"Why can't you just give me a meal plan?"

Some thoughts on meal plans. (Spoiler: I hate them.)

A lot of people have the impression that ‘nutrition coaching’ involves being told exactly what to eat — and there are certainly a lot of businesses out there that will happily take your money in exchange for a templated program.

The problem is: people are DIFFERENT. Different ages, different sizes, different genders, different activity levels, different stress levels, different food preferences… the list goes on. Each individual is inevitably going to be starting from a vastly different place, both metabolically and emotionally — which means THERE IS NO one-size-fits-all meal plan, not even for two people who share exactly the same goal.

The truth is, what we aim to build via coaching is the foundation and the framework. My goal is for clients to create sustainable HABITS — because that’s how people become autonomous and able to stand alone. Metaphorically speaking: once the house has some sturdy walls, you can easily change out the artwork to suit the season.

One huge stumbling block of meal plans is that they are not flexible. If you’re told to eat chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and avocado at a given meal, but it’s your kid’s birthday and she’s asking for tater tot casserole and chocolate cake… well, you’re probably going to feel a bit trapped — caught between the options of depriving yourself OR feeling guilty for ‘not following the plan’. When, in reality, no food is EVER off-limits. In this situation, a Show Your Work client would likely be advised to enjoy the birthday party and to create some balance by aiming for lower carbs/fat and higher protein/vegetables at the REST of their meals that day.

Another factor is that accountability to a PERSON is a whole lot more powerful than accountability to a template. I admit that I still giggle every time a new client tells me that “I didn’t grab that third piece of candy because I knew you were going to see it!” — but the fact is, it WORKS. People often say sheepishly that their need for accountability makes them feel embarrassed or “like a little kid who can’t be trusted” — but consider the fact that accountability exists EVERYWHERE. Most of us probably wouldn’t get up and go to work every day if somebody weren’t paying us to do it, yet nobody gets embarrassed about THAT.

I’ve had conversations with one or two people who were really disappointed that I don’t offer some form of a static meal plan, and they do make some valid points. The strongest argument is for “getting some momentum” and “learning how to build a meal” — and I’ll concede that there is absolutely some utility in that. It takes LOTS of practice to learn how carbs, protein, fat, and vegetables go together and what amounts of them we need, and it could well be that I may put together some generic examples of ‘balanced’ meals at some point in the future.

But at the end of the day, blind adherence to a template, even one that’s built specifically for you, is just not generally a great teaching tool. Individual accountability — someone to support and guide you as you construct your OWN nutritional framework and make your OWN mistakes — has a lot more staying power. Most of us aren’t going to be counting macros when we’re 80, but we (hopefully) WILL still be intuitively conceptualizing our food in terms of its nutrients, and loading up our plates accordingly.

So if you think you’re looking for a ‘meal plan’, I would encourage you to consider what you’re REALLY after. Think bird’s-eye view: WHY do you want to be told what to do? Is it that you need simplicity? (What about buying pre-cooked chicken, pre-diced sweet potatoes, and bagged salad greens?) Is it that you think you ‘can’t be trusted to do it properly’ on your own? (Maybe you need some 1:1 accountability.) Is it that you believe that’s the only way weight loss happens? (I would love the chance to do some teaching with you.)

When asked, most folks will agree that what they want is long-term sustainability. The reality, though, is that many people don’t understand what that actually looks like. Hard truth: learning how to TRULY manage your own nutrition is not a quick process. It requires lots of patience and willingness to learn. You WILL stumble. You WILL get frustrated.

But my 2022 New Year’s Day message for you is that if you choose to trust the process — if you commit to the LONG game rather than the quick fix — that you can also break the cycle of perpetually ‘starting over’.