Our Nutritionists Listen
Your goals are unique to you. Your nutritionist tracks your habits with you and makes specific recommendations to achieve your goals
Ultimate Guide to Nutrition Coaching
Get the answers you need to find the nutrition coach and personalized program to reach your goals.
If you are considering working with a nutritionist or simply want to learn more about nutrition coaching, you have come to the right place!
Learn how to find the perfect program for you:
What is Nutrition Coaching?
Nutrition is the study of food, how the body uses the nutrients in your food and the relationship between your diet, your health, and any diseases or medical conditions you may have.
Counseling is a collaborative effort that helps clients, like you, develop solutions to problems. It also involves setting goals and outlining a path to work toward them. Your counselor is there to support you along that path.
To put those two together, nutrition counseling is the process of altering your diet to improve your health. However, it’s not just about the food, and it’s not just someone telling you what to eat to make you healthier.
Nutrition counseling involves collaboration between you and your nutrition coach. It involves diving deep into what you eat, but also why you eat the foods you do, when you eat, how you feel about food and your body, and more.
How Does Nutrition Coaching Help You Reach Your Goals?
Nutrition coaching is useful when two things are true. First, you have a nutrition or health-related goal. Second, you are ready, willing, and able to put in the time and energy to achieve that goal.
Nutrition coaching encompasses so much more than a diet plan or program, which makes it an effective strategy for reaching your goals once and for all.
There are many benefits to choosing nutrition coaching, and we’ve outlined some of them for you.
Nutrition counseling is personalized, so it’s built just for you. Your dietitian will provide you with specific resources and education to help you not only achieve your goals but also understand how and why you were able to so you can maintain this newfound health long-term.
Nutrition counseling provides support, accountability, and encouragement. It’s not just a springboard to get you started. It’s a guiding force all along the way.
Finally, nutrition counseling focuses on sustainable, long-term habit building. It’s not a quick fix, it’s forever.
Learn more about Nutrition Counseling and How it Helps you Reach Your Goals
What Is Holistic Nutrition Coaching? Is It Right For You?
Holistic means comprehensive. It means zooming out and looking at the whole picture.
It acknowledges that any one piece of a puzzle alone is not enough, we need to address all of the pieces to get the full scope of what’s going on.
The medical definition of holistic is “characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors rather than just the symptoms of a disease.”
I talk about this concept in my nutrition counseling sessions often.
You may be in tiptop physical shape, but if you are struggling mentally, emotionally, socially, or spiritually, your health will still suffer.
Holistic nutrition starts with the food. It starts with the basics including:
- What you eat
- When you eat
- How much you eat
It builds into concepts like:
- How balanced is your diet?
- Are you eating a variety of foods?
- Do you practice moderation?
Holistic nutrition counseling is personalized, unique, and complex. It starts with food, but ebbs and flows into many different areas. Each and every one of these areas is dependent on you and what you need.
This specific type of nutrition counseling is meant to meet you where you currently are. There aren’t standards you must meet to start holistic nutrition counseling. Your dietitian will work with you to improve your health no matter where you start.
Learn more about Holistic Nutrition Counseling
Personalized Nutrition Coaching vs a Template Based Plan
Advantages of Diet Plans
Diet plans have their advantages including:
- Price
- Scheduling
- Time commitment
In general, diet plans are less expensive than personalized nutrition coaching. Some diet plans simply require a one-time fee to get a plan. Others require a monthly fee, but it is generally less than the cost of coaching.
If you are looking for nutrition guidance that is specific to you, a diet plan is likely not for you.
Diet plans usually work well for the average day or the average week where you control your food. What diet plans don’t account for are life events like birthdays, holidays, and spontaneous dinners out with family or friends.
Personalized nutrition coaching is centered around the idea that every individual has a unique set of needs and their nutrition plan should be tailored specifically to them.
Advantages of Nutrition Coaching
Aside from being personalized, nutrition coaching has a few advantages including:
- Client-driven
- Solution-oriented
- Holistic
In personalized nutrition coaching programs, you are the driver. Your coach is your passenger who is reading the map and providing guidance, but you ultimately determine where you are going.
