Tutorial – Macro Meal Plan Google Sheets Template

Welcome to my macro meal plan template guide! I created this template as an easy and customizable meal planning system to help me plan my macros. This template is intended for you to make it your own, enter in your own food, and create the perfect plan for you. I’ve created versions with and without micros and versions for coaches, this tutorial will apply to all of those versions! Your version may look slightly different but the functions are the same.

Brand new to counting macros? Read up on everything you need to know to understand this process here.

Discloser: I am not a trained health professional. All articles are based on my own experience and opinions. Please consult with a health professional before making lifestyle changes.

How To Access The Macro Meal Plan Template 

Purchase Your Copy

Here’s the link to purchase this macro meal plan template.

First, make sure you’ve purchased your copy and have followed the instructions in your download to add a copy of the template to your document. If you’re having troubles please refer to the step by step instructions on your PDF download.

How To Use This Macro Meal Plan Template

Recipe Book 

This is where you can keep all your food items and recipes with their nutritional information so you only have to enter it once.

It might be helpful for you to add multiple quantity options of food items so you don’t have confusing serving sizes. For example you might have one line for 2 eggs and another for 3 eggs.

On the template, I’ve left a few of my own items so you can see what it looks like. These items are just examples and it is intended for you to clear it and add your own items. It can be time consuming, but I recommend just adding as you need. Plus, you only have to enter your items once!

Commonly Asked Question: How do I change the serving size from cups to grams?

The items preloaded are just examples, if you’re wanting to use a different measuring system likely my nutrition numbers are different than the products in your country – so you’ll want to remove the examples anyway. Then add your items with whatever serving size you like – the macros are calculated the same.

Google Sheets Functionality

The beautiful thing about this Recipe Book is you can sort by name, category, or macro depending on what you need. If you aren’t familiar with the sort function here’s a little tutorial for Google Sheets (it’s usually similar in Excel) 

How To Sort: 

1. Select the letter of the column you want to sort – (columns are the ones that go up and down) This would be something like the food group, serving size, name, etc. You’ll want to hover over the letter such as “A” “B” etc. 
2. Click the drop-down button on the column letter 

3. Select Sort Sheet A-Z or Sort Sheet Z-A 

Sorting this way will sort alphabetically or for your numbers it will sort smallest to largest. This can be helpful if you want to find an item with high protein but low fat. If you sort to find your lowest fat items then you can look and find one with the protein you need. 

How To Search:

My favorite way to find items is to do a quick search. On windows you’ll hit Control F, on Mac you’ll hit Command F. This will open a little window at the top of your spreadsheet that will allow you to type in an item – like chicken – and then it will highlight everywhere on that page where chicken appears.

Blank Template 

I’ve left an example plan from one of my own meal plans to give you an idea of what it looks like when you’re done. Next to it is your blank template. We’ll talk more later on how to actually create your meal plan so that it’s balanced, but first I want to teach you the functionality of this template.  

How to duplicate tabs 

I would recommend keeping this Blank Template as is so you can always refer back to it. This can be helpful because if you ever accidentally delete something you can always return to this one. So instead of simply filling in this template, I would recommend you duplicate the tab. To do this select the tab on the bottom of your spreadsheet, click the drop-down button, and select “Duplicate”

I would recommend duplicating your meal plan every time you make a new one instead of just changing your current meal plan. This is nice because you can refer to old meal plans for ideas or reuse old meal plans if you don’t want to plan out a new one.

How To Rename tabs  

After you duplicate a tab you’ll want to rename it. I like to name it by the date starting that week.

To do this you follow similar steps to duplicating. Select the tab of the newly duplicated tab on the bottom of your spreadsheet, click the drop-down button, and select “Rename”, then just type in the new name you’d like it to have. 

How to add lines 

If you need to add another line to your meal plan – for example, you need one more line in your snack category – you’ll select the last line of your section by right-clicking on the number and selecting “Insert 1 below”. However, doing so will mean you’ll need to update the calculation (see below)

How to update calculation 

If you add a line you’ll want to make sure the calculation updates with it. To check you’ll want to click on the cell that contains the calories for that section. In the function bar you’ll see something that looks like =SUM(D10:D15) and the cells above the calories are highlighted.

