Nutrition coach, holistic health coach, lifestyle coach, nutritionist…the world of wellness and nutrition information, and the variety of professional designations, can be daunting. So how do you know if you need a nutrition coach? Here are five clues that you may want to look at. But first, let me share a little about my health coaching & nutrition coaching approach. Today’s food supply looks much different than it did 100 years ago. Modern farming, demand for convenience, economics, and other influential factors have us eating a lot more calorically dense, yet nutritionally insufficient, and many times toxic foods and beverages. Our conventional health care providers are not always set up, in the best way, to provide in-depth education and guidance to people on the importance of establishing a healthy lifestyle. This leaves many at a loss for a practical, nutrition-based solution to their basic health and wellness goals and objectives. Many of these can be supported by a more consistent, healthy-eating lifestyle. But many people need the extra education, knowledge, creativity, and personal guidance to make that happen. Simply turning to a diet or a fad doesn’t really get to the core of what makes the body function and thrive. That is where nutrition coaching comes in.
So how do you know if you need a nutrition coach?
1. You Feel Run Down & Want More Energy
Proper nutrition is the key to maintaining healthy metabolism and consistent energy levels. When we feel hungry, it is our cells telling our stomach that they need nutrition. The key is to fuel your cells throughout the day with the right kinds of foods. Because most of us are running to the next convenient package of carbs or caffeinated pick me up, we are filling up our stomachs but not necessarily giving our cells the nutrition they are asking for. So our cells continue to ask for more food, we oblige with more nutritionally inadequate foods, and we enter a vicious cycle of poor eating habits without even realizing it. Over time, this will have a negative impact on your energy and overall well being, and could lead to all sorts of inflammation and illness. A good nutrition coach has the knowledge and skills necessary to help someone understand the basic roles different foods play in our bodies, and how to adapt their own lifestyle and behaviors to make sure they are getting the right foods at the right times. While the client is learning how to develop healthier eating habits, at the same time, they are learning to celebrate and enjoy healthy foods, eat mindfully, and feel satiated throughout the day. The result is a more empowered relationship to, and understanding of your food, healthier metabolism, a more balanced body, and a more energized day.
2. Stubborn Weight Has You Stumped
There are a lot of ideas out there about why stubborn weight persists, and what to do about it. In this article, The Weight Loss Secret You’ve Never Heard, Registered Dietitian, Valerie Berkowitz suggests that liver health has a lot to do with why our bodies retain unwanted weight. Further research and reading will find everything from your bodies’ pH to whether or not you eat gluten, as possible reasons for weight retention. Whichever of these apply to you, a practical, healthy lifestyle approach to your daily eating routine can help support you in addressing the issue. Let’s just take good liver health for one example. Working with a nutrition coach provides the education and guidance needed to uncover what is hiding in your pantry, or in your eating habits that you may not realize is working against you. With the right knowledge, and knowing yourself better than anyone, you can finally take steps to achieve optimal body mass and well being.
3. Digestion & Bodily Function Doesn’t Feel Quite Right
Sometimes we get so blind sighted by our world and our day to day activities that we forget to properly maintain our most important possession– our bodies. If you don’t take your car to get serviced regularly, the valves, tubes, and other workings get dirty, clogged, and eventually your car gives out. The exact same thing happens to our bodies if we don’t eat the right amounts of the right kinds of foods. Our modern food supply can fall short on delivering exactly what our bodies need to stay maintained and running like a well oiled machine. When we rely too heavily on pre-packaged dinners, fast food, or even dining out in finer restaurants (that could be dishing up any number of not-so-healthy ingredients to get the great flavors we love), we risk getting too much of the foods that might bog down our system, and too little of the foods that could support our system. Learning a healthier lifestyle with more whole foods in better variety, will help support digestive health, produce healthy probiotics, and support proper elimination. A nutrition coach can help teach the skills needed to get on top of this.
4. There’s a Bad Eating Habit Bugging You
Do you have a nasty little food habit that makes you feel bad about yourself? In this article, Food Addiction is Real, Dr. and author Pam Peeke explains that 1 in 10 people are susceptible to food addiction, and how an all encompassing, whole approach can help overcome the addiction. Whereas nutrition coaching is not intended to diagnose or treat food addiction, a nutrition coach can help someone learn about better food choices, overcome hurdles, uncover easier access to healthier habits, and provide the hand holding and personal guidance needed to help someone through the vulnerable periods and the challenges that may arise. Nutrition coaching is not telling you what to eat. In fact, that would technically be prescribing food and most nutritionists and even dietitians are not legally allowed to do that. A nutrition coach will help empower you with the knowledge and be the listening, compassionate human that you might need to actually make something meaningful and sustainable happen for yourself.
5. You Are Disillusioned by Dieting
Most “diets” don’t work. There are different reasons why this is so. Some diets may help you lose weight in the short term, but if you aren’t learning permanent healthy habits or getting truly healthy on the inside, a rebound is likely to happen. Other “crash” diets may leave you feeling deprived and hungry all the time. This is another recipe for failure. And some diets are nothing more than dangerous experiments with the participant serving as the guinea pig! I discuss this in more detail in a recent blog post titled Why Diets Don’t Work. True holistic health makes the whole person the priority, with a nutritionally sound, practical, realistic, and sustainable approach to the diet. Nutrition coaching can help you get on to a permanent path to better health and off the diet yoyo for good.
So, Is Nutrition Coaching For You?
That is for you to decide. It is always a good idea to check with your doctor or licensed health care practitioner before taking on any substantial changes to your diet or eating lifestyle. Any good doctor will probably tell you that eating healthier is a good idea. And you don’t have to become a serious expert in nutrition to get healthier. You just need to learn some basics and get a little help from people who have well being at heart. A good nutrition coach always puts the client’s health and wellness needs first, and will teach you how to eat healthier, but in a way that works in your life and schedule. With this foundation of knowledge you can become empowered to take your health and well being into your own hands, and be your own barometer of when its okay to indulge, and when its better to stay the healthy course. You will know that nutrition coaching has helped you when you are able to experience long term, sustainable, positive results in your wellness goals and objectives. If any of this resonates with you, I would encourage you to give nutrition coaching a try. I offer a variety of nutrition coaching services to suit one’s specific needs and budget. We start with a complimentary phone coaching call, to learn how it works and see what is possible. Then I assist the client on a self directed journey to create a healthier lifestyle, achieve wellness and physical performance objectives, and help overcome their unhealthy habits. I’d be grateful for an opportunity to help you!