If you are looking to achieve specific goals that are personal to you, nutrition coaching is the way to go.
Learn more about Nutrition Coaching vs a DIY Diet Plan and which is Best for You
What is a Nutrition Coach and What Do They Do?
A nutrition coach is someone who is educated and trained in nutrition. They possess the knowledge and skills to help you optimize your health and wellness through changes to your eating habits and lifestyle behaviors.
Well-trained nutrition coaches take into account your medical history and current medical concerns. They also work with your eating preferences to build a plan that works in your life. A good nutrition coach will also help you optimize your relationship with food in the process.
What do Nutrition Coaches Do? Why You May Want to Work with One
You can expect your nutrition coach to discuss food-related topics including:
- What you typically eat in a day
- If you follow a specific way of eating (for example vegetarian or vegan, paleo, keto, etc.)
- If you have any food allergies or intolerances
- How much variety do you include in your diet
- When you typically eat during the day
- If you eat consistently throughout the day or often skip meals
- If you prefer to cook or eat meals out
- Your cooking skills and confidence in the kitchen
- Your meal planning process
- How you typically grocery shop
- What beverages do you typically consume
- How hungry and full you feel throughout each day
- Your relationship with food
You can also expect your nutrition coach to discuss other lifestyle behaviors including:
- Exercise habits
- Sleep schedule
- Energy level
- Stress level
- Mental health
A nutrition coach will talk to you and work with you to find the plan that works best for you. Better yet, when you hit a bump in the road, a nutrition coach will help you navigate the bump and find a better path instead of saying you failed the program, better luck with the next one!
Nutrition coaches are humans, just like you are a human. They can respond, adapt, and customize far better than an online calculator that gives you numbers to hit each day and rewards you with badges and awards or reprimands you with red numbers and sad faces.
A quick search for the best diet program or #healthyeatingplan will yield thousands of results and leave you feeling confused about where to start or frustrated that you’ve tried these programs and they haven’t worked for you.
A nutrition coach is different because they focus on you as an individual, not the millions of people searching for the magic pill.
Learn more about The Role of a Nutrition Coach and Why You May Want to Work with One.
Dietitian vs Nutritionist: How to Pick
While these terms are often used interchangeably, they are not always the same thing. All dietitians are nutritionists, but not all nutritionists are dietitians. We know this may sound confusing, so we’ll explain. Dietitians and nutritionists differ in four key areas:
- Education and training
- Practice areas
- Expertise
- Who they work with
Dietitians:
- Completed bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university
- Completed 1200-hour supervised practice program at a health-care facility, community agency, or foodservice corporation
- Passed a national examination
- Typically develop specialties and areas of deep insight
- Qualified to deliver medical nutrition therapy
Nutritionists:
- Often work with individuals or groups in community nutrition programs
- Are more likely to be generalists in their field
- Guide nutrition, health, and overall lifestyle
Qualifications of Registered Dietitians and Nutrition Coaches
There is one main path to becoming a Registered Dietitian.
- Complete a bachelor’s degree in nutrition or dietetics at an accredited college or university. The college or university must be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) and the program much be an approved Didactic Program in Dietetics (PDP).
- Complete a 1200-hour supervised practice program, which also much be accredited by ACEND.
- Pass a national examination administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR).
This process requires at least five years of education or training, which includes four years of formal education and one year of hands-on supervised practice.
How Nutrition Coaches Become Nutrition Coaches
There are many potential pathways to becoming a nutrition coach. Some of the more formal pathways include:
- Completing a bachelor’s degree in nutrition
- Completing a master’s degree in nutrition
- Completing a training program that provides a certification
There are many nutrition coach training programs available that provide individuals with certifications. However, the quality of these programs and the training they provide varies greatly.
Some programs boast they can be completed in as little as six months, or even fewer than 99 days. Many are completed entirely online via self-study modules. Most allow you to take your certification exam at home where you can use your materials to check your answers.
Key Questions to Ask Your Potential Nutrition Coach Should Include:
- Do you have a degree in nutrition?
- Where are your certifications from?
