Guidelines for Creating a Meal Plan

Transcription

1 Guidelines for Creating a Meal Plan By Susan Baker The following guidelines are intended to provide a detailed step-by-step guide to designing meal plans. These guidelines are broken down into sections, in order to take students through the initial stages of investigation and research, then to actually constructing the meal plan. I. Purpose of a Meal Plan The obvious purpose of a meal plan is to provide clients with guidelines for healthy eating. A well-constructed meal plan should give clients a good idea as to what a balanced, healthy day or week should look like (i.e., a balance of macronutrients, and a balance of food categories: fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, animal foods, healthy fats, natural sugars, etc.). Consider that this can be done in two forms: general or specific. General meal plan: A meal plan that can be followed by a variety of individuals. It contains a range of healthy foods. Examples: Whole Foods Eating for Kids, Quick & Easy Monday- Friday Eating. In some cases, a general meal plan might have some restrictions, such as common food allergens like wheat and dairy. Examples: Wheat-free, Dairy-free Eating. Specific meal plan: A meal plan that is designed to meet a specific requirement, such as a specific health condition (e.g., Crohn s disease), specific way of eating (e.g., Kosher; vegan; raw foods; gluten-free), or that is designed for a specific individual/client (i.e., customized based on their likes/dislikes, eating routines, or other need). A specific meal plan might also include more detailed information like quantities of food (e.g., ¼ cup almonds) or specific types/brands of food (e.g., yeast-free rye bread). II. Preliminary Considerations a. Who are you planning for? Are they single? Married? Family? Parent? Child? Living alone or with others? Age? Ethnicity? Employment status? And so on b. What are their main health concerns/needs/goals?

2 c. Do they have special requirements or lifestyle needs? E.g., Athlete? Previous diagnosis/illness? d. What is a typical day like for them? A typical week? (I.e., Routines, timing of meals, personal/family commitments.) Sketch it out: Identify how busy or complicated their life might be; this helps create a practical meal plan that might include quick dinners for busy weeknights, lunches built around leftovers, or shopping lists for weekly grocery store visits. e. Do they know how to cook? Do they like to cook? Does someone else do the cooking for them (and should that person be involved in the planning of meals)? f. Are there specific foods/flavours they dislike? Or foods that they avoid? Which ones? g. Do they have any food sensitivities/allergies that they are aware of (or foods that you suspect they should avoid)? h. Do they have any favourite foods? Do they crave certain foods? Which ones? i. Do they eat out? How often? Where? When? j. Where do they do their food shopping? k. Which grocery and health food stores do they have access to (i.e., proximity to their home or work)? l. What is their food budget? What can they afford? Or, what priority do they place on purchasing healthy food? m. What do they need/want from you as their meal planner? What are they looking for in a meal plan? Examples include: i. Meal and snack ideas, or an actual meal plan? ii. A meal plan of how many days? (Typical options: 4-day, 7-day, 2-week, 4- week) iii. iv. Structure/detail/specifics versus flexibility (e.g., fresh seasonal fruit as opposed to apple )? Recipes, recipe websites, cookbook recommendations? v. Information on How to Cook? How to Shop? Consider a grocery store or health food store tour.

3 III. Structure and Content of a Meal Plan a. Introduction: i. It is helpful, but not necessary, to include a brief explanation of the purpose of the meal plan. Most often, an introduction is helpful when the meal plan is designed for a specific type of client or health condition, for example, a vegan, or someone with Crohn s Disease. (A more general healthy eating meal plan does not necessarily require an introduction.) ii. iii. The nutritionists (your) contact information (name, tel#, address) can be included in the introduction section and/or in the footer of each page of the meal plan. Optional to include: (These can be included in the introduction, or as separate pages at the end of the meal plan.) Lists: e.g., foods the meal plan includes/does not include ( eat/limit/avoid ); basic grocery shopping list Basic cooking instructions for foods like grains, leafy greens, roasted root vegetables, etc. (Or, consider a separate handout called How to Cook ) References / Resources used (Essential to include if actual information or excerpts come from a source other than yourself) b. The actual meal plan: i. Basic structure of a meal plan: Most meal plans are typically done in chart/table format; Minimum of four days; also common: 1-week, 2-week, 4-week meal plans; Includes three main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and two snacks between the meals, with one additional snack in the evening (can be made optional ); It is not necessary to include actual times (i.e., breakfast: 7am) unless you are doing a customized meal plan and it is important for the client to know;

