Why We Don’t Recommend Rigid Meal Plans

“You must eat this particular food, in this quantity, at this time, every day…”
Does this sound exciting to you? Us either.

We are personally not a fan of rigid meal plans because of a few reasons:

• They can be boring
• They can be restrictive
• They can be very repetitive
• They often don’t consider your food intolerances
• They often don’t consider your preferences, schedule or lifestyle
• They teach you nothing about the nutritional content of food
• They can be hard to stick to and often cause feelings of guilt or failure when not adhered to correctly
• They do not take special occasions, eating out or holidays into consideration

The main reason we don’t write specific meal plans for our clients, other than providing them as an example so that our clients can see how to structure their meals for the day in order to reach their calorie and macronutrient targets, is because meal plans don’t teach you anything about the nutritional content of food. They are ultimately short term solutions.

One of the biggest issues with rigid meal plans is that as soon as people eat something that isn’t on their meal plan they automatically think they have failed. Because they think they have already screwed up that day, it causes them to go completely off track and they end up eating anything they want. Something that could easily be avoided with education.

We aren’t completely against meal plans. They still do have their place. Some of the benefits of meal plans are that they are easy to follow, there is no “guesswork”, and that they allow you to plan ahead and get into a routine.

However, what is superior to just mindlessly following a rigid meal plan that someone else has set for you is:

• Knowing what your personal macros are, which are calculated based on your goals.
• Educating yourself on flexible dieting, the nutritional content of foods and learning how to track your macros.
• Having the freedom to make your own meal plan based on your preferences, schedule and lifestyle.

This is what we do with our clients. It is all about helping them get out of that “on the plan” or “off the plan” mentality and to start putting a long term solution into place instead of just looking for quick fixes.

By taking the time to learn about the nutritional content of food and how to create your own meal plans, you will realise how you can easily interchange foods based on your own preferences and lifestyle. This is an absolute game changer when it comes to compliance with your diet. The more consistent you are with adhering to your calorie and macronutrient targets, the more likely you are to see results. And when you start seeing results, the higher your motivation will be to stick with it!

As we say all the time, the best diet is the one you can stick to!

If you are ready to make the change to flexible dieting and learn everything you need to know about eating for your goals, we’ve got you! We are still taking on clients for our coaching program! Click here for more details and let’s get started today!