The reality is that for most personal trainers, their clients struggle more with nutrition than their training. And despite that, the standard advice given on social media and forums for professional development is to "stay in your lane".
Your clients have come to you for a result, and if their most significant barrier to their success is their nutrition, you may want to consider developing the skills to help them with that problem. And once you have, there's a range of meal planning software available to make your clients' lives easier and reduce the amount of time you spend helping them plan their meals.
1. My Fitness Pal
Probably the app that everyone thinks of when planning meals and tracking food, MyFitnessPal is an extraordinarily well-established market leader. Available as both a mobile app and via the website, the platform offers a vast range of recognised food items in its database.
The free version of MyFitnessPal offers excellent functionality. It is highly user friendly, but the paid version allows you to be more precise with setting targets - allowing figures to the single gram. As a personal trainer tool, you can add your clients and see that they are logging in and using it, and even ask them to grant you access to viewing their food diaries.
The free version of MyFitnessPal offers excellent functionality. It is highly user friendly, but the paid version allows you to be more precise with setting targets - allowing figures to the single gram. As a personal trainer tool, you can add your clients and see that they are logging in and using it, and even ask them to grant you access to viewing their food diaries.
2. Nutrium
Hugely popular in the UK, this app feels self-contained. For personal trainers that may already be using several pieces of software to run their businesses, this is likely to be necessary. It has a powerful goal-setting feature and allows the trainer to coach their clients around eating habits actively.
This can overcome people going "off-plan" and allow the clients to feel like they're getting support and guidance. Nutrium enables the trainer to get better results, and because the clients feel well supported, it can reduce the "churning" of clients out of your business.
This can overcome people going "off-plan" and allow the clients to feel like they're getting support and guidance. Nutrium enables the trainer to get better results, and because the clients feel well supported, it can reduce the "churning" of clients out of your business.
3. Nutritics
Nutritics is the software recommended by some of the country's leading nutritionists. They have more than 800,000 foods in their database - including supplements, which is quite unusual. There's an option to analyse recipes and create healthier versions of them before suggesting them to clients. For a personal trainer that has a fat loss element to their offering, this is hugely valuable.
Using Nutritics is a highly customisable way to support your clients with their particular nutrition needs and is available both as a website and via a mobile app called LIBRO, which also integrates habit tracking. Nutritics can be branded to reflect your own business and offers an incredibly professional standard of service.
Using Nutritics is a highly customisable way to support your clients with their particular nutrition needs and is available both as a website and via a mobile app called LIBRO, which also integrates habit tracking. Nutritics can be branded to reflect your own business and offers an incredibly professional standard of service.
4. Dietmaster Pro
With over a million users worldwide, Dietmaster Pro is very well established in the nutrition world. For personal trainers using it as an analytical tool, the ability to create nutrition labels from custom recipes and the option to use pre-written templates and plans will be one of the most valuable features.
Another unique feature for a personal trainer would be the integration with recognised body composition analysers. This could allow a trainer to take a granular approach to deficiencies in their client's eating habits.
Another unique feature for a personal trainer would be the integration with recognised body composition analysers. This could allow a trainer to take a granular approach to deficiencies in their client's eating habits.
5. Evolution Nutrition
Evolution Nutrition uses analysis software called "The Smart Plan", which moves clients away from calorie counting and simplifies the process by using points which it calculates for them. Thus, Evolution Nutrition may not be a value congruent with some personal trainers' business values, so this won't fit everyone's tastes.
However, if your clients come from a background of using diet clubs, this will feel quite familiar to them. There's a great feature called "healthy suggestions" that can help your clients make up for deficiencies in their nutrition, such as adding protein to a meal.
The 7 built-in food templates cover gluten-free, lactose-free, soy-free, low GI, vegan & vegetarian clients and could mean that as a trainer, you feel more comfortable supporting a client with a specific nutritional requirement. Evolution Nutrition can also be branded to reflect your business.
However, if your clients come from a background of using diet clubs, this will feel quite familiar to them. There's a great feature called "healthy suggestions" that can help your clients make up for deficiencies in their nutrition, such as adding protein to a meal.
The 7 built-in food templates cover gluten-free, lactose-free, soy-free, low GI, vegan & vegetarian clients and could mean that as a trainer, you feel more comfortable supporting a client with a specific nutritional requirement. Evolution Nutrition can also be branded to reflect your business.
6. Healthie
Healthie takes a holistic approach to health. From a personal trainer's perspective, it's great to get organised with things like payments, provide education and training, sort through, and save virtual paperwork and clear communication with your clients.
Healthie is not just about meal planning. It takes more of an overview of your fitness business and integrates the back end business features with your client delivery and fulfillment.
Healthie is not just about meal planning. It takes more of an overview of your fitness business and integrates the back end business features with your client delivery and fulfillment.
7. Nutrition Maker
Nutrition Maker provides one of the easiest ways to help your clients with their meal planning, and it's so self-explanatory that clients can use it themselves. It contains a wide range of pre-loaded plans, all of which have been designed by registered dieticians.
So if you want to support your clients with their eating habits, but you haven't got the time and qualification to do so, this could be a perfect solution. The clients handle their own logging and stay on top of their nutrition themselves. From a personal trainer's perspective, this is a fantastic way to get the client to "buy-in" to what you're helping them with.
So if you want to support your clients with their eating habits, but you haven't got the time and qualification to do so, this could be a perfect solution. The clients handle their own logging and stay on top of their nutrition themselves. From a personal trainer's perspective, this is a fantastic way to get the client to "buy-in" to what you're helping them with.
8. My Plate
MyPlate is owned by LIVESTRONG.COM and is a free mobile app. There are nutrition charts, goal tracking meal planning and customisable shopping lists. There are some short workouts and daily motivation options in there, too, for clients that appreciate movement.
There's scope for a personal trainer to provide guidance and suggestions. If you're looking for nutrition software and your budget is tight at the moment, this could be a superb option for your business.
There's scope for a personal trainer to provide guidance and suggestions. If you're looking for nutrition software and your budget is tight at the moment, this could be a superb option for your business.
Conclusion
While many training software platforms like PTDistinction offer nutrition coaching built-in, some personal trainers may want to ease clients to focus either on nutrition or training. To do that, keeping the two separate can allow each to have a greater focus.
The client can sometimes put more effort into their training and nutrition if they are separate tasks in the week because they give each role dedicated time in their weekly planning. This can improve the results your clients get because it makes them make more effort to each.
For a personal trainer with a thriving fitness business, automation and delegation will be fundamental to your growth. Finding a way to highlight your coaching service's unique qualities will be vital if you want to stand out in a crowded market. Adding nutrition support to your service's features can allow you to help more clients and have an even more significant impact on their health and fitness goals. When your clients get outstanding results, they will stay inside your business for more time and generate more referrals.
The client can sometimes put more effort into their training and nutrition if they are separate tasks in the week because they give each role dedicated time in their weekly planning. This can improve the results your clients get because it makes them make more effort to each.
For a personal trainer with a thriving fitness business, automation and delegation will be fundamental to your growth. Finding a way to highlight your coaching service's unique qualities will be vital if you want to stand out in a crowded market. Adding nutrition support to your service's features can allow you to help more clients and have an even more significant impact on their health and fitness goals. When your clients get outstanding results, they will stay inside your business for more time and generate more referrals.
