Before you start - create your meal plan! Mustang
Please click here to download and use the food group calculator to work out your meal plan. When you input your height, weight, age, and physical activity level, the calculator will work out the minimum number of each of the main food groups you should aim for each day depending on what type of training you’re doing: protein-rich foods, starchy carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Everyone should aim for at least eight portions of fruit and veg each day, so whatever your goals are, aim for at least five different vegetables and three different fruits.
Aiming for food group targets like this rather than tracking your calorie and macronutrient intake precisely encourages a much greater degree of variation and diversity into your diet, because you can input whichever foods or meals are most suitable to you – depending on your taste, budget, accessibility and even seasonality of the ingredients. It will also save you a LOT of time, because you won’t have to weigh each ingredient you cook with and enter it into food tracking programme, which is never very accurate anyway. Think of all the other things you could be doing with your time – training, getting out in nature, cooking more, seeing friends and family, or just taking time out to relax.
Food groups
Groups |
Foods |
Portion size |
High protein foods |
Cooked beans/lentils/chickpeas* |
1 cup (~160g) |
Tofu/tempeh |
1 cup (~120g) |
|
Seitan |
1 cup (~120g) |
|
VivoLife Perform/Ritual/Whole |
1 scoop (30g) |
|
Soy-based products (e.g. burgers/sausages) |
120g |
|
Vegan Quorn pieces |
1 cup (~120g) |
|
Pea/chickpea/lentil pasta |
1 cup |
|
Nuts/nut butter† |
30g (counts as ½ high protein portion) |
|
Seeds/seed butter† |
30g (counts as ½ high protein portion) |
|
Soy milk/yoghurt |
1 cup (counts as ½ high protein portion) |
|
Nutritional yeast |
3 Tbsp (counts as ½ high protein portion) |
|
Starchy carbohydrate foods |
Cooked grains (e.g. rice, couscous, quinoa, millet, buckwheat etc) |
1 cup |
Cooked beans/lentils/chickpeas* |
1 cup |
|
Bread (wheat, sourdough, GF etc) |
1 medium slice |
|
Wholegrain breakfast cereal |
1 cup |
|
Raw oats / muesli |
½ cup |
|
Cooked pasta (wheat, pea, lentil, GF etc) |
1 cup |
|
Potatoes |
1 medium |
|
Flour (wheat, oat, buckwheat, sorghum etc) |
¼ cup |
|
Banana** |
1 medium |
|
Healthy fats |
Ground flax, hemp, chia, and other seeds† |
Small handful (~30g) |
Walnuts and other nuts† |
Small handful (~30g) |
|
Nut/seed butters (e.g. almond, cashew or peanut butters or tahini)† |
2 Tbsp |
|
Oils (e.g. cold-pressed rapeseed / extra virgin olive oil) |
1 Tbsp |
|
Avocados |
½ medium (~80g) |
|
Coconut milk |
½ cup |
|
Vegetables |
Salad leaves (e.g. lettuce, rocket/arugula, cress, raw spinach) |
2 cups |
Cooked veg (e.g. broccoli, peas, aubergine, kale) |
1 cup |
|
Raw veg (e.g. celery, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers) |
1 cup |
|
Cooked beans/lentils/chickpeas* |
1 cup |
|
Root veg (e.g. sweet potato, parsnip, swede): 80g |
80g |
|
Fruit |
Medium sized fruit (e.g. apple, peach, banana**) |
1 piece |
Small fruits (e.g. plum, apricot, fig) |
2-3 pieces |
|
Berries (e.g. blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes) |
½ cup (~80g) |
|
Chopped larger fruits (e.g. pineapple, mango, melon, watermelon) |
½ cup (~80g) |
|
Dried fruit |
30g |
|
Fluids |
Water (should make up the majority of fluid intake) |
1 cup |
Plant-based milks |
1 cup |
|
Tea (e.g. VivoLife Matcha) |
1 cup |
|
Coffee (e.g. VivoLife Magic Coffee or Adaptogenic lattes) |
1 cup |
*Beans/lentils/chickpeas count towards high protein, carbohydrate, and vegetable groups
†Nuts/seeds count towards high protein and smart fat groups
**Bananas count towards starchy carbohydrates and fruit groups
This approach is not precise, but it’s not meant to be. That’s because your calorie and macronutrient requirements change from day to day, depending on your training, what you do in your spare time, how much you’ve slept, how much stress you’re under etc. So on some days, your calorie intake will be a little higher, some days a little lower, depending on what foods you choose to include. For example, a cup of butternut squash will have more carbohydrates and calories than a cup of cucumber, but both count as a portion of vegetables. That’s absolutely fine, because your requirements are always changing. At the same time, the food groups do still provide some useful structure, and so it’s easy to adjust the levels if you’re making progress too quickly or slowly.
