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Diet Coaching

If you are having difficulty losing weight or are confused about which foods you should be eating to promote weight loss, you may want to consider using diet coaching. This involves hiring a personal assistant who helps guide you through the weight loss process.

  1. Diet Coach

    • A diet coach will provide you with one-on-one personalized support, motivation and knowledge to help you achieve your weight loss goals. Your coach will help you alter your eating habits and work to have you eating the proper number of calories, nutrients and vitamins for your body. In addition to creating a healthy diet plan for you, your coach will aim to correct your unhealthy habits and relationship with food. She will offer you information regarding nutrition, activity and healthy eating to help you make positive changes throughout your life.

    Selection

    • When selecting a diet coach, you will want to choose an individual that is a registered dietician, a certified personal trainer or has a college degree in nutrition. Some of these individuals may also be trained as life coaches by the International Coach Federation (ICF). This person should work to teach you healthy lifestyle habits instead of recommending fad or crash diets. The goal of the diet coach is to help you achieve lifelong weight loss and learn healthy eating habits.

    The Coaching

    • Coaching session can occur with any frequency from once a week to once a month. Many diet coaches will allow for you to check in via email or telephone calls between meetings. In addition to local diet coaches, there are some diet coaches that are available on the Internet.

      When meeting with the coach, he should take the time to discuss with you your goals, your current lifestyle, your eating habits, stresses in your life and your relationship with your body. All of these topics will help the diet coach become familiar with your personal relationship with food and help her devise a diet and exercise plan that is specific to your needs.

    Nutrition and Exercise Plans

    • The nutrition plan that the coach provides you should include a well-rounded meal plan that features meals and snacks. He should also provide you with either a calorie aim per day or a food group aim per day. For example, he may tell you to eat 1,600 calories a day or to eat four servings of vegetables daily, three servings of whole grains and so forth.

      According to the Mayo Clinic, a well-rounded exercise routine should include two hours and 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week, two days a week of strength training, which benefits the body by increasing bone strength and lean muscle mass, and 10 minutes of daily stretching.

    Lifestyle Plan

    • The coach will also provide you with lifestyle coaching, which will touch upon the stresses that have triggered unhealthy eating habits in your past. The coach will provide you with coping mechanisms to help you handle life's stresses in a healthier manner that doesn't involve eating.

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