How to Teach Your Clients to Do Their Own Meal Planning
I have an awesome guest post for you today from Abigail Hopkins of That Clean Life. Abigail is sharing insightful tips on how to teach your clients how to do their own meal planning. There are many health coaches that live in states where they aren’t allowed to provide customized meal plans for their clients, so this is the perfect solution, and it helps empower your clients even more.
Here’s Abigail…
Meal plans: either you love them or you hate them. But regardless of how you feel about them, the truth is that meal plans can be an incredibly powerful tool in helping your clients and community members achieve real results and adopt healthier eating habits.
But here’s the thing: You can teach your client’s the benefits of meal planning without designing them yourself. If you want to avoid creating meal plans for your clients, but you still want to give them a powerful resource to guide them to success – listen up because I’ve got the perfect solution for you!
Meal Planning Guides
A Meal Planning Guide is a curated collection of resources that will teach your client how to do their own meal planning, which will set them up for long-term success. If you don’t see clients one-on-one, you can also use the concept of Meal Planning Guides for group programs.
A great Meal Planning Guide has three main components:
1. A variety of recipes that suit your client’s needs
In order to choose the best recipes for your client, you should first conduct a meal planning assessment. This will allow you to learn more about your client’s likes, dislikes and lifestyle. Once you have learned more about your client like the foods they love and how much time they have to cook, you can put together a selection of recipes that suit their needs.
Gather great recipes, and organize them according to meal type like breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks (or, just use That Clean Life for Business which does all of this for you!)
Tip: If you need guidance on what questions to ask in your assessment, grab our Meal Planning Assessment Tool here.
2. A meal plan template or calendar
Once you’ve put together a collection of recipes that your client will love, you can create a blank meal plan template that they can fill in. Here’s an example of what this might look like:
Your client can use this template and fill it in with what they want to make, based on your recipe suggestions.
3. Tips and tricks on meal planning
Now that your client has the recipes and meal planner template, they are ready to start creating their own meal plan! To set them up for success, you should also include a one-page outline of how to use the Meal Planning Guide. Explain how you’ve chosen the recipes, and tips on meal planning like grocery shopping hacks, meal prep pointers and how to use leftovers to save time
Once you have created an outline of how to use the Meal Planning Guide, combine it with the recipes and the blank meal plan template – and you are all set to rock your client’s world!
Remember that meal planning is a skill that takes time to develop, so be sure to schedule frequent check-ins to support your client as they learn the ropes. By giving your clients everything they need to succeed with self-directed meal planning, you are increasing the odds that they will achieve their goals and become raving fans.
What do you think? Do you feel like Meal Planning Guides could benefit your clients and community? Grab our free Meal Planning Assessment Tool, and get to work!
Abigail Hopkins is the co-founder of That Clean Life, an online platform that helps leaders in the health and wellness industry easily create personalized and professional nutrition programs for their clients, without spending hours on it, so that they can make the world a healthier, happier place. She’s a Registered Nurse, a Culinary Nutrition Expert, a big fan of hip hop and playing the long game.
