3 Questions You Should Ask Before Creating Nutritional Plans for Clients
A nutritional plan is a plan that emphasizes healthy eating for the purpose of getting fit and getting your body the nutrients it needs. As a fitness trainer, your job will often include creating nutritional plans for your clients. But before creating a nutritional plan, there are important questions that you must ask about each client. No two people require the same nutritional needs, so you must tailor each nutritional plan to the individual so they can get the most out of it.
What is the Client’s Lifestyle?
Before you begin a nutritional plan for a client, sit down with them and learn about their day-to-day life. Ask them questions about their daily routine and how much they exercise. If they are gone from their home for the majority of the day, that’s a good indication that they probably eat out often and so you need to take restaurant foods and foods that can be easily made at home into consideration. That way, your client can be armed with information about healthy restaurant options and quick, healthy meals they can make at home to take to lunch with them. After learning about your client’s lifestyle, you will be able to develop a plan that will fit into their daily schedule.
Has the Client Been on a Nutritional Plan Before?
The type of nutritional plan developed for a client will vary greatly depending on if they have participated in nutritional plans before. If they are a beginner, make sure you develop a plan that starts out slowly and explain the plan in depth. If an expert, try developing a faster paced plan. Expert nutritional plans will often be stricter than beginner plans and the client will already be used to not eating unhealthy foods. They will also be able to give you more information about what worked for them in the past and what didn’t so that you may form a successful nutritional plan.
Is the Plan Realistic?
The best diet is the diet that the client will stick to. If you develop a nutritional plan for your client that encourages them to completely change their diet or doesn’t fit into their budget or lifestyle, then they will most likely revert back to their old dieting habits and give up on the newly developed plan. Create a plan that will slowly allow the client to acclimate to this new diet and lifestyle. If your nutritional plan requires your client to spend more money on foods just to meet the requirements, chances are great they won’t stick to it. They will go back to purchasing what they normally do to stay within their budget. You also don’t want to label certain foods as off-limits because cutting out those foods altogether isn’t realistic and will be more tempting to eat. So when they do eat that food, they won’t think that they have “failed” their plan. Instead, have them gradually reduce how much of that certain food they eat, replacing it with healthy foods.