Eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated, but as someone who has coached a lot of people, I know that sometimes it feels like it is. Between figuring out the right portions, balancing macronutrients, and ensuring you get enough vitamins and minerals, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s where the Build-a-Plate Meal Builder comes in.
This interactive tool simplifies nutrition by helping you create well-balanced meals based on scientifically sound principles. Whether you’re aiming for weight loss, muscle gain, or simply a healthier lifestyle, this tool helps you design meals that fit your goals. If you are a coach, it can also help you to design meals for your clients, or at least show them what a generally well balanced meal should look like.
So, let’s actually get stuck into the Build-a-Plate Meal Builder!
Build-a-Plate Meal Builder
Build-a-Plate Meal Builder
Create your ideal balanced meal
Food Library
Your Selected Foods
Macronutrient Breakdown
Vitamins & Minerals
The Science of a Balanced Plate
A well-balanced nutrition plan is more than just calories, it’s about nutrient distribution and how those nutrients work together to fuel your body effectively. A properly structured plate should include the following elements:
1. Protein: The Foundation of Strength & Recovery
Protein is crucial for building and repairing tissues, supporting immune function, and maintaining muscle mass. It also plays a role in hormone and enzyme production. A well-balanced plate should have a quality protein source in each meal.
- Animal-Based Proteins: Chicken, fish, lean beef, eggs, dairy products like Greek yogurt and cheese.
- Plant-Based Proteins: Lentils, beans, tofu, tempeh, seitan, quinoa, and edamame.
- Daily Target: Aim for 1-8-2.2g per kg of body weight per day, spread relatively evenly across your meals.
2. Carbohydrates: Your Body’s Preferred Energy Source
Carbohydrates provide the body with glucose, which is converted into energy to support bodily functions and physical activity. However, the quality of carbohydrates matters.
- Complex Carbohydrates (Slow-Digesting): Whole grains, oats, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, legumes, and fibre-rich vegetables.
- Simple Carbohydrates (Quick Energy): Fruits, honey, and dairy products.
- Daily Target: Aim to use whatever calories you have left after you set your protein and fat targets as carbohydrates. You may want to prioritise eating more of these carbs around your training sessions.
3. Healthy Fats: Essential for Brain & Hormonal Health
Fat is often misunderstood, but it plays an essential role in brain function, hormone production, and cellular health. The key is choosing the right kinds of fats:
- Healthy Fats: Avocados, nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews), seeds (chia, flax, pumpkin), olive oil, coconut oil, and fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel).
- Limit Unhealthy Fats: Reduce processed trans fats found in fried foods and excessive saturated fats from processed meats.
- Daily Target: Aim for 0.6-1g per kg of body weight per day, spread relatively evenly across your meals.
4. Fibre: The Key to Digestion & Gut Health
Fibre supports digestion, stabilises blood sugar levels, and contributes to heart health. A fibre-rich diet is linked to a lower risk of chronic diseases.
- High-Fibre Foods: Whole grains, legumes, leafy greens, berries, nuts, and seeds.
- Daily Target: Aim for at least 25-35g of fibre per day, ensuring that each meal has fibre-rich components.
5. Micronutrients: The Unsung Heroes of Health
While macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fats) provide energy, micronutrients (vitamins & minerals) support overall wellness by aiding in energy metabolism, immunity, bone health, and more.
- Essential Vitamins & Minerals:
- Vitamin A: Found in carrots, sweet potatoes, and leafy greens.
- Vitamin C: Found in citrus fruits, bell peppers, and strawberries.
- Vitamin D: Found in fatty fish, egg yolks, and fortified dairy.
- Iron: Found in red meat, beans, spinach, and tofu.
- Calcium: Found in dairy, almonds, and fortified plant-based milks.
How to Use the Build-a-Plate Meal Builder
1. Start with the Food Library
The Food Library allows you to search and select foods to build your meal.
- Type in a food (e.g., “chicken,” “quinoa,” “broccoli”).
- The tool fetches real-time nutritional data from the USDA database.
- Click on a food item to add it to your plate.
But be warned, some entries in the USDA database are much higher quality than others. Some of them have much more data, while others include less data. This is most apparent when looking at the micronutrient breakdown.
2. Customise Your Portions
Once you add a food to your plate, you can adjust the portion size using the input box next to the item. The default portion is 100g, so you will need to adjust accordingly.
3. Macronutrient Breakdown at a Glance
Your meal’s macronutrient distribution is displayed in an easy-to-read pie chart.
- Blue = Protein
- Orange = Carbs
- Red = Fats
- Green = Fibre
This visual representation helps you tweak your meal until it meets your dietary goals.
4. Check Your Vitamin & Mineral Intake
The vitamin chart provides a breakdown of essential micronutrients like Vitamin A, C, D, E, K, and B12. If you’re low in a certain vitamin, you can modify your meal accordingly.
5. Assess Your Total Calories
The total calorie count updates in real time as you add or remove foods. This feature is especially useful for keeping the calories of the meal in check, ensure you’re eating enough and allowing you to achieve a balanced daily intake.
Final Thoughts The Build-a-Plate Meal Builder
The Build-a-Plate Meal Builder is a powerful yet simple way to take control of your nutrition. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, build muscle, or improve overall health, this tool gives you real-time feedback to make smarter meal choices. If you are a coach, you can use it to better design meals for you clients and educate them on better meal set ups.
If you would like more help with your diet (or training), we do have online coaching spaces available. if you are interested in learning more about the diet and how to coach people to a better diet pattern, we also have an Online Nutrition Coaching Certification program that may be of interest to you. We also recommend reading our foundational nutrition articles, along with our foundational articles on sleep and stress management, if you really want to learn more about how to optimise your lifestyle. You can also sign up to our newsletter and YouTube channel if you wish to stay up to date with our content. You can also subscribe to our podcast on Spotify. We have a number of articles that will really help you to understand all of this stuff, and make much better decisions around your diet:
- How Many Calories Should You Eat?
- How Much Protein Should You Eat?
- How Much Fat Should You Eat?
- How Much Carbohydrate Should You Eat?
- How Much Fibre Should You Eat?
- How Much Water Should You Drink?
- Dealing With Alcohol In The Diet
- Overview of Diet Quantity
- Understanding Diet Quality
- Putting Healthy Eating Guidelines Into Practice
- Understanding Food Selection
- Diet Quality: Micronutrients and Nutrients Of Concern
- Diet Quality Overview
- Longer Term Diet Planning
- How To Set Up Your Diet Overview
