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7 Questions All Nutrition Coaches Need To Know How to Answer

With fad diets flooding the marketplace, obesity and heart disease numbers rapidly increasing, and more confusing food choices than ever before, Nutrition Coaches are in particularly high demand.

This is an exciting, rewarding career for people who love helping others. And for those who love being their own boss.

If you’re interested in becoming a Nutrition Coach, NASM has just introduced Nutrition Certification, a breakthrough program that combines cutting-edge nutrition science with behavior change and nutrition coaching strategies.

Several of the topics below are covered in the program. Read on and discover some of the common questions nutrition coaches receive – both about their career and nutrition in general.

What’s the role of a Nutrition Coach? How is it different than a Registered Dietitian? 

There are clearly defined boundaries between the services of a Certified Nutrition Coach and a Registered Dietician Nutritionist, or an RDN.

Nutrition Coaches serve clients who do not have any known medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, etc.) and want to:

• Learn more about healthy eating practices
• Lose or gain weight in a safe and effective manner
• Improve athletic performance through foods they eat
• Increase energy through dietary improvements
• Learn more about healthy shopping, cooking, or sound dining-out strategies

One of the many benefits of working as a Nutrition Coach is witnessing any or all of these amazing changes in clients, no matter who they are. Because a Nutrition Coach can even choose to specialize with certain populations – athletes, post-partum mothers, or overweight executives, to name a few.

Many people enlist the services of a Nutrition Coach to help them sift through all the confusing information that’s out there. Between all the controversies surrounding gluten, carbs, proteins, etc., there’s a lot to keep a Nutrition Coach busy.

To be a Certified Nutrition Coach, you have to take a Nutrition Coaching program – such as the aforementioned NASM Nutrition Certification – and pass the certification exam. These programs vary in length. NASM Nutrition Certification, for example, is a self-paced, online program, that can be completed in as little as 8-12 weeks. The program is open to anyone, even those with no previous fitness background.

The role of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists, or RDNs, is more medical in nature. RDNs design nutrition programs to protect health, prevent allergic reactions, and alleviate the symptoms of many types of disease. 

To be a licensed RDN, you have to earn at least a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university, had their course work approved by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND), fulfilled hundreds of hours of supervised dietetic services in a variety of professional settings, and must have passed a national exam provided by the Commission on Dietetics and Registration (CDR).

Isn’t nutrition as simple as monitoring calories in and out?

Not quite. For those who have an unhealthy relationship with food, losing weight can be a lifetime struggle. Simply telling someone who’s struggled with weight loss that they need to cut their calories and exercise more won’t be an effective strategy because it doesn’t actually provide the individual with concrete, actionable steps to move in the right direction.

It’s important to take several variables into consideration, such as if there have been failed attempts to lose weight in the past. Also, it’s wise to find out if a client believes he or she can make a change, or whether they are filled with self-doubt to accomplish their goals.

Furthermore, it’s important to understand that some mental disturbances, including stress, depression, or having been exposed to trauma, can affect appetite for some individuals, leading to over or under-consuming calories. It’s also important to know that everyone reacts in a different way to these potential triggers. 

Getting this sort of background information is invaluable in forming a nuanced, individualized approach to helping clients reach their goals, no matter what they might be.

What’s the deal with High Fructose Corn Syrup? Is it good or bad?

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a man-made sweetener derived from corn starch. You can find it in many commercially available products ranging from soda and sports drinks, to salad dressings and barbecue sauces. 

HFCS is preferred over real sugar by many food companies since it’s cheaper, more abundant, has a longer shelf life, and has a broader range of food-processing applications versus cane sugar.

From a perspective of caloric density, it is a little sweeter than sugar, which implies that less could be used. But per gram, HFCS is no different than cane sugar (i.e., one gram equals four calories), thus it cannot be implicated in promoting greater levels of obesity by itself. ¹

However, it’s most often found in snacks and junk foods that are usually calorically dense, and thus becomes guilty by association. 

The same must be said for HFCS negatively affecting metabolic or endocrinal (hormonal) responses in the body – no real evidence links HFCS per se to compromised health.