This shows you all the numbers it’s calculating. If your new cell isn’t showing up you’ll want to change the last number to include the number of the line you just added, example =SUM(D10:D15) with one more line added would become =SUM(D10:D16). After you do that your newly added cell should be included. 

You’ll also want to update this on your macro cells as well. The fastest way to do this is to click on the calories cell and find that little square box on the bottom of the cell, click and hold, and drag right across the next three cells, this will update their formulas. 

How To Plan Your Macros With The Macro Meal Plan Template

Ok, now the fun part of actually designing your meal plan! 

Step one – Calculate Your Macros

The first thing you need to do is figure out what your calories and macros are. On the “How To Use This Template” tab I’ve included the calculations for you. Just fill out the relevant information and your macro targets will appear at the bottom and link to your meal plan.

Step two – Start with a Fresh Plan

You can choose to duplicate your tab (follow instructions above) or clear your existing meal plan. Note: if you clear your meal plan it will not save. To save prior plans duplicate the tab and rename it.

Step three – Start Entering Your Meals 

Using the dropdown menu search for the item you’d like to add in each category. You can either scroll through the menu or start typing an item and it will pull it up faster. You do not need to fill out each line if you don’t need it.

Need to add more lines to a section? Read tutorial above. Or – consider adding meals with lots of ingredients as a recipe so you can just use one line.

Continue adding to your meal plan until you have a rough lay out for each meal. It doesn’t help you stress about your macros balancing until you’ve hit your calorie range.

Step four – Balancing 

At this point you have all your meals entered and now you need to make adjustments to make sure your meal plan fits in your macros. This is the puzzle part. It can take some patience when you’re first starting but I promise you that you’ll get better at it as time goes on. Here are a few tips to help you balance your macros.

1. Do you have enough calories? If your calories are below your target get to that first. It’s ok to go over and then remove things as needed. But I’m telling you if you try to balance your macros before hitting your calorie range you’ll give yourself a headache. Get to your range, then balance your macros 
2. Focus on total grams. Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the percentages but instead look at your total grams. You should have calculated the total grams for your percentage on your template so just focus on that range. Need 10 more grams of protein? Focus on adding that. Over by 10 grams of fat? Look at what’s high in fat and see what you can adjust or remove. 
3. Change the serving size. If you’re low in calories try doubling the serving size of something. Or if you’re over calories by a lot, try taking a serving size down by half.
4. Add a snack box. Need some random grams in a bunch of different macros? Add a snack box and include what you need. Maybe it’s some lunch meat, fruit, cheese, and a hardboiled egg. This is my go to way to fulfill my macros with random foods but make them feel like a solid snack.

Troubleshooting Ideas 

Sometimes no matter what you try you just can’t hit those macros – for me, I always struggle with getting enough protein because I don’t enjoy eating over a certain amount of meat in one sitting. So here’s my bag of tricks to hopefully help you hit those macros.

Low In Protein? 

• Add tuna (low in carbs and fat) 
• Snack on hardboiled eggs
• Add a protein shake
• Edamame
• Red meat (if you can take the fat)
• Homemade chicken nuggets
• Baby bell cheese wheels
• Protein balls 
• Cottage cheese 

Low In Carbs? 

I don’t have a lot of these because most people have to cut carbs instead of struggling to add them but here are my go tos: 

• Add a banana, grapes, or any fruit for that matter
• Crackers
• Oatmeal

Low In Fat? 

Fat is another one most people don’t struggle to get enough of, but here are my recommendations: 

• Add peanut butter – great for smoothies, on toast, or if you’re like me just a spoonful for a treat!
• Nuts – trail mix or your favorite kind of nut. Add them to salads if you can.
• Pepperoni 
• Cheese
• Hummus

Hopefully, this guide helps you understand how to use my template and create your custom meal plan.

If you still have questions or if I skipped something PLEASE leave a comment! I want to make this guide as useful as possible but I can’t make it better unless you tell me! 

Thanks for reading – Happy Planning!