At Meal Planning Pro, it’s our mission to provide you with delicious, balanced recipes to optimize your gut health. Although our meal plans are crafted to cater to a wide range of individuals, personalization is key to ensure they meet your unique needs and goals. In this guide, we’ll explore how you can evaluate if our meal plans fulfill your daily requirements and offer solutions to help them fit your needs. 

Below is an example of the nutritional information totals for 3 different days built with our recipes:

This guide is for educational purposes only and does not replace the advice from a healthcare provider. When possible, we recommend consulting with a registered dietitian or other healthcare practitioner to ensure you are satisfying your caloric needs and macronutrient requirements.

Assessing Your Caloric Needs

Calories are units of energy that your body needs to function. The number of calories you need daily depends on various factors, including your age, gender, weight, height, and activity level.

To determine your daily caloric requirements, we recommend utilizing the Mifflin St. Jeor equation to determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR). You can conveniently use this online calculator. Once you have your BMR, you’ll need to factor in the calories expended through your daily activities and your weight goal, if you have one. 

There are two methods to accomplish this:

1. You can use the estimated daily calorie requirements that are shown in the table below your BMR after it is calculated.
2. If you use a wearable, such as an Apple Watch, you can determine your average calories burned through activity by adding up the total number of calories burned in a given week and dividing it by 7. Add that number to your BMR to get your total average daily caloric requirements. 

If you have a weight gain or weight loss goal, you can further modify this number.

• For Weight Loss: Subtract 250-500 calories from your daily caloric needs to aim for a weight loss of ½ to 1 pound per week. We do not recommend going any higher than 500 calories as this is not safe. Please also be aware that individual weight loss results may vary. 
• For Weight/Muscle Gain: If you are looking to gain weight or put on muscle, add 250-500 calories to your daily caloric needs to strive for a weight gain of ½ to 1 pound per week. Individual results may vary.

Determining Protein Needs

To determine your protein requirements first take your body weight in kilograms and use one of the formulas depending on your goals.

• Low Protein: 0.8 g x (your body weight in kg) = # grams of protein per day
• Moderate Protein: 1.0 g x (your body weight in kg) = # grams of protein per day
• High Protein: 1.5g x (your body weight in kg) = # grams of protein per day

Assessing Our Meal Plans

Each of our recipes includes a detailed breakdown of the caloric content and macronutrient distribution (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats). To assess if our meals fit your caloric and macronutrient needs, review the detailed nutrient breakdown and compare it to your calculated needs.

If you find that our meal plans don’t meet your needs, don’t worry! There are several ways to customize your meal plan to ensure it meets your requirements. 

Option #1: Add Snacks

If you need to increase the number of calories in our meal plans, we recommend adding a snack between meals. This ensures a balanced distribution of calories and macronutrients throughout the day. 

We offer a comprehensive snack guide with a variety of balanced, gut-healthy options that complement our meal plans and help you achieve your caloric goals.

Option #2: Adjust Portion Sizes

If you find that our meal plans do not meet your caloric needs, consider adjusting the portion sizes. 

Increase Portion Sizes

• Option 1: Increase the Protein: If our meals do not meet your protein requirements, try first increasing the protein portion from meat, fish, tofu, shellfish, beans, or legumes.
  • Meat, fish, or shellfish: For each additional ounce, you will add about 45 calories, 7 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat, and 1 gram of carbohydrates.
  • Tofu: For each additional ounce, you will add about 20 calories, 2 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat, and 1 gram of carbohydrates.
  • Tempeh: For each additional ounce, you will add about 31 calories, 3 grams of protein, 2 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbohydrates.
• Option 2: Increase the Legumes/Beans: Increasing your legume or bean portion is a great way to increase carbs, protein, and fiber all at once, ensuring you are getting a balance of each macronutrient. For each additional ounce, you will add about 30 calories, 2 grams of protein, 0.2 grams of fat, and 6 grams of carbohydrates (including 2 grams of fiber). However, if you have a sensitive stomach or you are not used to eating a lot of fiber, slowly increase your portion of legumes or beans to avoid temporary GI upset. 

Decrease Portion Sizes 

If you need to reduce the number of calories in our meal plans, consider decreasing the portion sizes.

• Reduce Protein: If your protein intake exceeds your requirements, reduce the portion size of protein sources like meat, fish, tofu, and legumes.
• Reduce Fats: Decrease the amount of added fats like oils, nuts, and seeds to reduce calorie intake. Fats are nutrient-dense, so slightly reducing the portion of fats can help you effectively lower the caloric intake.
• Reduce Carbs: Alternatively, you can reduce the portions of starchy carbs such as rice, pasta, and starchy vegetables to lower the caloric content of the meal. You can also swap them for lower-calorie, vegetable alternatives.
  • Example:
    • Swap pasta for zoodles
    • Swap rice for cauliflower rice
    • Swap bread and tortillas for lettuce wraps

Option #3: Add Nutrient Dense Foods

If you need more calories, another method is to add nutrient-dense, healthy fats to your meal. Examples include avocado, nuts, olive oil, or seeds.

• Avocado (1 tablespoon): 23 calories, 0.3 grams of protein, 2 grams of fat, and 1 grams of carbohydrates
• Chia Seeds (1 tablespoon): 49 calories, 1.7 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat, and 4 grams of carbohydrates
• Flax Seeds (1 tablespoon): 37 calories, 1 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbohydrates
• Almonds (1 tablespoon): 47 calories, 2 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbohydrates
• Walnuts (1 tablespoon): 48 calories, 1 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat, and 1 gram of carbohydrates
• Olive Oil (1 tablespoon): 119 calories, 0 grams of protein, 14 grams of fat, and 0 grams of carbohydrates