HFCS is one of the most abundant sources of added sugar. So reducing HFCS is a smart choice for most people. However, when ingested in small amounts, HFCS does not directly pose major health issues. Its impact on the body is similar to cane sugar.

Carbs. Will they make me gain weight?

A macronutrient (that’s the fancy term for something that’s consumed in large amounts— carbohydrates, protein or fat) by itself does not necessarily promote obesity, unless its quantities are significantly elevated.

Rather, the overall energy density of the diet, or how many calories are consumed, appears to be the primary cause of overweight and obesity.

So why are carbohydrates always portrayed as the bad guys?

Part of this blame stems from the fact that carbs, especially sugars and processed (simple) carbohydrates with little fiber, empty from the stomach faster than other nutrients. They can also cause a rise and fall in blood sugar faster than other nutrients.

But neither of those are the real problem. The overeating is. And simple carbs are very easy to over-consume because often they’re easily accessible, and to many, sweet foods taste good.

The accessibility combined with the taste tends to stimulate appetite, resulting in more food being consumed. When more energy is consumed than the body uses, weight gain occurs. It’s just the law of thermodynamics.

The trick is to opt for primarily nutritious carbohydrate sources like whole grains, legumes, whole fruits and vegetables over simple carbohydrate foods like cookies, pastries, chips, and other junk foods.

Does a decrease in dietary saturated fat intake reduce heart disease?

In short, yes, decreasing saturated fat can reduce the risk of heart disease.

But it’s not as simple as that.

Dietary recommendations have focused on reducing saturated fat intake to lower LDL-cholesterol, and thus, cardiovascular disease.²

However, this strategy has not been well established without recommending what specific nutrients should be substituted for saturated fat.³

Based on numerous studies, several conclusions have been made:

• Replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates does not reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.

• And reductions in saturated fat without replacing those nutrients with other nutrients is not well understood.

Bottom line:

People should reduce their saturated fat intake to the recommended guidelines; about 10%, or less, of total calories. If they are consuming more than recommended guidelines, they should replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats, including nuts, seeds, fatty fish, olive oil, and avocados.  

Does exercising on an empty stomach burn fat?

The idea of “fasted cardio” – or fasting during aerobic exercise – has been around for decades. The underlying idea being that when you don’t consume food, specifically carbohydrates, for an extended period, your body will use its fat to get its energy.

There is some rationale to support this idea. For example, in a study of ten healthy overweight men walking for 60 minutes on an empty stomach burned more fat than when they consumed carbohydrates prior to walking.⁴

In another study, active men burned nearly 20% more fatty acids when running on an empty stomach compared to after eating breakfast.⁵

These studies simply measured markers of acute fat oxidation (or burning fat), not long-term outcomes of actual body fat loss. 

In a four-week long study of females on a 500-calorie-a-day deficit, fasted cardio was not more beneficial than non-fasted cardio for changes in body composition, or body mass index (BMI).⁶

In some cases, fasted exercise may be detrimental, specifically in higher intensity training, or longer duration training where pre-workout carbohydrates are needed to increase performance. 

Bottom Line: Fasted cardio does not appear to provide any additional benefit on body fat loss when calories and training volume are equal. 

The Keto Diet – Is it a fad worth falling for?

The ketogenic diet – or Keto Diet, as it’s commonly known – is a dietary approach that utilizes a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat approach to eating. The idea is when there is a severe reduction of carbohydrate intake, the liver begins to produce ketone bodies to be used for fuel, a process called ketosis.

There is some promising research regarding a keto diet and specific diseases. For instance, up to 50% of young people with epilepsy had significantly fewer seizures after following a keto diet.⁷ Ketogenic diets may also aid in fat loss.

However, when calories and protein are matched between diets, a ketogenic diet does not necessarily lead to more fat loss than a non-ketogenic or higher carbohydrate diet.⁸ 

Bottom line: A well-formulated ketogenic diet may be safe to consume for many people, with the presumption that the diet is comprised of mostly whole, minimally-processed foods and providing adequate micronutrition (vitamins and minerals) and fiber.