Here is a one-week example meal plan, designed to meet the needs for athlete 1:
- High protein foods: 4
- Starchy carbohydrates: 11
- Healthy fats: 5
- Vegetables: 5+
- Fruits: 3+
Your requirements may be similar to this example, in which case you can follow it closely. Or if you need to add (or take away) food groups to make it fit your requirements, try making the following simple adjustments:
Starchy carbohydrates:
- Adding/taking away 1 cup of cooked rice, quinoa, or other grains to your meals
- Serving 1 medium sized potato, baked or cut into wedges and roasted, as a side
- 1 medium banana as a snack
Protein:
- 1 scoop VivoLife Perform simply mixed in a shaker with water or plant-based milk
- 1 extra cup of tofu/tempeh/seitan to your favourite dish
Fats:
- A handful of nuts/seeds as a snack (remember this provides additional protein too)
- ½ medium-sized avocado alongside a meal or added to a sandwich/salad
You’ll notice that we’ve suggested cooking double portions for a few of the dinners to make an easy lunch the following day. We’re big fans of batch cooking because it saves so much time, so we recommend finding a balance between convenience and variety that works best for your schedule! If you don’t have time to cook from scratch every day, try batch cooking more than we’ve suggested here – as long as the meals match the food groups then you’ll still be on track for making big progress! You could also freeze some portions for a healthy instant meal on those days where you run out of fresh food (or time)!
Example meal plan
Monday |
Meal |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fats |
Veggies |
Fruit |
Cals |
Breakfast |
Smokey beans on toast |
1 |
3 |
|
2 |
|
589 |
Snack |
Chocolate berry superfood smoothie |
1 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
286 |
Lunch |
Chickpea tuna and sweetcorn sandwich + 1 avocado |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
736 182 |
Snack |
½ cup muesli with ½ cup oat milk |
|
1 |
|
|
|
277 |
Dinner |
Mexican loaded sweet potatoes + 1 cup rice (make double for lunch tomorrow) |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
642 205 |
Snack |
½ cup fresh mango |
|
|
|
|
1 |
69 |
Total |
|
4 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
2986 |
Tuesday |
Meal |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fats |
Veggies |
Fruit |
Cals |
Breakfast |
Salted caramel protein crepes |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
612 |
Snack |
1 medium banana + ½ cup blueberries |
|
1 |
|
|
2 |
42 105 |
Lunch |
Mexican loaded sweet potatoes + 1 cup rice |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
642 205 |
Snack |
Butter bean and mint dip + 1 cup cucumber sticks |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
210 |
Dinner |
Red lentil aubergine dhal + 1 cup rice (make double for lunch tomorrow) |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
692 205 |
Snack |
2 x banana oat cookies |
|
2 |
|
|
|
282 |
Total |
|
4 |
11 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
2995 |
Wednesday |
Meal |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fats |
Veggies |
Fruit |
Cals |
Breakfast |
Maca oatmeal with caramelised bananas |
1 |
2 |
|
|
1 |
574 |
Snack |
Hidden greens protein smoothie + 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
522 75 |
Lunch |
Red lentil aubergine dhal + 1 cup rice |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
692 205 |
Snack |
1 medium banana |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
105 |
Dinner |
Lentil mushroom and walnut burgers + 1 sliced avocado + baked wedges of 1 medium potato |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
389 364 161 |
Snack |
½ cup fruit salad |
|
|
|
|
1 |
32 |
Total |
|
4 |
11 |
5 |
7 |
5 |
3119 |
Thursday |
Meal |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fats |
Veggies |
Fruit |
Cals |
Breakfast |
Scrambled tofu on toast + 1 sliced avocado |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
343 364 |
Snack |
Pineapple raspberry protein smoothie + ½ cup oats |
1 |
2 |
|
|
2 |
369 154 |
Lunch |
Baked falafels + 1 cup salad leaves + 1 toasted pitta bread + 2 cups sweet potato wedges |
1 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
|
293 223 230 |
Snack |
1 banana |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
105 |
Dinner |
Vegan mac and cheese + 1 cup green peas |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
928 125 |
Snack |
2-3 fresh plums |
|
|
|
|
1 |
51 |
Total |
|
4 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3185 |
Friday |
Meal |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fats |
Veggies |
Fruit |
Cals |
Breakfast |
Bircher overnight oats |
1 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
410 |
Snack |
2 x banana oat cookies |
|
2 |
|
|
|
282 |
Lunch |
Cajun soul bowl + ½ sliced avocado |
1 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
918 182 |
Snack |
1 medium banana + ½ cup raspberries |
|
1 |
|
|
2 |
32 105 |
Dinner |
Stuffed sweet potato with lentil kale and tahini (make double for lunch tomorrow) |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
486 |
Snack |
Chocolate peanut butter bowl |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
2 |
750 |
Total |
|
4 |
10 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
3165 |
Saturday |
Meal |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fats |
Veggies |
Fruit |
Cals |
Breakfast |
1½ cups plain muesli + 1½ cups oat milk |
|
3 |
|
|
|
831 |
Snack |
1 medium banana |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
105 |
Lunch |
Stuffed sweet potato with lentil kale and tahini |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
486 |
Snack |
Fully loaded pb toast |
0.5 |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
394 |
Dinner |
Tamari tofu stir fry + extra cup noodles + 1 sliced avocado (make double for lunch tomorrow) |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
786 182 113 |
Snack |
½ cup blackberries + 30g almonds |
0.5 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
31 164 |
Total |
|
4 |
11 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
3092 |
Sunday |
Meal |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fats |
Veggies |
Fruit |
Cals |
Breakfast |
Buckwheat pancakes |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
393 |
Snack |
2 apple oatmeal cookies |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
201 |
Lunch |
Tamari tofu stir fry + 1 sliced avocado |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
786 182 |
Snack |
1 cup oats cooked with 1 cup oat milk |
|
2 |
|
|
|
438 |
Dinner |
Sweet & spicy chickpeas with avocado pesto zoodles + 1 cup cooked quinoa |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
786 222 |
Snack |
Banana ice cream |
|
2 |
|
|
1 |
210 |
Total |
|
4 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
3218 |