Designing multi-day meal plans with recipes and food items

Creating effective multi-day meal plans for your clients in Fitsly allows for flexibility and customization, enabling you to design plans that suit various goals and preferences. In this guide, we'll explore how to build a meal plan with multiple variations (days) and how to incorporate both recipes and individual food items.

1. Understanding meal plan structure

A meal plan in Fitsly consists of Variations, which are essentially different days. Each variation can contain multiple Meals, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Within each meal, you can create several Options, meaning different choices for that meal (e.g., "Eggs" or "Cereal" for breakfast).

Example of a meal plan structure:

• Variation: Monday
  • Meal: Breakfast
    • Option 1: Scrambled Eggs + Toast
    • Option 2: Smoothie Bowl
  • Meal: Lunch
    • Option 1: Grilled Chicken Salad
    • Option 2: Quinoa and Veggie Bowl

2. Adding variations (days)

To start designing your meal plan, go to the Meal Plans page. Here's how you can set up variations (days):

1. Click Add Variation to create a new day.
2. Give the variation a name (e.g., "Monday," "Training Day," or "High Carb Day").
3. You can create as many variations as you need, whether for a 7-day plan or customized based on activity (e.g., "Rest Days" vs. "Workout Days").

Variations help you organize meals in a way that’s flexible for different routines or nutrition cycles.

3. Adding meals and options

Once you've created your variations (days), it's time to populate them with meals. Each variation can have multiple meals, and within each meal, you can offer several options for clients to choose from. Here's how:

1. Select a variation (e.g., "Tuesday") and click Add Meal.
2. Name the meal (e.g., "Breakfast" or "Post-Workout Snack").
3. Add meal Options by clicking Add Option. Each option can be a different combination of food items or recipes.
4. For each option, you can either:
   • Add recipes: Pull from your custom recipes or the Fitsly recipe library.
   • Add food items: Choose from your custom foods or search the verified foods database.

You can easily customize each option to include different recipes or food items, making it easy to offer variety in your clients' meals.

4. Using recipes and food items in meal plans

Fitsly allows you to combine individual food items and recipes in each meal option. This provides greater flexibility when creating personalized meal plans for your clients. Here’s how to incorporate them:

• Recipes: Select a recipe from your custom recipes or create a new one. Recipes are ideal for complete dishes like "Salmon with Quinoa & Veggies," where multiple ingredients are combined into one option.

• Food Items: Choose individual food items from your custom foods or the verified food database. This option is great when you want more flexibility, like adding a single ingredient or allowing clients to mix and match based on their preferences (e.g., "Eggs" or "Greek Yogurt").

5. Calculating total macros for variations

As you add meals and options to each variation (day), Fitsly automatically calculates the total macros for the entire day based on the food items and recipes you've included. This makes it easier to track and ensure your client’s nutritional targets are met for each day.

Example of a daily macro breakdown:

• Total Calories: 1,800
• Protein: 140g
• Carbs: 200g
• Fats: 50g

You can adjust portion sizes or substitute food items within the meals to align the macro goals with your client’s needs.

6. Best practices for designing meal plans

To create a balanced and effective meal plan, follow these best practices:

• Include variety: Offering multiple options for each meal helps prevent monotony and ensures clients stay engaged.
• Balance macros: Use the calculated macros to ensure each day meets your client’s nutritional needs.
• Tailor to client goals: Adjust variations (days) based on your client’s activity level, goals, and preferences.
• Use recipes for complex meals: Recipes are perfect for more complex meals that involve multiple ingredients, like a full dinner.
• Leverage the food database: The verified food database gives you access to a wide range of options, so you can easily find items that fit specific dietary requirements.

7. Future updates

Currently, meal plans are structured as a collection of variations (days), giving you full flexibility to design diverse plans. In future updates, Fitsly plans to introduce different types of meal plans such as "structured", "collections", and "flexible" to cater to various coaching styles. Stay tuned for more updates on how you can further enhance your nutrition coaching.

Designing multi-day meal plans in Fitsly offers unparalleled flexibility and control over your client’s nutrition. By combining variations, meals, options, recipes, and food items, you can build diverse and effective plans that cater to your clients' specific goals and preferences.