Clarity: Through effective questioning and reflection, a coach can help clients gain clarity about their goals. Clarity plays a crucial role in goal attainment as it provides a clear path forward and drives success. By revealing a clear understanding of why the goal is important and the steps needed to achieve it, clarity increases motivation and confidence.

Personalized Plan: A nutrition coach partners with clients to create a detailed and actionable plan supporting their specific needs. With an individualized approach, they support clients by regularly reviewing and adjusting their goals and plan as needed. A coach will also help them identify personal strengths and resources to overcome challenges and barriers to success.

Accountability and Motivation: Coaches provide ongoing support, encouragement and accountability, building self-confidence and motivation. By helping clients identify and focus on their underlying values and purpose, coaches motivate them to stay committed to their goals and remain accountable. Accountability, the cornerstone of goal success, is about ownership and the ability to take responsibility for actions, decisions and behaviors, and recognizing that we each have the power to make choices that impact overall health.

Knowledge and Resources: Navigating the world of nutrition can feel overwhelming and often confusing, with so much conflicting information circulating from various sources. A qualified nutrition coach can clarify much of this misinformation and provide clients with evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle recommendations. They can also identify areas where a client needs improvement, and provide guidance and resources to develop those skills.

Overcoming Obstacles: The focus of nutrition coaching is supporting clients to develop sustainable habits leading to lasting behavioral changes as opposed to short-term diets or quick fixes. It emphasizes creating a lifestyle that supports overall health. By identifying underlying factors contributing to unhealthy habits (both internal influences such as cravings, emotions and preferences, and external influences such as marketing, culture and availability/convenience), nutrition coaches help clients recognize patterns and develop strategies to overcome these obstacles.

Tammy Phillips is a certified nutrition specialist and licensed dietician-nutritionist. For more information, email [email protected] or visit AgingStrongNutrition.com.