- How long was your training program?
- What did your training program consist of?
- Have you worked with other clients like me?
- Have your clients like me achieved their goals?
Learn more about the Qualifications for Dietitians and Nutrition Coaches
How to Find the Right Nutrition Coach For You
In order to evaluate the right type of nutrition coach for you, you should evaluate:
- Their credentials, education and training
- Their specialty and practice area
- The structure of their program and overall cost
- Whether it's a good personality fit!
Credentials, Education and Training
The first step is evaluating the credentials of the nutrition coach you are interested in working with. The most well-known and well-respected credential in the field is the registered dietitian credential.
If your potential nutrition coach is a registered dietitian he or she is required to have at least a bachelor’s degree in nutrition, as well as at least 1200 hours of supervised practice working with experienced dietitians in various settings.
Many other nutrition professionals also hold bachelor’s and/or master’s degrees in nutrition. However, nutrition coach, nutritionist, health coach, weight loss coach, etc. are not regulated titles.
Specialties and Practice Areas
Depending on your reason for seeking nutrition coaching, you may want to look for a professional with a certain specialty.
If you have diabetes you may want to look for a nutrition coach who is a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES). If you have an eating disorder you may want to look for a dietitian who is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS). If you are an athlete you may want to look for a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD).
Many dietitians and nutrition coaches specialize in certain areas. If you have a specific concern it is likely beneficial to look for a nutrition coach who is knowledgeable and has experience in that particular area. He or she will be best equipped to help you achieve your goals.
Program Structure
Every nutrition coach does things a little bit differently. Finding a coach who provides the right level of support for you is key to your success:
- Do you want to meet your coach in person?
- Would you prefer to see them virtually?
- Does a phone call work better for your schedule?
- Would chatting online be a better way for you to communicate?
- Do you want to speak to your nutrition coach face to face every week?
- Does having the ability to send messages between meetings help you feel more supported?
- Do you want the ability to log your food and/or track your progress in an app?
- Does having the ability to send your coach questions online feel beneficial?
Learn how to Find the Best Nutrition Coach for You
Download the Ultimate Guide to Nutrition Coaching — today!
Reach your goals with the program and coach that’s right for you.
Is Nutrition Coaching Right For You?
If you are looking to improve both your nutrition and your overall health, nutrition counseling is right for you. Nutrition meets you where you are at.
You may be a trained chef or you may struggle to make pasta. Nutrition counseling is right for you. You may have access to fancy products in your grocery store or only have basic staples available. Nutrition counseling is right for you. You may be single and only responsible for your own nutrition or you may have a full family to feed and care for. Nutrition counseling is right for you. You may have serious medical concerns or you may just want to be a healthy person. Nutrition counseling is right for you.
7 Major Benefits of Nutrition Counseling
Think of all the things you hire a professional for because you either don’t want to do something yourself or don’t possess the skills needed to do that thing.
If your car needs an oil change, are you the best person for the job? If you need a haircut, would you do it yourself? More often than not, you have those “go-to” people that you hire for these services because you trust their expertise to give you the result you’re looking for.
Hiring a nutrition coach is no different!
The major benefits of working with a nutrition coach include:
- Personalization: Before building your personalized plan, your nutrition coach or dietitian compiles the following information that makes you unique. They use this information to determine the best strategies to implement to help you reach your goals.
- Support: Consider your nutrition coach as your personal support system throughout your journey
- Resources: When you work with a registered dietitian inside of a detail-oriented program, you can access a variety of resources and materials
- Education: Our team consists of knowledgeable, informed, and well-rounded dietitians and nutritionists. Each one has a bachelor’s degree and real-world experience in their field.
- Accountability: Reaching your goals isn’t just about building knowledge and gathering information, it’s about transformation. Having someone who is asking the hard-hitting questions, holding you responsible for reaching goals, and frequently checking in to measure your progress is the key to success.
- Encouragement: Encouragement is a check-in with you to make note that there is no such thing as failure in the journey - only ways to learn and grow.