However, a ketogenic diet may lead to increases in LDL cholesterol – or ‘bad’ cholesterol.⁹ If this happens, that should be of concern, and may warrant reducing fat intake in those susceptible individuals. It should be noted that there is a large individual genetic variation in response to high-fat diets.

We hope this has answered some of your burning questions about the role of Nutrition Coaches[BS1] , and some of the more hot topics in nutrition.

And if this blog has piqued your interest in becoming a Certified Nutrition Coach, you can learn more by clicking here.

1. Smith AM, Collene, AL and Spees CK. (2018). Wardlaw’s Contemporary Nutrition (5th edition). New York, NY. McGraw-Hill Education.

2. Mozaffarian, D., Micha, R., & Wallace, S. (2010). Effects on coronary heart disease of increasing polyunsaturated fat in place of saturated fat: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PLoS medicine, 7(3), e1000252.

3. De Souza, R. J., Mente, A., Maroleanu, A., Cozma, A. I., Ha, V., Kishibe, T., … & Anand, S. S. (2015). Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Bmj, 351, h3978.

4. Chen, Y. C., Travers, R. L., Walhin, J. P., Gonzalez, J. T., Koumanov, F., Betts, J. A., & Thompson, D. (2017). Feeding influences adipose tissue responses to exercise in overweight men. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 313(1), E84-E93.

5. Gonzalez JT, Veasey RC, Rumbold PL, Stevenson EJ. Breakfast and exercise contingently affect postprandial metabolism and energy balance in physically active males. British Journal of Nutrition. 2013 Aug;110(4):721-32. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512005582. Epub 2013 Jan 29.

6. Schoenfeld, B. J., Aragon, A. A., Wilborn, C. D., Krieger, J. W., & Sonmez, G. T. (2014). Body composition changes associated with fasted versus non-fasted aerobic exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 11(1), 54.

7. Sharma, S., & Jain, P. (2014). The ketogenic diet and other dietary treatments for refractory epilepsy in children. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 17(3), 253-8.

8. Johnston C., Tjonn S., Swan P., White A., Hutchins H., Sears B. (2006), Ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets have no metabolic advantage over nonketogenic low-carbohydrate diets, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 83, Issue 5, 1 May 2006, Pages 1055–1061, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/83.5.1055

9. Kephart, W., Pledge, C., Roberson, P., Mumford, P., Romero, M., Mobley, C., . . . Roberts, M. (2018, 01). The Three-Month Effects of a Ketogenic Diet on Body Composition, Blood Parameters, and Performance Metrics in CrossFit Trainees: A Pilot Study. Sports, 6(1), 1. doi:10.3390/sports6010001

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 [BS1]We capitalize Nutrition Coaches in the product

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Best Exogenous Ketone Supplements

Learn how exogenous ketone supplements differ from brand to brand and which one we believe to be the overall best exogenous ketone powder.

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Three Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Social Media Manager For Your Fitness Business

There’s nothing wrong with delegating your social media posting to someone else. Just be sure that person or agency is qualified. When hiring someone to help you with your fitness brand’s content and direction on social media, ask a lot of questions. Here are a few to get you started.

Questions to ask: Will you be preparing a social media strategy? What are some of the strategy’s major components?

Any social media expert you hire must have a plan for your success. There are plenty of people on social media who are quite successful at running their own personal pages and getting a lot of attention. That approach is drastically different from preparing a marketing plan and promoting a brand/company on social media. Just because someone is great at posting to his or her social channels doesn’t guarantee he or she will be awesome at managing yours.

Find out how the person plans to strategize social media for you. A good strategy includes looking ahead to running special campaigns, specific plans for creating engagement and attracting new followers, and a long-range vision based on your brand’s goals. A manager needs to do more than just drop a new post on social media every day. Inquire about how daily posts will ultimately tie into the bigger picture.

Questions to ask: What’s different about social media today compared to a year ago, and how will that affect how you help me market my brand? What’s the next big thing in social, and how will that factor into my social marketing?

