If you happened to miss my presentation on Proven Fat-Loss Strategies for the After 40 Client, I revealed that the bulk (no pun intended) of nutrition accountability coaching comes in the form of training your mindset.
With this nutrition blog I would like to address the most common objections that I encounter when providing nutrition accountability coaching to clients and some helpful tips on each.
1) Not willing to break the fast.
And no, that’s not a typo. Breakfast is named as such because you are literally breaking a “fast” after (hopefully) sleeping for eight hours. Many folks are uncomfortable with it and state that they are never hungry first thing in the morning. I hear you. If you have never made it a habit to eat first thing in the morning then it can be a real challenge. We are also usually in a hurry and overly anxious in the mornings, which makes the mental thought of food unappealing.
Try by starting small and focusing on a meal that will balance your blood sugar, a serving of fruit being the perfect suitor. Your adrenal glands and brain will thank you for it. Once you get more accustomed to this, add protein!
2) Eating more animals.
Besides proper hydration, protein consumption is the second-most important habit that you should be working on. The dilemma is that we are so foreign and stubborn towards protein consumption. It is more work to prepare, and it is more work for your body to process.
That’s right, there is a thermic effect of consuming protein which means that your body has to work its hardest to process it (bonus — in turn we burn more Calories). If you believe that you already consume enough protein, take your current bodyweight in pounds and that is how many grams per day that you should be consuming.
At best, you are probably consuming 20–30g protein per meal. Divide your daily protein requirement by 20–30 and this will tell you how many meals you need per day to meet this requirement.
Regarding preparation, a good quality whey protein powder will make your life MUCH easier. Although it is not “an” animal, it is derived from them and is actually the only food source that is 100% bioavailable (all of that protein is being used for muscle repair and build).
3) The pen is mighty.
Every first-time conversation I have with clients regarding nutrition usually starts with the following… “I think I’m getting enough ___________.”
Really? And I think that I will believe it when I see it. If you want to be coached with any level of nutrition success, then you had better be writing down what you are eating.
The fact is, without a written account of what we consume in a day or week, everything that we recall is just conjecture. Either you are over-consuming or you are under-consuming; as your coach we will not be able to help you until we see this on paper.
A great way to get started is by performing a simple 24-hour food recall. Take out a sheet of paper and write down an account of what you consumed yesterday. We typically have clients prepare a three-day dietary record when getting started with our 12-Week Nutrition Accountability Program (which we offer year-round).
