Purchasing a custom meal plan is a pivotal decision in getting lasting results! Here’s everything you need to know to access your new plan and turn a meal plan into actual meals!
You’ve probably heard it before, but crushing your workouts will only get you so far. It’s your eating habits that will help get you the long-term results you’re after.
Unfortunately, nutrition is also the most difficult part of fitness for most people to understand and put into action! That’s why we created the V Shred Custom Coaching program: to help eliminate the guess work and have the experts do the heavy lifting of figuring out what and how much to eat — so you don’t have to!
If you’ve received your a V Shred Custom Diet Plan or are just considering buying one, here’s what to expect — and a step-by-step guide of how to turn that plan into actual meals!
What to Expect When You Get Your Plan
When you open up your meal plan, the first thing you will see is your meals for the entire week.
Most days will look like this:
- Breakfast
- Snack
- Lunch
- Snack
- Dinner
There might be another snack before bed, depending your goals. In addition to everything you need to eat at each meal, you will find the calorie/macro breakdown for each meal and your total daily calories/macros for the entire day at the bottom of the page.
Before we dig deep into the plan, let’s address the one question we almost always get right out of the gate. Why is my plan just one week?
Here’s why: Unless you see something that you don’t like, or we determine the plan isn’t working for you and your goals, our plans are written to repeat the same meals for several weeks, — normally, right about a month.
That may sound weird, but there is a reason. You get better at your diet the same way you do with your workouts — by repeating them more than once. Sticking to the same meals for a few weeks helps you learn crucial meal preparation and portion control skills!
Once you are confident and seeing results, we’ll start mixing things up. But if you need more variety, reach out to Be it day one or day 90; your coach is always happy to make adjustments!
Now let’s dig into how to put your plan into action, in 5 steps.
Step 1: Look Over All Seven Days Of Your Plan
Start with page one and go through each meal. Don’t just skim! Do a deep dive. Look for anything you may see as a problem; a food you hate, something you are allergic to, or a meal that just doesn’t feel right.
If something looks off, speak up! Let your coach know, and they will keep changing it until you are happy! Your plan is never set in stone.
That’s a big difference between our meal plans and ones from other online services. Our plans are meant to be truly customized. We keep making adjustments until you’re confident you can follow it without feeling overly restricted or overwhelmed.
Step 2: Make a Shopping List & Head to the Grocery Store
After the meal schedule, you will find recipes and instructions. Skip past this section for now and go to the back of the meal plan and look at the shopping list! It is about three pages long and includes everything you need to follow our recipe suggestions and make your meals.
Because your meals come from recipes, this section may look a little weird. Like, who buys .38 cups of salsa, right? Or just one tablespoon of peanut butter?
But remember, you will be repeating this meal plan for four weeks, so you will be buying almost everything you need for an entire month of meals.
That’s another perk of meal planning: It is very budget-friendly! It may seem expensive during that first shopping trip, but once you get good at shopping, you can easily save enough money each month to pay for your meal plan.
We suggest printing this section and taking it to the store with you so you can buy everything you need to set yourself up for most of the month in a single trip. In some cases, you’ll only have to buy some of these things once every few months.
You will also see specific brand names called out on these shopping lists. You don’t need to buy the exact brands listed. Buy the brand you want or that you can afford.
Step 3: Practice Measuring Your Food
Our meal plans contain a range of pretty normal food: measurements: tablespoons, ounces, cups, etc. If you go to the last page of the meal plan, there’s a simple portion guide that helps you put those into some terms. For example, a cup of salad greens is about the size of a baseball.
However, we recommend investing in a food scale and tools like measuring cups and spoons for optimal accuracy. You can pick one up at most department/grocery chains or find them really cheap online.
That may seem like overkill, but here’s why it’s so important. Compare these two servings of nuts. They’re both a size that would be easy to scoop out of a bag with your hand, but one contains an extra 235 calories.
That number of extra calories one time won’t make or break your results. But repeated on a regular basis for weeks or months, the calories will definitely add up!
The moral of the story: It’s hard to “eyeball” portions, especially when you’re not used to it. Use a food scale as often as you can, at least for a couple of months. Over time you can get pretty good at eyeballing, but it takes plenty of practice.
Step 4: Learn Your Swaps
Our V Shred coaches share a short guide with every meal plan that lists easy protein, carb, fat, and vegetable substitutions. These are interchangeable foods based on your wants, needs, and cravings, and will help keep you from getting bored with your plan.
For example, let’s say you see chicken on your plan a few times. If you already know that you are going to get sick of chicken after a couple of days, when you are out grocery shopping, pick up some items on the substitute list! You could have an equal portion of lean turkey, white fish, 3/4 of a cup of cottage cheese, or plenty of other options.
If you aren’t sure if you are substituting with the right foods or don’t see any substitutions you like, you can always reach out to your coach to ask. Our Facebook Group for Women or Facebook Group for Men are also packed with thousands of people who have had success in custom coaching, and they have tons of great ideas to keep you satisfied.
Step 5: Pick Your Meals
Now that you’ve looked at your plan and understand the shopping and substitutes list, it’s time to make your shopping list, and start prepping a few meals! If you need some ideas on making meal-prepping easier, Vince filmed a great video on meal-prep tips that can help you get started.
Hopefully you are feeling confident and ready to start eating and feeling better!
But if you are still confused after looking everything over, it’s normal. Please don’t hesitate to talk to your coach! You are never bothering them, and there is no such thing as a “dumb” question.
Each week, look for a “check-in” emails from your V Shred coach. If you have any questions or feel like you’re struggling, this is the best way to get help from experts who know how to give it.
Now, time to go start taking control of your nutrition. We know you can do it!