Why I Became a Nutrition Coach So I Can Better Help You

I never thought I would be a nutrition coach. When I got out of college, I knew nothing about good nutrition. My diet consisted of pizza, beer, and Taco Bell. I was exercising but I found getting out the door to do anything incredibly hard. I had no energy and I found it hard to get through a whole day of school. Towards the end of my college days, I began to get into triathlon training. I was in no shape to go to compete, but I still did it! I finished my first triathlon and fell in love with the sport.

After school ended, I decided I wanted to get into shape so I could compete better. Little did I know how much getting healthy would change my life…

I want to share my journey to becoming a nutrition coach, so I can inspire you to get healthy. The benefits of committing to health are more than you could ever imagine. I thought the biggest draw for me would be losing weight and being able to train better. Little did I know how much it would change other areas of my life. After committing to better health, I had more energy, I was more productive, I tried new things, and I challenged myself. Good nutrition changed my life. Becoming a nutrition coach was the next logical step.

I Didn’t Plan on Becoming a Nutrition Coach

If you ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up, they likely won’t say nutrition coach. Getting kids to eat any kind of vegetable or try anything new can be a headache. A lot of kids keep this mindset when they grow up, throwing good nutrition on the back burner. I was the same way when I was a kid. It was hard for me to try new things, and I grew up knowing nothing about nutrition. As a result, I lost my health along the way.

Most people live their lives like this. They grow up eating anything they want and before they know it, they aren’t happy with their bodies. They don’t know anything about good nutrition even though they want to eat better. The plentitude of processed food makes it hard to eat well. When I started to eat healthy, I realized how hard it was. This inspired me to help others. I wanted to make eating better easier for others by becoming a nutrition coach. It became hard for me not to share my knowledge when there were so many people out there that needed help.

I’ve Always Wanted to Learn MORE

For a long time, I didn’t understand the value of learning. School fed me facts and figures that didn’t apply to my life. It decreased my appetite for knowledge. It wasn’t until I rediscovered my lust for learning after college, that I began to appreciate learning for learning’s sake. As a result, I dedicated myself to learning everything about nutrition that I could. Becoming a nutrition coach would involve knowing as much about how to eat as possible. I tried everything. From eating 6 meals a day to fasting for 24 hours. I wanted to see how different foods affected my energy levels and my mood. If it was a new diet, I tried it.

My self-experimentation helped a lot but I had a limit. I only discovered what I tried. I discovered that dieting was really hard. It was hard to change everything about the way I ate all at once. This made it nearly impossible to stick to long term.

Why I Wanted to Get a Nutrition Certification

Dieting was not the way to go. I found that establishing small and simple nutrition habits to be the best way to establish better nutrition in the long term. This made me want to learn a lot more about better nutrition and a nutrition certification seemed like a logical step. It would give me both the science and coaching background to help people better.

It wasn’t until I gained my certification from Precision Nutrition that I learned more about nutrition and nutrition coaching. I absorbed the science and mindset needed to create better nutrition habits. Most importantly, I learned about creating nutrition habits that actually last. Instead of crash diets and binges, Precision Nutrition taught me to how to create sustainable health habits for life. I had to share this with the world!

Nutrition Coaching Became Incredibly Fulfilling

I started coaching friends and family to get familiar with nutrition coaching. My first “clients” were so diverse. They came from different food backgrounds with different issues. They were good at certain things but worse at others. I began to understand that nutrition coaching is highly individualized. I worked hard to give all my clients an individualized approach that would work for them. I realized how important an individualized approach was with one of my first clients Sandra. Sandra was having trouble preparing healthy meals and sticking to it. I found that we had to reduce her stress levels first before tackling better food. This gave her the time to create the nutrition habits she had been trying to build for years. Without this individualized approach, she would never have reached any of her health goals.

I helped my clients start small allowing them to create wins every week. Months later, it was evident that my techniques were working. My clients were eating better and doing things they never thought possible! Many ran their first race, took a trip they were always planning on, or simply kept up with their kids. Seeing their wins was inspiring.

Mia had trouble even getting out the door to go for a walk with her dog. She was overstressed and overworked as she worked to get her residency. We worked together to reduce her stress and find quick and healthy meals that would give her more energy. It was incredibly inspiring to see her run her first 5k with her dog.

I knew at this point I had to help as many people as possible. The process of bringing someone to better health was intoxicating. I enjoyed seeing people change their lives in so many ways. They did things they never thought possible. Seeing people make these incredible changes was amazing. I was still learning, but seeing people improve their lives only inspired me to work harder.

I Love Refining My Practice

One of the best parts about nutrition coaching is being able to refine my practice. There are constantly new ideas in the nutrition arena. Some are helpful and some can be completely derailing. I enjoy being able to go through these concepts and decide which ones can help my clients and which can’t.

There is way too much information out there. You can get sucked down the rabbit hole of dieting. There’s keto, paleo, South Beach, and Atkins to name a few. I enjoy busting the diet myth by learning about the latest trends (list of diets) and being able to show my clients why those diets won’t work for them. I love being able to distill this info into quick and easy habits for my client.

I am able to refine my practice by understanding what helps and hurts my clients. I make eating healthy quick and easy. My clients make small changes that add up to big changes over time. I stay updated on the latest nutrition news so that I can make the quickest and most efficient changes in my client’s lives.

I Want to be Different

A lot of nutrition experts recommend certain diets or certain ways of eating. I discovered that no one is the same. There is no method that works for everyone. Most diets are unsustainable and do not work long term. You can’t change everything about the way you eat all at once. Diets are impossible to keep up long term. I want to break the diet dogma and show that you can establish nutrition habits that last. I need to show you that you can be healthier despite failing in the past. This inspires me to work even harder so that I can help even more people.

I began to understand that anyone can build better eating habits. It became about giving people the right support where they needed it. I still work tirelessly to ensure I give my clients what they need. I love being different and showing you that health is a habit. Like any habit, you start small and build. Adding vegetables to one meal is so much easier than going full keto. Being different makes me happy and allows me to help more people.

I Became a Nutrition Coach for You

Most importantly, I started nutrition coaching because I saw how much I could help you. I saw you change your life right before my eyes. There is nothing more motivating than seeing you change the way you think about food. This inspired me to reach you and help you where you need it!

If my coaching resonates with you feel free to sign up for a free 30-minute nutrition coaching consultation. No obligation. I’m happy to help you with anything you’re struggling with so you can find the life you’re looking for. You can read more about my program here!

Thank you for reading my story and I hope you find your path in the confusing world of nutrition!