A printable meal plan will help keep you on track with your daily meals so you can meet your weight loss, weight gain or performance goals. Such plans are used to identify the most effective proportion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats for your specific goal. Save all of your daily meal plans and make notes about the type of workout you did each day and how you felt throughout the day based on the foods you have eaten. Adjust the percentages of each nutrient to meet your needs by changing the types of food you eat and the number of servings.
Step 1
Use a spreadsheet program on your computer. Set all margins to ¼ inch and select the portrait option for your page. Create six columns, labeling them in order -- time, food, calories, protein, carbs and fat. The width of the "time" column should measure about 1 cm while the width of the "food" column should be around 4 to 5 cm. Your remaining columns should be around a ½-inch wide.
Step 2
Create five boxes using the bold border feature of the spreadsheet; each box should have seven rows. Every box is one of your five daily meals. Ensure there are one or two rows separating each box.
Step 3
Work on your first meal/box. Type in the time of day of your first meal and list the food item along with the serving size. Include the number of calories per serving as well as the grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat from the food label of the items on your list. If you are eating multiple servings, be sure to double or triple your data in the appropriate space. Note the size of your servings under the "food" column.
Step 4
Insert formulas into each meal/box. Use the "sum" feature of the spreadsheet to total the number of calories, and grams of protein, carbs and fat in the appropriate columns of the sixth row. Create a formula in the seventh row so you can easily see the percentage of your calories from protein, carbs and fat in every meal. For carbohydrates, multiply your total grams of carbs by four then divide your product by the total calories in the meal. Repeat the same calculations for protein. For fat, multiply your total grams of fat by nine then divide your product by the total calories in the meal. Use the percentage function of the spreadsheet to format these numbers as percentages.
Step 5
Create your remaining meals using the same process. Highlight the percentage rows of all your meals so you can quickly zone in on the percentage of your calories from protein, carbs and fat.
Step 6
Select print preview to view your printable meal plan. Ensure all of your columns and boxes are on the sheet. Adjust the width of the columns, the height of your rows and the size of your font so your plan fits on one sheet and is legible. Print your meal plan for the day. Adjust the items in your meal plan every night for the next day. Make any necessary changes then print your plan and make your food accordingly.
Tips and Warnings
- Create your meal plans on the computer you use most often. Keep your spreadsheet open on your computer to make unexpected changes and adjust the rest of your meals accordingly. Print out your daily plans at the end of the day and save them in a binder for reference in future meal plans.
Things You'll Need
- Spreadsheet program
References
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Your Clients Are What They Eat: Balancing Weight with Diet Part 1; Gary Miller, Ph.D.; January/February 2005
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Motivating Change: Modifying Eating and Exercise Behaviors for Weight Management; John Jakicic, Ph.D., and Amy Otto, Ph.D., RD; Jan./Feb. 2005
- "Personal Trainer Manual"; American Council on Exercise; 1997
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