Social media changes constantly. What was popular or worked well a year or two ago might be quite different now. For example, live video wasn’t that commonplace a couple of years ago. Now it’s a mainstay on pretty much every major social platform. Instagram Stories didn’t exist before 2016; now Stories are becoming more popular than Instagram’s main feed.

As the person doing the hiring, you might not be aware of all the changes and updates—that’s OK. When asking questions, observe whether the prospective expert appears confident and is easily able to discuss how the latest changes and upcoming trends will affect you.

Questions to ask: How comfortable are you posting about health and fitness? How will you learn to communicate in my fitness brand’s voice on social media?

Social media experts know social media; not all of them know health and fitness too. Find out how the person or agency plans to get a feel for your brand and its voice.

It’s not uncommon for fitness companies to hire agencies to handle their social media. Unfortunately, sometimes they end up unhappy with the nature of the content because the agency doesn’t “get” health and fitness.

Any manager you hire should understand your philosophy on fitness so he or she doesn’t post memes or content that might go against your brand’s fitness philosophy or water down your professional image. Questions you ask a prospective social-media manager during the hiring process can help eliminate any issues.

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NASM introduces Nutrition Certification

Designed to help fitness professionals discover solutions for their clients’ health and dietary needs.

Obesity, heart disease, and cancer are on the rise. Fad diets are muddying today’s culture with misconceptions and fallacies. And the marketplace is filled with more confusing food choices than ever. (Organic vs. GMO? Gluten-free vs. normal bread? And what’s the deal with milk? Butter? Eggs? Are they bad for us or not?)

More and more often, fitness professionals are experiencing difficulties navigating and integrating effective nutritional strategies that stay in step with their clients’ goals, fitness programs, and schedules.

Additionally, clients have more nutrition preferences than ever before. Some are solidly based on religious restrictions, dietary choices (vegan, pescetarian, etc.), and medical reasons, while others are based on longstanding myths and flighty trends.

Fitness professionals want to be able to give quality nutrition advice. But with so many obstacles, with so much conflicting information, it’s no wonder so many personal trainers and group fitness instructors are wary of imparting any nutrition advice at all.

The need for solid information is at an all-time high – as is the need for top-quality nutrition coaches – ones who feel confident in the areas of science, behavior change, and coaching.

To meet this demand, NASM has spent years developing a new program: NASM Nutrition Certification.

Working with over 20 experts in the fields of nutrition, metabolism, physiology, psychology, behavior change, etc., NASM Nutrition Certification is one of the most robust programs we’ve ever offered.

Those who successfully complete the program will be NASM Certified Nutrition Coaches – or NASM-CNCs – able to help clients construct effective meal plans, inform and advise clients with real facts based on real science, and help change any potentially destructive dietary behaviors.

What’s more, anyone can take this certification. From expert trainers, to beginners. No fitness background is necessary.

And since the entire program is geared towards student success, there should be plenty of NASM-CNCs out in the fitness community soon enough. Because NASM took a slightly different approach with this program. In doing so, the lessons become more memorable, and – forgive the pun – easily digestible.

Working with cutting-edge interactive and multimedia designers, NASM purposefully set out to create an instructional experience that was also fun, engaging, and unlike any nutrition program in the market today, making it more of an immersive, interactive experience. Everything about it is geared towards the trainee’s success.

Unlike NASM’s Fitness and Nutrition Specialization – an equally effective program that covers the basics of the physiology and biochemistry of nutrition and dietetics (and is an excellent compliment to this course) – NASM Nutrition Certification combines cutting edge science with real-world implementation techniques.

The program is divided into three sections:

• Nutrition Science

• Behavior Change Strategies

• Nutrition Coaching

Nutrition Science covers some of today’s hot topics, such as how to separate the truths from the myths when it comes to food and diets; what the facts are about proteins, carbs, fats, macronutrients, micronutrients, and other food controversies; as well as the latest cutting-edge science in all things related to health, wellness, and nutrition.

In Behavior Change Strategies, trainees learn crucial information about the psychology behind getting trapped in dietary patterns – and how to break out of them, the power and effectiveness of goal-setting, and how to change lifelong habits for good.

