I use this phrase often with my clients. Many believe that food itself is their issue, however, it’s either their relationship with it or they just don’t know what works for them. Food itself is actually pretty straight forward along with the concepts that come with it. Food can seem really confusing, but I think that has more to do with social media and/or the fact we are emotional beings. If food was the actual issue for people, then they wouldn’t struggle so much with it. People neglect to acknowledge their lifestyle which is what we tackle in that first session. We need to understand our day and how we feel throughout to better know what’s going to work for you. Life is never an if, but when. It’s about setting people up for success when that “if” hits.
People have a tendency to tackle nutrition when life is perfectly organized and simple, however, I think we all know that’s not how life works. People have kids, loss of loved ones, travel for work, etc. Now, I’m not saying that learning and understanding food isn’t important, but that’s just not usually the issue for most. The problem is that people take a generic, complicated plan and apply to their lives. More often than not, it’s far from the life they’re currently living and it ultimately will only work for a period of time. Second, that plan to get people to their results is usually also pretty far from what they’re currently doing so it’s going to feel really hard and you may be putting in more work than you have to. It doesn’t teach you to baby step your way into things. It’s not the what people need, it’s the how.
Food is broken up into categories. You have protein, fat, carbs, fruit, and vegetables. Per meal, you want a balanced plate and a high protein snack. I encourage those to track for a few days to see what gaps can be filled in each category or to see where your overflowing. If you take your bodyweight x 15 you will know how much it takes to maintain your current bodyweight. From there, you can add, maintain, or subtract depending on your goals. Simple, right? Like I said, this is pretty straight forward, but this doesn’t perfectly apply to everybody. This is also if people are getting 8-9 hours of restful sleep per night, carry low to moderate stress, and drink 8-13 glasses of water a day. For most, this is a big ask. Not to mention each gut is like a fingerprint. Not one is like any other and that alone takes time and body awareness to understand.
A lot of my job is rewiring people’s brains and undoing what they think they know. Pardon me, but it’s a huge mind fuck for them and very difficult on my end. The whole process is never what they think it’s going to be, which I think is a good thing to be honest. As difficult as it is, it’s extremely rewarding. I’m breaking a pattern for people that could potentially domino effect into the next generation. Habits are so underrated because you will, by default, pass those on to kids. Point being, the better we understand ourselves and our priorities is when we can truly dedicate ourselves to improving our health.