- Long-Term Habit Building: Working one-on-one with a nutrition coach or dietitian, you will implement small changes that lead to big results over time. The best part? These changes aren’t as daunting or impossible as you may think, and they will feel more realistic and sustainable than restrictions.
Learn more about the Benefits of Nutrition Counseling
Pros and Cons of Nutrition Counseling
In addition to the seven benefits of nutrition coaching we shared above, there are distinct pros and cons to evaluate when selecting a nutrition counseling program.
Unique Pros of Nutrition Counseling with OnPoint
- A personalized approach to your goals and preferences
- Consistent support, guidance, and accountability
- Science-backed resources
- A whole-health approach
- Long-term, sustainable habit-building
Unique "Cons" of Nutrition Counseling with OnPoint:
- Less hand-holding; instead we teach you to be independent and self-reliant
- Non-diagnosis policy: because we are not doctors, we will not make medical diagnoses or prescribe medicine. However, we expect to work with your doctor as part of a robust care plan
- Slightly higher cost. In order to built a truly custom nutrition program for you, our dietitians dedicate times, resources, and expertise in helping you succeed
- Improved nutrition is not a panacea. You may need to also improve your sleeping habits and stress management to achieve the transformational change we want you to achieve. Nutrition is the first step, however!
- You won't see results overnight. Because we do not believe in fad diets, it will take a few weeks for your new habits to become established and begin to re-wire your body and mind
How Much Does Nutrition Coaching Cost?
The cost of your nutrition coaching program will depend on:
- The type of program you choose (in-person or virtual)
- How frequently you meet with your registered dietitian
- Individual program vs couple vs group program
- Your insurance provider and your specific coverage
Type of Program
A variety of nutrition program options are available to you to align with your current goals, availability and overall needs, which include:
- In-person or virtual visits
- Current health conditions
- Schedule and availability
- The availability of the dietitian accepting new clients
Everyone’s goals, lifestyle and needs are different, and each requires a frequency of visits unique to them.
Program Frequency
For example, if you are someone looking to manage chronic illness symptoms, you may need a higher frequency of visits to navigate these nuanced issues and build an appropriate plan.
If you’re someone who is looking to lose a bit of weight or manage a mild food allergy, you may not need as high a volume of sessions to reach your goals.
Individual vs Couple vs Group:
Your partner, friend, colleague or family member may want to join you so that you are both able to assist each other through the process and provide each other with an “accountability buddy.” Many programs, including OnPoint, provide cost savings to couples. OnPoint also organizes group programs throughout the year as a budget-friendly option.
Insurance Coverage
OnPoint Nutrition’s Registered Dietitians are licensed to accept insurance in specific states. This allows us to submit sessions directly to insurance providers of client’s who live in these states.
Learn more about the cost of Nutrition Counseling
Does Health Insurance Cover the Cost of Nutrition Counseling
Health insurance coverage can be notoriously confusing and overwhelming to decipher, adding stress to what should be a stress-free process of finding someone you can collaborate with on your health goals.
Will you be fully covered or partially covered? Will out-of-pocket payment be your only option for moving forward? When it comes to health insurance, there are a wide variety of scenarios that could play out.
The good news is that many of the major insurance providers offer coverage for nutrition counseling, which will help to offset some of the total cost.
These Seven Factors determine how your health insurance will cover the cost of your program:
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Your Insurance Provider: In-network providers have contracts with certain health insurance companies. If the dietitian you’re looking to work with is an in-network provider with your insurance company, the likelihood of your health insurance company offering a portion of coverage is high.
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Your Plan-Specific Coverage: Many health insurance plans will cover some portion of what they consider “preventative services”, and what falls under this category is dependent on which insurance plan you fall under.
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A Required Referral: Whether or not you’ll need a referral from your primary care doctor for nutrition counseling services varies from provider to provider.
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A Required Deductible: If you haven’t met your out-of-pocket deductible, your health insurance provider may not offer coverage until you do.
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A Required Per-Session Co-Pay: Co-Pays are a fixed dollar amount required by your health insurance provider, which should be clearly stated on your health insurance card.