4 It is recommended that you inform the client of frequency of eating (e.g., every 2-3 hours), and of when to finish eating for the day (e.g., by 9pm); ii. Most meal plans should be specific, clear, and concise, but general enough that it can be customized on a client-by-client basis. E.g., wholegrain toast can later be customized to include: type of bread; number of slices. Or, you might decide to make a highly specific meal plan (i.e., customized for a specific client, or customized on a case-by-case basis). E.g. sandwich becomes Sandwich: 2 slices of bread (types of bread options)+ ½ T mayo* + ½ can tuna/wild salmon + handful lettuce + sliced tomato) *recommended brands can be listed in a shopping list in the introduction or at the end of the meal plan. iii. iv. Incorporate elements into the meal plan that support the purpose (goal/healing) of the meal plan s theme/topic. E.g., incorporate omega-3 foods in an antiinflammatory/allergies meal plan. Include therapeutic amounts of specific foods, when possible. This should be based on scientific/clinical research for that condition (e.g., diabetes) or desired result (e.g., cholesterol-lowering). (The therapeutic food might be recommended daily or weekly, depending on the findings.) E.g., a daily dose of cinnamon powder (¼ - ½ tsp.) has been shown to lower blood glucose levels in type II diabetic patients. v. Do not include foods that undermine/conflict with the healing purpose of the meal plan. E.g. no citrus/strawberries in an anti-inflammatory diet. vi. Include a balance and variety of nutrients/foods: Balance: Within a day, there should be a balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat) appropriate to the individual. That is, unless recommended for therapeutic/healing purposes, a meal plan should not be explicitly high protein (e.g., 40-50% calories from protein) or low fat (e.g., less than 10% calories from fat). The meal plan should also supply a balance of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), as well as other food elements like enzymes (i.e., in raw foods), water (i.e., in high-water content foods like fruits and vegetables compared to grains and proteins), and fibre (i.e., in plant-based foods versus animal-based foods).

5 Variety: Within a day, there should include a variety of food groups and foods within those groups. I.e., each day of a meal plan should include fruits, vegetables, grains, fats, proteins, natural sugars (optional), etc., unless otherwise recommended for the healing purposes of the meal plan. And a meal plan should include variety within a food group; i.e., the meal plan should include a variety of fruits, not just an apple a day, every day. Other food elements to include a variety of: texture (e.g., watery versus starchy vegetables; smooth versus granular), colour, flavour, etc. This accomplishes two objectives: 1. It helps the client consume a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients within a few days, ideally helping to prevent deficiency of any one nutrient; 2. It helps decrease the likelihood of developing food sensitivities by not repeating consumption of the same foods (particularly allergenic foods such as grains, dairy, and sugars). There should be enough variety within a fourday period that if the client were to repeat Days 1-4 over a subsequent four days (i.e., Days 5-8), they would not be over-doing one particular food. vii. Establish an appropriate balance between the number of meals that involve just basic preparation (e.g., wholegrain cereal with milk) and meals using recipes (e.g., Hot Cinnamon Millet refer to recipe). While recipes offer a great way for a client to try new foods and learn new methods of cooking, too many recipes may feel overwhelming, time-consuming, and result in non-compliance. c. Recipes: Recipes should adhere to the principles of holistic nutrition and include whole, natural food ingredients. E.g., 2 eggs, as opposed to 2 egg whites. i. Indicate a recipe is included through an obvious notation, e.g., apple cinnamon muffins* *recipe included this can be denoted at the bottom of the page/chart ii. Include all recipes at the end of the actual meal plan: Include them in the order that they appear in the meal plan (i.e., Day One recipes followed by Day Two recipes, and so on), or, organize them by

6 meal plan section (i.e., Breakfast Recipes, Lunch Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Snack Recipes) If the recipe is not your own, indicate the source. (Include information such as the person s name, title of cookbook, website.) Examples: (a) Recipe by Susan Baker (b) Adapted from (c) Recipe by Caroline Dupont, Enlightened Eating, (d) Recipe by Nettie Cronish, New Vegetarian Basics d. Nutrient Analysis Although not necessary to explain or give to a client, nutrient analysis is an excellent quantitative tool for nutritionists to use to gain an understanding of approximate intake of nutrients without guessing /estimating. Analysis of a meal plan (or of a client s food journal) can be done using a food analysis software program (e.g., fitday.com, or nutritiondata.com) or using a quantitative food index/counter (i.e., a book). The quantitative analysis of a meal plan or food journal reveals the total calories consumed, as well as the proportion (%) of calories from macronutrients (carbohydrates (g), protein (g), fat (g)) consumed. It is recommended that nutrition students experiment with the on-line food analysis programs (e.g., fitday.com) in order to become comfortable using it for clients. At first, it can feel overwhelming or intimidating to use. Although the amount and proportion of nutrients depends on individual needs (e.g., an athlete may require more protein than the average adult; a vegan may consume less protein and more carbohydrate and fat than the average adult), general guidelines are as follows: General daily guidelines for average adult:

7 Male Female Calories: Carbohydrate: 50-75% of calories g g Protein: 10-30% of calories g g Fat: 15-30% of calories 33-83g 25-60g Other components: e.g., fibre g fibre daily 25-45g fibre daily