There are a few reasons we don’t give out specific meal plans here at Core Principles that say “eat x amount of y at a certain time of the day”. One of them is without any background knowledge of what your current eating habits are like there is no way someone can provide you with a well-structured meal plan that you can follow.

If I were to do that I would simply be shooting in the dark and throwing together a random plan that does not take into account where a client is right now.

Today I want to talk about one of the first steps in the process that you can do right now that will provide you with a ton of valuable information.

Assess

There is a saying in the fitness industry “If you’re not assessing you’re guessing” I also find that to be 100 percent true when I am working with my with nutrition coaching clients.

When I get a new nutrition coaching client the first thing we do is sit down and discuss what is going on with their nutrition right now, what their goals are, and what roadblocks they see coming up in the future.

I will ask my clients to record what a normal day of eating looks like for them. I do not want them to change anything because they are recording now I just want to get some starting data to help build a little awareness.

Now there is a big misconception when I say record your food. Some people think that what I mean is that they must measure, weigh, and use an app such as

Myfitnesspal to record their food.

Now, while this is one of the options my clients do use, it is not the only option they have and in no way the best option.

Two of the other options we talk about are old school pen and paper with a

C.P. Daily Food Log, or taking pictures with your phone and using an app such as Google Keep.

It is super important that my clients understand that no one of these options is best, I simply want them to use what they feel will work best for them and what they will be most consistent with.

I also stress the importance of not only tracking what you eat but also where you are eating, what you are doing, any thoughts/emotions going through your head. All of that information is just as valuable as the actual food.