The Balanced Meal Formula: A 2-Page Meal-Building Guide

If you’ve been looking for a simple way to help clients build balanced meals without a strict recipe, this guide is for you.

This 2-page handout introduces an easy formula for building satisfying, well-rounded meals: a non-starchy veggie, a protein, a starchy veggie or grain, and flavor added throughout via sauces, marinades, or seasonings. A visual plate breakdown shows exactly how to portion each meal using this formula.

To make the formula easy to put into practice, this guide also includes real example meal combinations, like grilled chicken, roasted broccoli, and rice with lemon and garlic, so clients can see exactly how the formula comes together on a plate.

Included in this guide:

• A visual “Build Your Meal” plate breakdown showing how to portion each component
• The simple meal formula: non-starchy veggie + protein + starchy veggie/grain + flavor
• Example meal combinations showing the formula in action

This guide works well as a follow-up to plate-based nutrition education, giving clients a flexible framework they can apply to any meal, without counting or restricting.

Best for clients looking for a simple, repeatable way to build balanced meals using foods they already like.

If this sounds like a helpful addition to your nutrition education toolkit, this guide is ready to download and use right away.