Most people that have hit rock bottom or had some sort of wake up call that has made them realise they need to make a change to their diet or way of life, always start off by telling me they NEED a meal plan.
They just want to be told what to do and
when to do it to take all of the guesswork out of eating. Making sure they can't go wrong.
However as simple and as fantastic as that might sound, it unfortunately doesn't work.
Most people cant't stick to meal plans. So what I do instead is offer nutrition guidance. To help you learn and make your own choices.
I do not write meal plans because despite what everyone might think meal plans do not work as a long term weight loss solution.
Even if I have personalised your meal plan to suit your personal likes and dislikes, catered for ethical dietary choices as well as any food intolerance's you may have and accounted for your personal lifestyle… people don't like being told what to do. (even if you think that's what you want) So you might resist against the meal plan out of hidden spite.
Other times and this is more common you just won’t FEEL like the food that's written down and how you feel is a huge contributor to how you eat, actually your emotions can dictate up to 70% of the food choices you make.
Or you are made to work late and you are tired and too busy to make what I've outlined, or you get sick of making one thing for the kids and another thing for yourself. So you eat your meal and some of theirs as well. Not to mention that meal plans don’t allow for ANY social events and most people I know go out for a meal at least once a week just to see friends, not even taking into account if it's someone's birthday or an engagement or wedding.
Then when you eat something not on the meal plan you start to feel guilty and like you have failed and you fall off the bandwagon in a downward spiral of shame and then the meal plan has done more harm than good.
Even if you do manage to follow the meal plan to a T, and you lose weight and you feel good… What happens after? You follow a mindless meal plan for 4 - 6 -12 weeks and you learn nothing because you are blindly following my guidelines and then when the choices fall back on you, you go back to the bad choices you were making before because you haven't understood the changes being made, you don't know why some foods are better than others, you cant grasp what actually made the difference. You can no longer live without your meal plan and that's no way to live!
So no, I don't write meal plans.
I educate and encourage positive long term lifestyle changes that you can control and maintain forever.
Overhauling your whole diet because you hate your body and you are ready to make a change might seem like a good solution when you are motivated. But motivation doesn't last and yo-yo dieting every time you fall off the bandwagon ruins your metabolism and makes future weight loss more challenging every single time.
So I work with you to assess the underlying issues that lead to your dissatisfaction with your body and diet and help you overcome them for good.
Helping you learn about your eating patterns, assessing where you can make small changes and giving you the tools to continue your healthy eating journey long after you stop paying me to help you. That's what I want.
I don't want you to be dependent on me or a meal plan for the rest of your life. I want to give you the tools and knowledge you need to continue to make the right choices forever.
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