By BROOKE HOFFMAN & RACHEL HASELHORST
Registered Dietitians
My partner and I are registered dietitians. We decided to create an accountability program. We were telling people all of the information that they needed, how to eat, to exercise more, but after that, it is not about knowledge at all. It is about behavior. Some people could take what we said and do great. However, the majority of people come back frustrated. They had fallen off the wagon because work is busy and kids are hard and life is tough.
So you would like to lose weight. You have tried all of the diets. You have purchased the books and read the newest fad. You have cut out gluten, dairy, sugar, fat and … what was that other thing we were supposed to leave out? It probably leaves many feeling like they have no clue. Oh, forget it, this is way to too hard.
Or maybe you have never had to eat healthy before. Maybe you’ve never had to work out before and it has started to catch up to you over the years. Now, like everyone else, you are feeling clueless.
Then there are the gym memberships. You know, that membership that you paid money for but haven’t used. “If I went after work then who would cook dinner for the family? I can’t even think about getting up before bed to work out, not when I stayed up until midnight folding laundry. There simply are not enough hours in the day for me to work out.”
Does any of this sound familiar? As registered dietitians, we have heard this all before. This is the way we treat ourselves. We all do it! We have a million excuses, and they are good excuses, but when the going gets tough, the first thing we let go is our health. We may get a little burst of motivation here and there, but how do we make it stick? How do we turn these little bursts of energy into lifelong habits that transform our lives?
We need to hold ourselves accountable! We need to talk to ourselves with kinder words. We need to prioritize our lives better. We need to eat foods that nourish our bodies.
When we make more nutritious and lower calorie food choices, we don’t have to eat less food. Then we don’t feel like we are on a diet! When we don’t feel like we are on a diet, we may be able to stick to it longer. We need to know that it’s important to treat ourselves sometimes, but we feel empowered making the right food choices on most days. When this is done over and over, habits are created.
After that, we get moving! We move because it’s fun. We move because we are lucky that we are still here on this earth to be able to move our bodies. We find activity that we enjoy – don’t do something you hate because it is the new trend. We prioritize better – we treat ourselves with more respect and make more time for ourselves. We make a playlist, find a friend and make moving fun. Track one week on your phone usage … could we find some time in there to give up? I think we can.
We get it, and we are the first to admit that we are not perfect either. Accountability is just as important in our lives. How could we hold our clients more accountable?
It got us thinking: What if we created a program where we communicated with our clients daily? What if we could send them a nice morning motivational note, help them overcome their daily obstacles, offer them support through each meal, give them feedback on their meals, and praise when they’ve completed a good work out? If we could teach them to treat themselves (and talk to themselves) with more love and self-respect, how could good habits not be formed?
If you feel like you’ve tried it all or that you don’t know where to start, accountability coaching could be your answer. We are experts in nutrition, and you will learn how to eat right. You will find time to move your body. Most importantly, we want to change your inner dialogue to talk to yourself with more love and uplifting words, like you deserve. This is a big part of the program, so you can learn to be positive and accountable once the program has ended. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to your best friend. Why are we harder on ourselves?
Accountability coaching can turn your hopes and dreams into action! We feel passionate about this program because we don’t see how you can fail. We are with you five times a day, communicating over FaceTime or text messaging. You send us pictures of your meals and workouts (accountability, my friends!) and have 24/7 access to nutrition professionals. You have someone there for you every day to remind you why you started and offer constant support.
You are worth it. To remind you that it can be hard, but that your hard work will pay off. We offer two- and four-week jumpstart programs. Once those programs are completed, we offer less intensive maintenance programs until you feel like you can conquer the world!
We want to be there for you! We want to help you transform your life into the healthy and happy life you’ve always wanted! Stop beating yourself up and feeling like you aren’t enough. Stop feeling like a failure. This is a no-failure program, and we will be there for YOU every step of the way! Email us today at dietitiansforyou@gmail.com.