Why Coaching Might be the Missing Piece in Nutrition Change

If you’re here, you may be thinking you need some help with your nutrition.

No judgment here. Helping with nutrition is what I do for a living.

Maybe you’ve already got an idea of what you’re supposed to eat.

Get more protein, track your macros, drink more water, the list goes on.

Many of us have picked up nutrition advice from social media, diet books, coaches, or well-meaning family members. Over time, these messages start to feel like facts. We can even develop rules around what’s “good” and “bad” for us without questioning their accuracy or helpfulness.

Even with a solid background of no-nonsense nutrition knowledge, putting it into practice can still be difficult. Hunger doesn’t show up when you expect it to, or it feels especially strong on a random Tuesday afternoon. An extra project gets dropped on your desk when you haven’t grocery shopped yet for the week. You find yourself eating over the sink at 2pm when you realize you haven’t eaten all day, wondering what went wrong.

This is where nutrition counseling can help you understand the bigger picture: what’s driving your eating patterns? What does your body actually need for your sport? What beliefs around food aren’t helpful for you and how do we shift them?

But here’s the thing: a lot of this stuff doesn’t always come up in a scheduled appointment. These things show up in the middle of the week when you’re figuring out what to do next after having one too many slices of pizza for lunch or having to take an emergency bathroom stop on your run (was it that new pre-workout? Or did I forget to hydrate, again?)

This is exactly why I offer between-session nutrition coaching at Brick by Brick Sports Nutrition.

Counseling vs. Coaching

Counseling refers to scheduled appointments where we meet for sessions. These sessions give us a dedicated time to understand your needs, work through challenges, and make a plan. Coaching exists alongside counseling and gives us a way to work with those real-life experiences, rather than waiting until your next appointment to talk about them.

It might seem insignificant, but here’s why it can make a meaningful difference.

5 Reasons Coaching Makes Changing Your Nutrition Easier

You Get Help When Things Go Sideways, Not Just When You're Sitting in a Session

You know that moment where you suddenly start questioning everything and can’t seem to get out of your head?

Maybe you ate more than you expected to and are feeling guilty, or you’re feeling hungry even though you just ate dinner and have no idea why.

In the moment, it’s easy to panic.

You might start replaying what you ate, trying to solve the problem, or making a plan to do things differently tomorrow. Maybe you’re beating yourself up and blaming yourself or worried that you’re falling back into old habits.

If your appointment isn’t for another week or two, you’re making sense of it on your own.

This is one of the biggest benefits of having support between sessions: you have a way to work through obstacles and questions as they arise.

Messaging support is not instantaneous and no, you don’t need a dietitian to make every eating decision, but having a designated place for that worry can act as a powerful container.

And it’s far more productive than spiraling in a ChatGPT window at 10pm, searching for answers.

You Actually Understand Your Eating Patterns Instead of Judging Them

I am very intentional with my clients about how we use food journaling apps so they don’t turn into eating jail.

It can become a place where you’re either “on your best behavior” or evidence that you’re not doing a good enough job.

While all clients have access to a food journaling app that I can see and review in sessions, with coaching, clients get weekly feedback and prompts that help them develop a more curious lens for seeing their eating patterns.

For example, you might see your evening hunger as proof that you’re never full. I might help you see that your breakfast was teeny-tiny and your lunch absent of carbohydrate. It makes sense why you’re hungry in the evening.

This helps you be able to zoom out and use food journaling the way it’s intended: to gather information and start to see the patterns in your eating.  

You Stay Connected to Your Nutrition Goals

It takes genuine brainpower to change behavior.

Often, I ask clients after setting a goal: how will you make sure you remember to do this?

A sticky note or visual reminder can work, but if I had a nickel for every time a client genuinely forgot their goals by the next session, I probably could retire.

None of this is a sign that a client doesn’t care or isn’t trying hard enough. This is just part of being a human and having a busy life.

With coaching, you have a weekly check-in to see where you’re at with your goals and if there are any intentions you need to set for the coming week.

Over time, this helps build the pattern in yourself to pause and ask: what’s working? What’s important to me this week? What do I need to make a priority?

You Can Get Practical with Meal Planning

In sessions, we might talk quite a bit about what goes on your plate.

But not every client that works with me has the same background when it comes to meal planning.

Many clients need support with their fueling and they get overwhelmed with figuring out what to eat.

We can absolutely use our session time to talk about the meal planning process and develop a system that works for you, but the meal planning toolkit I provide for coaching clients allows you to access those tools when you need them. They’re also a great starting point when the process itself feels overwhelming, with things like meal ideas and food lists.

That frees up session time for other meaningful goals. Plus, you’re not feeling stuck on the day-to-day aspects of fueling and can build other skills sooner.

You Have Someone to Celebrate Wins With

This one is so underrated (and my favorite part of coaching!)

Sometimes when we are focused on what we need to change, we forget to notice when things are going well.

Nail your pre-run fueling? Well, recovery nutrition is lagging.

You’re more comfortable eating carbs again? Well, you’re still missing afternoon snacks.

You make real gains and your attention moves on to the next thing.

The only problem with this?

You might be missing out on a key driver of motivation: the satisfaction of following through on a goal. If your efforts never feel rewarding, it’s hard to build momentum.

You also might not even recognize the real progress you’re making.

Coaching includes feedback, encouragement, and a healthy dose of cheerleading, because you deserve to celebrate your wins even if you still feel like there’s work to do.

Is Coaching Right for You?

You don’t necessarily need to add coaching to benefit from nutrition counseling.

Sometimes, having that time carved out to understand your needs, work through challenges, and make a plan is exactly what you need.

But if you ever find yourself stuck making a decision in the moment, second-guessing your pre-run fueling, or forgetting your goals the week after session, coaching is worth considering.

Lasting nutrition change is difficult, and sometimes it’s the work done outside of sessions that builds habits that last.

If you’d like support there, that’s exactly what coaching is for.

The Details

Coaching is available as an add-on for Nutrition Counseling Clients for $99/month and includes:

·      Private messaging channel with M-F access for questions

·      Weekly journal review

·      Weekly scheduled check-in form

·      Curated client resources

Interested in Coaching? Complete an Inquiry Form to get started.