Setting Up a Client's Meal Plan

Before You Begin

• The steps in this article require the Nutrition Planning add-on in your subscription. Find the full steps in Getting Started With Nutrition Planning →
   
• A meal plan covers one week: seven days, each with three meal slots (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and three snack slots. The snack slots are named Mid-morning snack, Mid-afternoon snack, and After-dinner snack, which match the meal times in your client's Food & Mood Journal.
   
• Preferences and daily nutrition targets apply to one meal plan at a time. Each new meal plan starts with its own settings.
   
• Preferences and targets do different jobs:
  • Preferences (dietary preferences, exclusions, and cultural preferences) change which recipes you see when you search, add, or swap.
  • Daily nutrition targets are for reference only. They show how each day measures up, but they don’t change which recipes appear. See Setting Daily Nutrition Targets in a Meal Plan →
     
• When you share the nutrition plan, your client sees the meal plan's targets in their Client Portal, unless you hide nutrition information. See Sharing a Nutrition Plan With a Client →

Starting From a Template

Templates are ready-made meal plans you can adjust for your client.

1. Open a client record and go to their Nutrition Plan section.
    
2. Select More templates on the Get started screen. If the client already has a meal plan, select Browse templates at the top of the page.
   
    
3. In the Nutrition plan templates pop-up, type in the search bar or scroll the list to explore the templates. Each template shows its number of days and recipes.
   
   • Click Preview to review a template's details before selecting one.
      
4. From either the templates list or the preview screen, click the Use template button.
    
5. Continue with Setting Meal Plan Preferences.

📍 Note: When you create a client's first meal plan, you return to the client's Nutrition Plan page so you can see the plan in its filled state. Click the meal plan to open it and keep customizing.

Previewing a Template

1. In the Nutrition plan templates pop-up, select Preview next to a template.
    
2. On the Overview tab, review the description, dietary tags, and recipes included.
   
    
3. Select the Evidence tab to see the research behind the template. The Evidence is only visible to practitioners in this view, to help inform your choice. It isn't added to the meal plan, and clients don't see it.
   
    
4. Select Use template (at the bottom corner) to create the meal plan, or select Back to nutrition plan templates (at the top corner) to keep browsing.
    
5. Continue with Setting Meal Plan Preferences.

Starting From a Blank Meal Plan

1. Open a client record and go to their Nutrition Plan section.
    
2. Select Blank Meal Plan on the Get started screen. If the client already has a meal plan, click the New meal plan button.
   
    
3. A blank planner opens with the settings panel open, so you can rename the meal plan and set preferences and targets.
   

When your settings are in place, fill the planner using the steps in Adding Recipes to a Client's Meal Plan.

Setting Meal Plan Preferences

Preferences apply to one meal plan. They filter and rank the recipes you see when you search, add, or swap recipes in that meal plan.

1. Open a client record and go to their Nutrition Plan section.
    
2. Click on a meal plan to open it.
    
3. Click Edit preferences near the top-right to open the Edit Meal Plan Settings panel.
    
4. Optionally rename your meal plan by typing in the meal plan title field.
    
5. Set your Meal plan preferences:
   • Daily nutrition target sets a daily goal for calories, macros, and other nutrients. See Setting Daily Nutrition Targets in a Client's Meal Plan for the full steps.
     
      
   • Dietary preferences narrow a meal plan to recipes that fit a specific eating pattern, such as Mediterranean, Ketogenic, Low FODMAP, or Vegan. Click Edit to open the Dietary preferences options. Choose from the list of options and click Apply to return to the Meal plan preferences options.
     
      
   • Exclusions remove recipes with specific ingredients from this meal plan, such as ingredients your client is allergic to or avoids. Click Edit to open the Exclusions options. Type to search for an ingredient and click the checkbox to add it to this meal plan's Exclusions. Click the small "x" beside an ingredient to remove it from this meal plan's Exclusions. Click Apply to return to the Meal plan preferences options.
     
      
   • Cultural preferences include African, Asian, Caribbean, Indian, Latin, and Middle Eastern. They move matching recipes to the top of your search results and suggestions without hiding other recipes. Click Add to view these options and click the checkbox next to the ones you want. Click Apply to return to the Meal plan preferences options.
     
      
6. Click Save.

When Recipes Do Not Match Your Preferences

If any recipes in the meal plan conflict with your new preferences, you'll see a pop-up saying, "Some recipes don't match your preferences." Select Expand to see each affected recipe, the number of days it appears, and its meal.

⚠️ Important: Swapping permanently replaces the affected recipes. This action cannot be undone.

Choose one option:

• Swap recipes: Replaces each affected recipe with one that matches your preferences.
• Save with conflicts: Saves your preferences and keeps the existing recipes.

The meal plan header shows a conflicts badge when recipes don't match your preferences. The same conflict count appears on the meal plan in the client's Meal plans list.

How Preferences Shape Recipe Search and Suggestions

Your meal plan's preferences apply everywhere you look for recipes in that meal plan: when you add a recipe to an empty slot, when you search in the swap panel, and in suggested recipes.

• Dietary preferences and exclusions filter results. Recipes that don't fit are left out.
• Cultural preferences rank results. Matching recipes appear first, and other recipes still appear below them.
• No preferences set: You see the full recipe library.
• No matching recipes: If your preferences filter out every recipe, you'll see a message saying no recipes match. Try a different search term, or adjust the meal plan's preferences.

Suggested recipes show up to five recipes that fit the meal plan's preferences and aren't already in the meal plan.

• Recipes tagged for that meal time appear first, such as snack recipes in a snack slot. Other recipes fill any remaining spots.
• Stricter preferences leave fewer tagged recipes to choose from.

Next Steps

• Setting Daily Nutrition Targets in a Client's Meal Plan →
• Adding Recipes to a Client's Meal Plan →
• Adjusting and Swapping Recipes in a Meal Plan →
• Sharing a Nutrition Plan With a Client →