Best Meal Planning Software For Nutritionists
Meal plans can be a fantastic tool to use with your nutrition clients to help them get long-lasting results with their health goals.
They help take the guesswork out of grocery shopping and preparing meals, and clients can feel confident knowing that what they’re eating has been “nutritionist-approved”.
As amazing as meal plans are, building them for your clients can be a time-consuming and tedious task for you as a nutritionist.
In my own nutrition practice, I remember it taking anywhere from 4-6 hours to create one meal plan for a client. It took forever to create them on my own, and the fun of finding recipes and creating a plan quickly vanished!
This is where good meal planning software comes in.
Once I started using a meal planning platform in my nutrition practice, I could create a meal plan in less than 30 minutes, saving me so much time so I could work on other important tasks in my business.
Let’s discuss the best meal planning software for nutritionists so that you can find the best fit for you and your business!
What is a Meal Planning Software?
A meal planning software is an online database of recipes that streamlines and automates the process of creating client meal plans.
These platforms allow you to save time while feeling confident that your clients are receiving healthy, “nutritionist-approved” recipes at the click of a button.
You can select meals based on different diets (paleo, keto, vegan) and include nutritional information such as calories, fat, protein, and carbs with most meal planning software.
Many of the meal planning platforms allow for easy customization by allowing you to brand the meal plans with your own logo and brand colours.
Other features include shopping lists and weekly meal planners—some platforms even include food journals so your clients can track what they’re eating.
After you effortlessly create your client’s delicious meal plan, you can easily share it with them in a multitude of ways, depending on the platform’s capabilities!
Send a PDF meal plan to your client by email, upload your meal plan into your client management platform (like Practice Better!), and have your client sign into an app to access their meal plans and recipes…the options are endless.
Why Use a Meal Planning Software as a Nutritionist or Dietitian?
Including meal planning software in your practice will help you save a ton of time in creating personalized meal plans and recipes for your clients.
You’ll also get the chance to choose from thousands of healthy recipes for your clients, instead of having to take the time to create your recipes to share with your clients - all the work has been done for you!
Here are some reasons to add a Meal Planning Platform into your nutrition practice:
Options to personalize meal plans for food preferences and sensitivities
Create a personalized plan for your client’s health goals
Build a meal plan based on your client’s schedule and lifestyle—some clients need meal prep or only have a certain amount of time allotted to cook; other clients might need bigger portions for their family!
Upload your recipes or use the ones provided in the software
Gather feedback about your client's likes and dislikes and make quick and easy changes to their meal plans
Most importantly, meal planning platforms will help to take the guesswork out of healthy eating, making reaching your client’s health goals an easier task to achieve!
When Should I Invest in a Meal Planning Software For My Nutrition Business?
The decision if and/or when to invest in a meal planning platform can be tough, especially if you are newer in your nutrition business!
You might be wondering if you should wait until your practice is busier or is making consistent income before you invest. A way to re-frame this is that you might be able to take on more nutrition clients and make more income with a fast and streamlined way to make meal plans.
A meal planning platform will be an investment for your business, but like every investment, ask yourself what your return on investment will be.
Odds are that if you use the meal planning software to its fullest extent, you’ll make more money than you’ll be spending. Win-win!
Here are some signs that you might be ready to invest in a meal planning platform:
You’re spending too much time with meal plans, either creating them or sending them back and forth with clients
You no longer have the time to research new recipes or create your own
It’s become a struggle to come up with meal plans or recipes ideas
You want to add a stream of passive income to your business by creating meal plans or recipe bundles to sell on a shop page
Your team is growing, and it’s time to delegate meal planning to someone else
That Clean Life - Best Meal Planning Software
My go-to meal planning platform recommendation for nutritionists is That Clean Life. This platform offers a great user experience for you and your clients and has a mobile-friendly apps that support nutrition tracking on the go!
Let’s break down some of the features that make this meal planning platform the best in the industry!
That Clean Life includes:
Over 6,000 taste-tested, easy-to-filter recipes in the database created by nutritionists and dietitians
Beautiful professional images of each recipe
140+ pre-made meal plan templates for you to use
Upload your own recipes
Over 100 ways to filter ingredients
Create client resources such as recipe guides, shopping lists and more!
Option to use leftovers for meal planning and aid in food waste reduction
Showcase nutritional information on meal plan if needed
Add your logo and branding for customization
Pricing— Starts at $30 per month
This is the meal planning platform I used and loved in my own nutrition business, and saved me SO much time when creating meal plans and recipe bundles!
How to Choose a Meal Planning Software For Your Practice?
Can’t decide on which meal planning software to go with?
Here are some points to consider when choosing a platform:
Meal Plan Delivery— Consider how meal plans are delivered from your platform and if this can be easily automated or streamlined within your platform.
Pricing—Find a platform that gives you the fundamentals of meal planning without breaking the bank. You can upgrade to a more advanced system as your nutrition business grows.
Recipe Database—It’s essential to look at the number of recipes included, meal plan building functionality, recipe quality and nutritional values. Are they aligned with your nutrition philosophy? How exciting and enticing do the recipes look to make?
User Experience— Look for a platform that is easy to navigate for both you and your client. Is it easy to add recipes to a meal plan? Can you navigate through the platform without much trouble?
Health Goal Functionality—Some platforms offer a function to enter and track your client’s health goals, and automate nutritional calculations based on the numbers entered.
Client Data Management & Privacy—Clients may submit sensitive health information, so it’s important to ensure that the platform you choose has the appropriate safeguards and security to store clients’ information.
Integrations and Automations—For optimal efficiency, you may be able to integrate your meal planning software with other platforms you use in your business operations.
Technical/Customer Support—Ensure that your chosen platform has solid support and technical team, to help guide you if you need any support.
At the end of the day, choose a meal planning platform that feels best to you!
You can always try one out and switch if need be, so don’t let perfectionism get in your way when it comes to choosing software.
Remember that these software and platforms are here to help you streamline your business, so choose one that fits with your business and will make your life (and business!) easier.
*this blog post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small affiliate commission from your purchase.
