-you daily meal plans. This way you don't have to start from scratch.</li><li>Vegetarian and non-vegetarian meal options.</li><li>Detailed food items with calories, protein grams, carbohydrate grams and fat grams.</li><li>Breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, workout, post-workout, dinner, and evening meals are included in each daily meal plan.</li><li>Fully editable. Add, remove or swap food items, amend portions, or change totals!</li><li>Save and print for your client.</li></ul><h3 id="479271ab-64b9-4b5f-a32d-4869101874a4" data-toc-id="479271ab-64b9-4b5f-a32d-4869101874a4" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2;">STEP 3</h3>Once you put forward your meal plans, you'll want to start tracking the following:<ul><li>training activity (e.g. keep a note of the date, type, intensity and length),</li><li>performance markers (e.g. power output, RPM, watts, reps, load, time to exhaustion, endurance, stamina, agility, reaction time, speed, heart rate, and so on);</li><li>actual food intake each day (using the Daily Food Diary), and</li><li>weekly body weight, body composition changes (e.g. fat % from scales like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://amzn.to/2UMghtq">Tanita</a> for instance), and tape measurements (neck, upper arms, waist, belly, hips, upper legs, knees, calves, ankles); ideally recorded each time you meet your client.</li></ul>That way, in future, you'll know exactly what your client has eaten, what training they've performed, how their performance markers have improved, and how their body composition has been changing as a result. This will also inform whether any meal-plan adjustments or changes need to be made.As you track everything, it's fascinating to observe how quickly the body adapts. Besides, keeping a record of these items may not only serve for future reference, but also as a motivational tool to keep going.Next, go back to steps 1 and 2, and give it a go!&nbsp;AUTHOR: Alex Ruani, Research Director

Planning meals can be labour-intensive, but it gets easier with practice!

Meal Planning in 3 Steps

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Meal Planning in 3 Steps

Meal Planning in 3 Steps

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