Health Coach Collaborative/NNC 1.5 The Foundations of Personalized Meal Planning
Meal planning course

Meal Planning is a Profitable Revenue Stream for Fitness Professionals and Health Coaches

Many people are confused about what a healthy diet means. Conflicting nutrition information from popular diet trends, food bloggers, food activists, and nutrition research contributes to the uncertainty. Many people are easily misled by food labels and challenged by food restrictions due to illness or allergies. This course provides you with the knowledge you need to create individualized meal plans that can add additional revenue to your Fitness or Health Coaching Business and will ultimately help your clients achieve their health goals.

Trying to figure out what to eat is not a clear and simple process, so it’s not surprising that the service most often requested from a Natural Nutrition Coach is a menu plan.

Each person has their own specific nutritional needs. An important responsibility of a Natural Nutrition Coach is to identify which eating style is ideal for a client, to determine which nutrients they may require in greater amounts, and to educate and support their client to make eating decisions based on their body’s needs.

This course teaches practical meal planning and menu design to prepare you to work with clients based on their eating preferences, lifestyle, and current health status. Where do you start when your client is a vegan bodybuilder with nut allergies? Or a child with diabetes who won’t eat vegetables?

You will learn how to apply natural nutrition principles to create a healthy, balanced menu that addresses specific health needs and tastes while considering time and budgetary limits.

Ally Truscott

Body Blueprint Fitness Education Inc.

I took the Foundations of Personalized Meal Planning course for my own personal nutritional journey and I’m so glad I did! The manual is extensive and covers all types of eating preferences and restrictions. I love the meal plan examples throughout and how anytime a question came up while I was reading the manual, I could always find the answer! The manual acknowledges that there is no one diet that will serve everyone, but rather provides all the information so you can make the best meal plan for yourself or your client. As someone who struggles to get a sufficient amount of protein, this course provided me with great ideas on how to obtain more. It opened my eyes to how important protein is for each meal and snack, and not just if you’re trying to gain muscle but simply to maintain balanced nutrition or for different stages in life. I also learned about how to plan meals according to macro nutrients and meal size for different times of day. As someone who craves sugar, the course opened my eyes to ultra-processed foods and how they can disrupt your nutrition, with an extensive list of additives and what they do. I also had the opportunity to attend a free webinar called “Healthy Meal Planning for Busy People” which was a perfect addition. This course has allowed me to become more conscious of what I’m eating day to day, giving me the tools to work towards eating more nourishing meals and snacks so that I can have more energy, sleep better and work towards a healthier lifestyle. 

Just some of the topics covered in the course:

  • How to read and interpret food labels
  • Portion sizes
  • Which food additives to avoid and why
  • The benefits of eating seasonal, organic, non-GMO food
  • Organizing and planning a healthy menu for the entire week
  • Healthy food preparation and practices, including instructions for soaking and sprouting
  • Cooking methods to prevent nutrient losses
  • How to overcome barriers to healthy eating, including time and budget constraints, picky eaters, and more
  • Specialty diets, diet trends, and menu planning for clients following these diets
  • Preparing a weekly grocery list
  • And more…

Time-saving meal planning applications!

You’ll receive a variety of useful tools and resources, including access to Meal Garden and other time-saving meal planning tools!

Throughout the course are activities, exercises, and quizzes, and at the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to practice putting your knowledge to use by preparing a menu for a family member or friend! The assignment will be reviewed and returned with helpful feedback to ensure you’re on the right track.

Course Outline

This course teaches practical meal planning and menu design to prepare you to work with (and offer additional services to) clients. Learn how to apply natural nutrition principles to create a menu that maximizes nutrients and incorporates individual health needs and tastes, while also considering time and budget restraints. Topics include healthy food preparation and practices (including soaking, sprouting, and fermentation), grocery shopping, portion sizes, mindful eating, and meal/menu planning for shift workers. Learn how to guide your clients to decipher food labels and labeling terms, recognize food additives, and understand the benefits of eating local, seasonal, organic, and non-GMO foods. Learn how to overcome barriers to healthy eating: time limitations, feeding picky eaters, eating outside the home and at work, healthy snacking, and breaking unhealthy eating habits.

Course Objectives

Students will learn the components of required food labels, the terms, and methods involved in organic and processed food production, and how to recognize whether a food is organic, contains additives, or genetically modified ingredients. Students will develop a foundational understanding of the process of meal planning, and how to work with clients to establish a practical, healthy, and balanced menu they will be inclined to follow.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to demonstrate:

  • An understanding of the various food labels and their parts.

  • What ultra-processed foods are and their risk factors.

  • How to identify common food additives and their risks.

  • An understanding of natural and organic labeling terms.

  • Examples of greenwashing.

  • How to introduce clients to an organic diet and lifestyle.

  • What GMOs are and how to recognize and avoid them.

  • How to approach healthy meal preparation.

  • How to introduce more vegetables into one’s diet.

  • How to grow microgreens and sprouts at home.

  • How to incorporate healthier ingredient substitutions into one’s current diet.

  • How to plan a weekly grocery list.

  • How to educate clients about mindful eating.

  • An understanding of portion sizes and the best way(s) to explain them to clients.

  • How to approach eating outside the home.

  • What healthy snacking is.

  • The elements of the Mediterranean diet.

  • Knowledge of popular diet trends and how to identify which eating style may be the right approach for a particular person.

  • How to conduct a nutrition assessment and assess a client’s goals to establish meal plan recommendations.

  • Which questions to consider before creating a menu plan for clients.

  • The steps to creating a meal plan.

  • Counter measures for clients struggling to follow their meal plan.

  • An understanding of causes underlying common food cravings.

Contents

Welcome & Introduction

Welcome & Introduction
How to Navigate this Course
Our Four Pillars Approach to Health
Course Outline: The Foundations of Personalized Meal Planning
e-Textbook and Flipbook Link: The Foundations of Personalized Meal Planning
Video - What Causes Food Cravings?
Food Mood and Activity Journal
Quiz: The Foundations of Personalized Meal Planning
Activity 1.3: Meal Planning Practice Assignment- Instructions
Meal Planning Client Consultation Form Template
Meal Planning Services Agreement Template

Supporting Documents

Grocery Shopping List NNC logo.pdf
Think You Dont Like Vegetables Grocery List with NNC Logo.pdf
Healthy Eating on a Budget Webinar
Introduction to Practitioner Files & Dashboard
Meal Planning Templates & Questionnaires
Food, Mood, & Symptom Journal Activity

Recommended Meal Planning Tools

BONUS: Meal Garden Menu Planning Tool
Metabolic Balance - Grow Your Coaching Practice

Course Conclusion & Next Steps

After the Foundations in Personalized Meal Planning Course

You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers.

Are there any prerequisites to taking this course?

Completion of our Foundations in Natural Nutrition Course or an equivalent course is recommended.

How long is this course?

It is estimated that this course will take between 12 and 15 hours to complete. 

How many continuing education credits is this course worth?

This course is approved for 4.0 CECs with Canfitpro

We can provide you with a petition letter for CECs.

What is a passing grade?

To successfully complete this course you must receive at least 80% on all quizzes & activities. 

How is the course presented?

This is an online course, that is 100% self-paced. Your learning materials include a downloadable PDF textbook, online quizzes, assignments, and videos to review.