Written by Gymwrap Athlete Rebecca Clements.
I am a nutrition and movement coach who specializes in teaching people how to move and eat with intent. "
Do you write meal plans?”
NO. I won’t tell you exactly what to eat. Instead, I’m going to teach you HOW to eat!
“Why get a nutrition coach when I could just buy a meal plan?”
Answer: I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED.
Real Coaching = Real Results Templates and Meal Plans = Temporary
Sometimes even the people with the best intentions fail when it comes to following a strict meal plan. A big trip to the grocery store, a few posts on meal-prep, and BAM! First week done and it feels like everything is running smoothly. Week 2 hits and it’s not as excited to meal prep the same meals. Week 3 rolls around and the itch to rebel from the plan settles in. The urge to “cheat” is growing. Week 4 begins and the reason for starting in the first place seems a little lost and hazy. It’s been a month and what has been learned? What gains have occured? What new habits have been formed? Maybe it’s the specific meal plan (but probably not), or maybe it’s time to ditch the meal plan altogether.
What if following someone else’s prescription of food isn’t the answer? What if instead people focused on building new habits around nutrition at their own pace, with what they have access to, and based on their adaptability to the new challenges and upgrades? If this sounds exciting to you… I have BIG news… This is what RC Online Coaching does! Clients form new habits, at their own pace, based on what their goals and priorities are.
Meal plans are temporary.
You’re not the same person you were 1, 5, or 10 years ago. Environments change, access to foods change, goals, careers, family, social influences… Everything changes. A meal plan doesn’t teach sustainability.
“Give a person a meal plan and they can eat for a few weeks. Teach a person to how to eat and they can make positive, conscious decision on a regular basis, in any given situation, for the rest of their lives.” -Rebecca Clements, just now.
The whole “teach a dude to fish” quote is a little old-school. So I tried to mimic it’s essence here and added a little modern spin. *Not to mention the toxins and fish and how easy it is to get omega 3’s from non-fish sources.*
THE POINT IS: incremental gains lead to sustainability. Sustainability in any wake of life usually leads to more progression in the long-term.
If the goal of a meal plan is to learn how to eat and not need a meal plan… why not skip the step altogether and go right to the learning portion? Where can you get 1% better? If we improve 2% in let’s say 3 aspects of daily life… that’s 6% better each day. Imagine all of the 1% increments you could accumulate!
Nutrition coaching focuses on improving what you do now instead of just telling you what to do for a little while.
“The more aware of your intentions and your experiences you become, the more you will be able to connect the two, and the more you will be able to create the experiences of your life consciously. This is the development of mastery. It is the creation of authentic power.” - Gary Zukav
If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you have access to food on a regular basis (yay!) and you’re probably going to continue to eat food on a regular basis until the day you die. Why not begin to master it? Why would you waste another moment, day, week, month or year not understanding how what you put in your body affects you?
I’m here for you. Get ready to toss out the meal plan (metaphorically, recycle if taken literally). Time to make REAL changes, form new habits, and become an even more upgraded version of you. Want a taste of nutrition coaching but aren't ready for a full dish? Try the 6 Week Nutrition Kick-Off where you can begin mastering your nutrition with plenty of flexibility, resources, and real-life approaches.
Check out the original blog post on Rebecca's site here.
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*Note: The information, views, advice, recommendations, etc. in this article are from the writer of the article and are not from Gymwrap.