Learn Hardcore French: Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré à midi. - I want to have a more balanced meal at noon.

Je veux un repas plus équilibré à midi.
Literally: I want a more balanced meal at noon.
This sounds like you want that kind of meal (you’re asking for it / you desire it).
Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré à midi.
Literally: I want to have a more balanced meal at noon.
This puts a bit more focus on the action over time – for example, changing your routine or habit: I want to (start to) have a more balanced lunch.

In everyday speech, many native speakers would prefer Je veux un repas plus équilibré à midi or, even more naturally:
Je veux manger plus équilibré à midi.

Is avoir un repas the most natural way to say “to have a meal” in French? Can I use manger or prendre instead?

Avoir un repas is understandable and not wrong, but it’s not the most idiomatic in everyday French.

More natural choices are:

prendre un repas – fairly standard and neutral
- Je veux prendre un repas plus équilibré à midi.
  I want to have/take a more balanced meal at noon.
manger – very common, more direct (“to eat”)
- Je veux manger un repas plus équilibré à midi. (a bit heavy, because manger already implies repas)
- More natural: Je veux manger plus équilibré à midi.
  I want to eat more healthily/more balanced at lunchtime.

So:

For “have a meal” as a set phrase, prendre un repas is the most idiomatic.
For daily, casual speech about diet, manger (plus) équilibré is very common.

Why does équilibré come after repas instead of before, like in English?

In French, most descriptive adjectives (including équilibré) usually come after the noun:

un repas équilibré – a balanced meal
un repas plus équilibré – a more balanced meal

Many short, very common adjectives (like petit, grand, beau, bon, mauvais, jeune, vieux, nouveau) usually go before the noun:

un petit repas, un bon repas

But équilibré is a regular descriptive adjective, so it normally follows the noun:

Not: un équilibré repas
Correct: un repas équilibré

Why is it équilibré and not équilibrée? How does the agreement work here?

Adjectives in French must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

repas is a masculine singular noun.
- masculine singular adjective: équilibré
- feminine singular adjective: équilibrée
- masculine plural: équilibrés
- feminine plural: équilibrées

So:

un repas équilibré – masculine singular → équilibré
une alimentation équilibrée – feminine singular → équilibrée
des repas équilibrés – masculine plural → équilibrés

In your sentence, repas is masculine singular, so équilibré is correct.

What exactly does plus équilibré mean here? How is it different from just un repas équilibré?

un repas équilibré = a balanced meal
(balanced in a general, absolute sense)
un repas plus équilibré = a more balanced meal
You are comparing it to your usual or current meals. It’s not just balanced; it is more balanced than before or more balanced than something else.

So plus makes it a comparative:

équilibré → balanced
plus équilibré → more balanced
moins équilibré → less balanced
le plus équilibré → the most balanced (superlative)

Why is it à midi and not au midi or le midi?

The preposition used with midi (noon) in this time expression is à:

à midi = at noon / at lunchtime

Using au midi is incorrect in this sense. Au Midi (with capital M) can refer to the south of France, but that’s a different meaning.

What about le midi?

midi (no article) is used like a specific time: à midi (at noon).
le midi is more like “midday” seen as a period / time of day, often in general:
- Je travaille le matin et le midi. – I work in the mornings and at midday.
- Je mange le midi. – I eat at lunchtime (as a habit).

In your sentence, you’re talking about the time when you want that meal, so à midi is the natural choice.
You’re basically saying: I want (to have) a more balanced meal *at noon / at lunchtime.*

Can I say pour le déjeuner instead of à midi? Would it change the meaning?

You can, but the nuance shifts slightly.

à midi – focuses on the time (noon / lunchtime)
- Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré à midi.
  I want to have a more balanced meal at noon / at lunchtime.
pour le déjeuner – focuses on the meal (lunch)
- Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré pour le déjeuner.
  I want to have a more balanced meal for lunch.

In practice, both usually refer to your lunch, and the difference is subtle:

à midi → “at that time of day”
pour le déjeuner → “for that particular meal (lunch)”

Is Je veux manger plus équilibré à midi correct, and how is it different from Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré à midi?

Yes, Je veux manger plus équilibré à midi is natural and very common.

manger équilibré / plus équilibré is a set expression in French meaning to eat (more) healthily / in a more balanced way.

Comparison:

Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré à midi.
Focus: the meal itself being more balanced (more vegetables, less fat, etc.)
Je veux manger plus équilibré à midi.
Focus: your way of eating being more balanced in general.

Everyday French speakers are more likely to say:

Je veux manger plus équilibré à midi. or
Je voudrais manger plus équilibré à midi. (more polite/softer)

Is using Je veux… too strong or impolite in French? Should I say Je voudrais… instead?

Je veux… is grammatically fine but can sound quite direct or demanding, especially when talking to strangers, waiters, or in formal situations.

Je veux… = I want… (strong, assertive)
Je voudrais… = I would like… (politer, softer)
J’aimerais… = I would like… (also polite, slightly more tentative)

For example:

With friends / talking about yourself:
- Je veux manger plus équilibré à midi.
  Sounds normal: you’re stating your goal.
In a restaurant, ordering food:
- Better to say: Je voudrais un repas plus équilibré, s’il vous plaît.

So in your sentence as a personal resolution or intention, Je veux is fine. In requests, Je voudrais is usually safer and more polite.

How do you pronounce Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré à midi? Are there any tricky liaisons, especially with plus?

Approximate pronunciation in IPA:

Je veux avoir un repas plus équilibré à midi
/ʒə vø avwaʁ œ̃ ʁəpa plyz‿ekilibre a midi/

Key points:

Je veux → /ʒə vø/
- veux ends in a vowel sound; there is no liaison before avoir.
avoir → /avwaʁ/
- The r is guttural (throaty), typical French r.
un repas → /œ̃ ʁəpa/
- un has the nasal vowel /œ̃/.
- Final -s in repas is silent.
plus équilibré:
- Because plus means more here (comparative), and it comes before a vowel (équilibré), native speakers normally:
  - pronounce the s as /z/
  - make a liaison: plus‿équilibré → /plyz‿ekilibre/
- So you will usually hear ply-ZÉ-kilibré, not ply ekilibre.
à midi → /a midi/
- Both a and i are clear, short vowels.

Altogether, you can think of the rhythm roughly as:

ʒə VØ | aVWAʁ œ̃ ʁəPA | PLYZ‿ekiliBRÉ | a miDI