Why Meal Plans don’t work and how to find a better approach

One of the most common questions I get asked is nearly always about whether I will provide a meal plan and the answers is always….no.

I get it, and the nutrition industry has led many people to believe that if they follow X they will get to Y but what does this teach you along the way? Nothing really. 

Explicit prescriptions are great in the very short term but they provide very little in the way of education and autonomy, which will essentially lead to better self awareness and control, and ultimately results which last.

In addition I often see the follow scenarios play out when providing meal plans; 

1.    They are not followed anyway.

This normal and exactly as I would expect; life gets in the way and following something strictly isn’t always possible.

2.    It is followed with 100% perfection.

It might seem that this is ideal but in reality this is far from optimal; not allowing for foods outside of a plan can lead to disordered eating and beliefs, with a dependence on a plan which doesn’t align with real life.

3.    You hate it.

And then end up hating the idea of ‘healthy eating’, creating an even larger negative mindset around nutrition and healthful behaviors.

I want to caveat all of this with saying that in certain scenarios meal plans are necessary, notably for professional athletes, who are being paid to reach or be a certain weight or size; when performance needs to be expertly supported. But if you do not fall into this category I am far more inclined to focus on education and provide a person with the knowledge they need to make their own decisions.

So if no meal plan then what?

I am a big believer in meeting clients where they are; I have no interest in putting someone in a brand new environment from the offset which zero familiarity to support their journey.

More often than not we need to look at what we can include, not what we need to take out.

Small tweaks to improve upon what someone already eats and enjoys, taking one step at a time. Make these small tweaks second nature habits and we will be on our way to making better food choices for each meal.

Using a current client as an example; we started with tweaking breakfast.

Their day started with a vanilla latte and a croissant, inhaled as they walked to work or eaten at their desk; distracted and otherwise engaged.

I am not going to say that this is a bad option, but it is not optimal for health or satiety (supporting your hunger levels throughout the day).

So how did we initially go about improving this? 

1.     Instead of the heavily sweetened ‘milkshake’; we swapped this for a cappuccino with a little chocolate on top.

2.     Croissants are of course delicious but provide very little in the way of fiber so we switched to a wholegrain banana muffin.

3.     Further, said client packed a plain Greek yogurt pot to consume alongside the muffin at their desk for added protein.

Still consumed on the run/at their desk, busy and distracted but certainly on the better foot, most importantly with more health benefits.

These small tweaks were manageable enough to make positive change that we then moved on to looking at how we can really optimise breakfast to further support their health goals.

So what does breakfast now look like?

1.     1 large pint of water upon waking; hydrate before you caffinate.

2.     Waking 15 mins earlier to make a quick scramble egg with wholemeal toast before leaving for work.

3.     Fruit of choice packed to enjoy at desk once at work.

4.     Coffee still enjoyed but limited to 3 max a day.

Healthy eating is not about perfection, it is about making choices which support both the health of your body as well as your mind. How you get there varies for each person which is another reason why prescriptive diet plans are a no go for me and my clients.