Have you or your client ever fallen off track with your eating habits and stayed off track longer than anticipated? If so, the good news is that you are not alone.
Improving your eating habits is often easier said than done, and this can make it very difficult to stay on track.
So today in this article, we’ll be talking about some tips on how you or your client can get back on track with your eating habits. However, before we get into the bulk of it, first allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Tony Stephan, and I’m a dietitian business coach. I help RDs make more IMPACT and more INCOME through nutrition coaching. However, before becoming a dietitian business coach, I was an RD nutrition coach (just like you!). I served thousands of nutrition coaching clients over a time span of 12 years. My successful nutrition coaching business is what led me to where I am today. Now let’s talk about ways you can get back on track with your eating habits!
Why We Fall Off The Wagon With Our Eating Habits
In the realm of nutrition, unfortunately, there are a lot of extreme simplifications. For example, here are some of the sayings you’ll hear “Don’t eat carbs!” or you might hear sayings like “Cookies are bad for you” “Don’t eat fruit!”. You’ll hear a lot of extreme nutrition simplifications out there and unfortunately, most of them are about “taking away” or “restricting” certain foods and certain food groups
Nutrition advice that’s easier said than done often hurts more than it helps people. Here is why. We, humans, are creatures of habit, so we are attracted to anything that retreats from us. This is why it’s so important to be patient with ourselves and give ourselves ample time to change our habits. You won’t go from zero to 100 in one night and that’s absolutely fine. The truth is, we don’t need to be restricting more and more to achieve results, what we do need to be doing is looking at what habits we can ADD to our life that will produce the results we’re looking to see.
Now that you know why it’s so easy to get into the cycle of falling off track with our eating habits, we are going to give you a few tips on how you and your clients can stay on track with your eating habits.
Have Accountability In Your Eating Habits
When you’re trying to make changes to better yourself, it can be very challenging. And it’s challenging because regardless of what good change you’re trying to make in your life, change is HARD! What’s even harder is going at changing your habits all alone. Oftentimes, people need someone to listen, learn, discover, and work with them in order to crush their nutrition goals. Having extra accountability can go a long way in helping you achieve your goals (whatever your goals may be!). Extra accountability could look like talking to a friend each week or hiring a reputable coach who can help develop you in the necessary areas to achieve your goals. Ultimately, accountability makes a huge difference!
So my best tip in terms of accountability is to find someone you can trust that will hold you accountable to your goals. Again, this could look like a trusted friend, loved one, or a knowledgeable coach. Changing your habits is a challenge enough, so don’t make it harder by going at it alone! Find those people who will give you that extra layer of accountability and reach out to them.
Keep It Simple
With all of the extreme simplifications, you’ll hear in the diet culture space, it can start to feel like there are too many rules to follow. However, you might be surprised to know that less is more sometimes when it comes to food and nutrition. It’s tempting sometimes to do a complete makeover on our diet, but going from zero to 100 in one day is very hard to maintain. So my best advice if you’re looking to make changes in your eating habits is to start with the simple things.
If you want to see a long-term change, you’ll get more bang for your buck if you keep it simple and go at change slowly. Small changes you could focus on may look like simply drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, or increasing your fiber intake. When you go at change slowly at the start with small, simple habits first, it makes it much easier to build the reality you want to see in your life! As you crush each habit, you’ll also gain confidence in yourself as you go.
Develop Awareness Over Your Current Eating Habits
In addition to keeping it simple and having accountability, another aspect of getting on track with your eating habits is to develop awareness of your current eating habits. Here is the thing. It’s much harder to create change in our lives if we don’t know what our baseline looks like. So if you want to see a change in your eating habits and stay on track, you must develop awareness around your current eating habits.
The best advice I have for creating awareness around your eating habits is to #1 Take time to develop awareness around your eating habits and #2 Track the habits that you’re trying to change. Here is the thing. What gets tracked gets results. So if you want to start seeing results from the changes you’re making, start by tracking the habits you want to see a change in! By tracking your habits, you’re creating an extra layer of self-accountability that will help you further develop awareness of your eating habits.
Bottom Line: Getting Back On Track
If you want to get back on track with your eating habits, you ultimately need to be patient with yourself. And you also have to focus on the simplest changes that would give you the biggest band for your buck!
As you make these new changes, observe how your body feels and is reacting to the changes and make adjustments as you feel needed. Keep in mind that CONSISTENCY is the biggest key, and before adding any new adjustments make sure that what you are currently doing and what you are adding is something that you can envision yourself doing long term.
If you’re a dietitian looking to start your own nutrition coaching side hustle, you’re in the right place. I’m proud to be a part of the movement of dietitian entrepreneurs who are making more IMPACT and more INCOME! In the Dietitian Nutrition Coaching Certification, we teach our students how to set their dietitian nutrition coaching business up for success.
Check out our FREE resources below to get started.
