Do your clients come to you ask you to “police” their food?

What if there was a way to encourage healthier habits that suit their long-term happiness and success, rather than “crimatizing” certain foods?

Well there is, and it’s a revolutionary new concept that I learned more about after attending Rebecca Scritchfield’s talk at the 2018 Today’s Dietitian Spring Symposium held in Austin.

Rebecca Scritchfield is a registered dietitian nutritionist, certified exercise physiologist, author of the book Body Kindness, and host of the Body Kindness podcast.

She shared unique insights that you, as a Wellness Professional, can implement today to encourage your clients to make peace with food, find the joy in exercise, and create a better life with workable goals that fit their individual interests.

First things first, it’s important to understand the concept of ‘Health at Every Size’ which is inclusive of a wide diversity of weights and allow people to pursue their own health goals that fit their own circumstances.

Rebecca wasn’t afraid to say that “Pursuing weight loss is not health-giving or desirable for everyone, including higher-weight people.”

Of course, the hardest thing about this “non-diet” approach involves changing the mindset of our clients - who often come in explicitly stating that they’d like to lose ‘x’ amount of weight.

One of the attendees at the conference posed a good question:

“But people want structured meal plans - what am I supposed to do?”

Rebecca’s answer was in perfect alignment with our goals here at Meal Garden Professional when she explained that sometimes, people do need a tool.

She used the metaphor of being lost in the forest, and the importance that a compass would provide in such situation.

“If you have a guide or a tool, you’ll feel safer, and start to feel like you can really do this.”

From there, clients gain not only the know-how, but also the confidence that they can use to move forward with those learnings and implement these practices into their lives for the better - all with no “diets” involved.

Here at Meal Garden, while we encourage Professionals to build and share customized meal plans with clients who require it, we are also big advocates for teaching your clients how to meal plan more independently.

While you may onboard clients by guiding them with a set meal plan, you may then start sharing hand-picked recipe collections and setting up certain goals (e.g. ‘x’ number of fruits you love this week) which fit with their preferences as well as their everyday lifestyle

While structured therapeutic meal plans have their place, so does enabling your clients with the customizable and individualized tools and resources to act for themselves - with your expert guidance and support.

We’re happy to provide a platform that works for all Professionals - including those who wish to take the ‘DIET’ out of DIETitian!

Rebecca Scritchfield, Getting Started, growing your business, client

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