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A Limit to the Number of Sessions That Are Covered: Some health insurance providers will offer coverage for a maximum number of nutritional counseling sessions per calendar year. It’s not uncommon for some providers to mandate annual limits which cap the number of services offered in a calendar year. Once that annual limit is reached, you are responsible to pay out-of-pocket for any remaining balance. What is offered for the number of sessions that are covered depends on your provider and plan.
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Your State of Residency: Due to specific state licensure statutes (the granting of permission to perform acts which, without it, would be illegal), our team members can submit sessions directly to insurance providers in the states they are licensed in.
If you are interested in Nutrition Coaching with our team, we can run an eligibility check for you. This will provide you with your specific insurance coverage should you choose to work with us to pursue your nutrition and wellness goals.
Learn more about how insurance covers the cost of a nutrition program
Download the Ultimate Guide to Nutrition Coaching — today!
Reach your goals with the coach and program that’s right for you.
How to Be Successful in your Nutrition Counseling Program
10 Tips for Working Successfully with Your Nutrition Coach
Here are the top 10 ways to help guarantee success, straight from OnPoint Nutrition’s registered dietitians and nutrition coaches:
1. Be Consistent
Here are some of the ways to stay consistent when working with your nutrition coach or dietitian:
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Log your meals and snacks daily
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Show up for your appointments
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Be on time for your appointments
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Have consistent goals in mind each week, and make them a priority
2. Ask Questions
Stay curious, my friends! It is so important that you ask your nutrition coach or dietitian questions when they come up. Asking questions means you want to learn and grow, and that desire for growth is only going to feed your success.
3. Communicate Your Needs
Being open, honest, and transparent with your nutrition coach or dietitian is of the utmost importance; they are not mind-readers! Communicate your needs at all times, and always be forthright with whatever is on your mind so you can work on things together as a team.
4. Work As a Team
View your nutrition coach or dietitian as your team member throughout the process, working side by side with you, not against you. They are there to help you pick up the pace, help you if you drop the ball, and cheer you on from the sidelines as you take the lead.
5. Be Open to Change
Being able to adapt, pivot, and be flexible is a huge part of getting you out of your comfort zone and into your GROWTH zone, where most shifts in habits and perspectives start to change for the better.
6. Find Opportunities for Growth
Here at OnPoint Nutrition, we don’t believe in the words “failure” or “mistakes”. These things that can be viewed as negative can always take a positive spin. If something throws you off course or you feel like you’re ready to give up, notice how you can use these hiccups as learning experiences.
7. Take it Slow
Slow and steady wins the race! Your journey with personalized nutrition counseling should be viewed as a marathon, not a sprint.
Many studies have proven that quick-fix “fad” diets are not sustainable for most people in a long-term sense. Creating balance in your diet and maintaining realistic and attainable progress is not only possible, it’s something you can stick with for years to come.
8. Practice Mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness is all the rage these days, and for good reason. When you feel in control of your thoughts, patterns, and behavior, you are less likely to feel overwhelmed and more likely to feel confident in your choices.
9. Celebrate Mini-Victories
Perspective; it’s an important thing to check in with throughout this process! What you might view as a huge milestone might be a small one to someone else. What you see as a small victory might be an enormous hurdle someone else had to jump.
Tracking incremental achievements helps with confidence boosting, goal setting, and a positive mindset. Celebrating the smallest of victories means those victories will stack up over time and you get to look back at ALL of your successes. This is essential for success.
10. Be Kind to Yourself
You are the most important priority in this journey, and you won’t get any further in the process by beating yourself up or speaking negatively to yourself.
Speaking kindly to yourself and being your hero in your health journey can help with things like mental clarity, sleep, eating behaviors, and your relationship with others, all of which affect how successful the process is for you.
Learn more about how to be successful with your Nutrition Coach
A Plan Built Just for You
Based upon your daily routine, we will build a custom plan to ensure your success during your time working with our team
Continuous Improvement
Success does not happen overnight. If something isn't working quite right, we make changes right away
Questions? Contact Us!
“My team and I would be honored to be part of your health journey! Our priority is your health and happiness; no goal is too big or too small. We look forward to working with you soon!”
Britney Kennedy
Founder
