Think of all the things you hire a professional for because you either don’t want to do something yourself or don’t possess the skills needed to do that thing.
If your car needs an oil change, are you the best person for the job? If you need a haircut, would you do it yourself? More often than not, you have those “go-to” people that you hire for these services because you trust their expertise to give you the result you’re looking for.
Hiring a nutrition coach is no different! Working one-on-one with a nutrition coach or dietitian can give you the peace of mind to know you’re trusting someone with an abundance of knowledge that you don’t possess to help you with your health goals safely and effectively.
In this article, we’ll dive into all the reasons you might want to work with a nutrition coach or dietitian based on the benefits that this one-on-one service can provide. You will walk away feeling more confident that you are well-versed on all the benefits of enlisting the help of a nutrition professional to feel your healthiest.
First things first! Before we talk about the benefits, let’s decipher some of the reasons WHY you might want to work with a nutrition professional.
Why You Might Want to Work With a Nutrition Coach or Registered Dietitian
Getting healthier means something different for all of us. Our reasons for wanting to work with someone will likely be different as well.
You might be wondering if your reasons are valid or significant enough to warrant hiring a nutrition coach or dietitian to work with you on your health goals. I’m here to confidently tell you - they are. Your desires and motivations for wanting to feel better about your diet and lifestyle will always be important, and those desires should always be validated by a professional who’s truly invested in your case.
Here are some of the top reasons our clients at OnPoint Nutrition reach out to us to work with one of our team members to address their concerns:
- Navigating the confusing terrain of managing a chronic illness
- Managing food sensitivities or allergies
- Rebuilding a healthy relationship with food
- Losing or gaining weight
- Assistance with a plant-based, vegetarian or vegan diet
Read more on what nutrition coaches do and why you may want to work with one.
7 Benefits of Working With a Nutrition Coach
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving your health. Different strategies work for different people, especially when it comes to overall health and wellness.
We don’t all need the same things, and certain strategies are only necessary or applicable to certain people. There are, however, a plethora of benefits working on a personalized plan with a professional can offer that going it alone might not.
Here are the top 7 benefits of working one-on-one with a nutrition coach or registered dietitian:
1. Personalization
Diet and lifestyle changes that work for one client may not work for another, for various reasons. When you work one-on-one with a nutrition professional, you get a personalized nutrition plan built specifically for you.
Before building your personalized plan, your nutrition coach or dietitian compiles the following information that makes you unique. They use this information to determine the best strategies to implement to help you reach your goals.
The information that is compiled to build your personalized plan includes:
- Height, weight, age, and gender
- Medical history
- Consultation session notes
When submitting your medical history and talking with our consult team, remember that there’s no such thing as too much information! The more we know about you, the better we’re able to help and the more your plan can be specifically tailored to you.
2. Support
Consider your nutrition coach as your personal support system throughout your journey. They’re here to listen, understand, empathize, ask questions and offer ideas; all of which will help you get closer to hitting your goals.
There’s nothing like the support you receive from someone who gets to know you and your journey better. Your nutrition coach is dedicated and committed to your goals and helping you reach them in an approachable and sustainable way by offering the support you wouldn’t receive from a less hands-on approach like a self-paced plan or fad diet.
3. Resources
When you work with a nutrition coach or registered dietitian inside of a detail-oriented program, you don’t just get the support of your coach and those around you, you can lean into a variety of resources that are provided to you.
At OnPoint Nutrition, those resources include:
- Access to our member portal which includes a recipe database, webinars, and more
- Access to our food-logging app with unlimited direct messaging
- A personalized meal-planning guide including a full week of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
- Access to Facebook support groups that include educational resources on Diabetes, PCOS, Intuitive Eating, and Gut Health
- Access to OnPoint’s social media channels, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, all of which include supplemental resources
- A long-term care plan before we part ways
Check out more resources available to you on the OnPoint Nutrition website.
4. Education
Our team consists of knowledgeable, informed, and well-rounded dietitians and nutritionists. Each one has a bachelor’s degree and real-world experience in their field. Some have additional schooling and credentials like master’s degrees and clinical experience, and our Registered Dietitians must pass a nationally accredited exam.
Each one helps you reach your goals in a holistic and research-backed way. We always make education at the forefront of what we do, and by offering this education to our clients, we provide you with the tools to feel knowledgeable and empowered for the long-term.
We’re not here to feed you information that you can’t tangibly apply to your own life. By sharing knowledge in an easily digestible format (see what we did there?) our team arms their clients with the know-how to take the things you talk about in sessions and bring them into real life in ways that are personally applicable to you.
5. Accountability
Reaching your goals isn’t just about building knowledge and gathering information, it’s about transformation. Having someone who is asking the hard-hitting questions, holding you responsible for reaching goals, and frequently checking in to measure your progress is the key to success.
Crushing your goals starts with building them and proving to your nutrition coach or dietitian that you are committed to delivering the strategies that you discuss together. Your dedicated nutrition professional is there to give you gentle nudges and reminders when you need them in order for you to keep moving forward.
Accountability is a key metric for many people who start working one-on-one with a nutrition coach or dietitian so that they gain and earn the trust not only of that person, but of themselves as well!
6. Encouragement
I’ve mentioned in previous articles that your nutrition coach or dietitian is not only your coach, they are your personal cheerleader. Your wins will be celebrated, and your losses or struggles will be reviewed in a judgment-free way.
It’s helpful to have someone reminding you that those wins are helping you reach your end goal, but the losses and struggles can also serve the process differently. Encouragement is a check-in with you to make note that there is no such thing as failure in the journey - only ways to learn and grow.
We are all human beings sharing similar challenges, and more often than not, your nutrition coach or dietitian can empathize with all the things you’re experiencing. They are genuinely happy when you succeed, and they’re also someone to lean on when you might miss the mark.
7. Long-Term Habit Building
It’s been proven time and time again that quick-fix, fad diets do not work, and they are not sustainable. When we severely restrict our bodies from essential nutrients and from food that brings us comfort and joy, chances are, in the future when we bring those foods back into our diet, we can go off the rails.
Working one-on-one with a nutrition coach or dietitian, you will implement small changes that lead to big results over time. The best part? These changes aren’t as daunting or impossible as you may think, and they will feel more realistic and sustainable than restrictions.
Building habits over time that you can make a part of your routine in the months and years ahead is truly one of the most successful markers of progress on your health journey, and something you can accomplish with a nutrition professional by your side.
Taking the Next Step
We’ve determined some of the most important benefits of working with a nutrition coach. Here at OnPoint Nutrition, we take all of these very seriously to make sure we’re providing every client with a unique and impactful experience; one that will carry into their lives in a long-term way.
The next step to see how the above list can benefit you and your personal health journey is scheduling your free consultation with our team. We’re here to help you determine the best frequency of sessions for you and match you with a nutrition coach or dietitian who will be the support system that allows you to be the hero in your health journey, enjoying the fruits of your labor and all the benefits of your hard work.
Or, learn more about nutrition coaching in our Comprehensive Guide to Nutrition Coaching to help you find the right nutritionist or comprehensive program.