Finally, in Nutrition Coaching, everything learned in the previous two areas are approached from a real-world perspective – shopping for groceries, reading labels and ingredients lists, calculating portion sizes, etc. Also in this area: teaching clients how to navigate restaurants, parties, and other places where dietary hazards lurk, as well as how to teach effective daily habits so clients can improve their own lives.

As opposed to other nutrition courses, Nutrition Certification does not take a “one-size-fits-all” approach. With successful completion, NASM-CNCs will have the ability to take into consideration all of their clients’ various backgrounds, religions, and circumstances.

Using that knowledge, they can design and deliver individualized nutrition programs for their clients, no matter their dietary needs, preferences, and/or restrictions.

For any fitness professional – or anyone in general – looking to venture into the world of nutrition coaching, look no further than NASM Nutrition Certification. It’s your recipe for success.

Become an NASM Certified Nutrition Coach today.

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30 Day Ab Blast Challenge Begins April 1st

Our 30 DAY AB CHALLENGE challenge starts Monday, April 1st, in The Hollywood Trainer Club! Let’s start off April with a bang! Grab a friend & join us!  The purpose of this challenge is to encourage you to commit to 30 days of total body workouts with an extra emphasis on the abs! We have incorporated  Cardio, Sculpting, Exercise Ball, Pilates, Running, Sprint Intervals, Kickboxing, Yoga, Strength Training and Sports Drills to challenge your core for maximum results. By using various methods of training that use your abdominal muscles in all the planes of motion the body will be consistently challenged over the next 30 days to help you achieve incredible results. All of our workouts offer instruction for beginners to advance so everyone is welcome. There are 5 workouts per week so you can do all 5 in a row or plan them in your week to fit your schedule! Let’s get started! 

Here’s the breakdown:

Week 1 FIRE UP ABS: The goal is to get you to focus on engaging the core. We will review the muscles of the core, rectus abdominus (the six pack), internal and external obliques, serratus anterior, transverse abdominus (the deep muscle that act as a corset pulling in your low belly and supporting your lower back), erector spinae muscles (muscles which line the spine) and lumbar muscles (muscles of the lower back). We will also focus on all the movements of the core, flexion, extension, lateral flexion and rotation. The goal is to make sure you know how to engage all of the core muscles so you feel them working through all of the planes of motion. You would be surprised how often people think they are doing core exercises and they do not feel their core working at all because they are not properly engaging their core muscles.

Week 2 AB SMASH: Now that you’ve learned the movements and muscle groups of the core and you FEEL them working it’s time to INCREASE THE INTENSITY so that you get more results!

Week 3 CARDIO ABS: You can’t get those lean sexy abs without burning off the layer of fat that might be on top of them. The only way to burn body fat is by having a calorie negative at the end of the day so adding cardio to your program and healthy eating in proper portion sizes will help you maximize your calorie burn. We need more calories going out and less calories coming in to maximize your fat burning. The goal is to have a calorie negative of -500 to -1000 by the end of the day so you can burn 1-2lbs per week. All the workouts this week will incorporate cardio to help you increase your calorie burn so you can maximize your fat burning! We will also be giving you nutrition tips to keep you on track and don’t forget your healthy meal plans and healthy recipes are already in The Hollywood Trainer Club just click on “Meals” and “Meal Calendar” to schedule your healthy meals for the week! Proper meal planning is always a win!

Week 4 BLAST THE BELLY FAT: Yes it’s time to take it up another level and add both Strength Training and Ball Exercises to your weekly workouts to maximize your belly fat burning results! The combination of Core Focused Ball Exercises, Cardio and Strength Training will increase your calorie burn while focusing on the core/abdominal muscles. By taking away the stability of the floor and performing your abdominal/core exercises on the unstable exercise ball your ab/core muscles will work harder and you will recruit and fire more muscle fibers!

Week 5 POWER ABS: The core has both fast twitch and slow twitch muscles fibers. Power Abs is all about recruiting the fast twitch muscle fibers with power moves to help you maximize your fat burning and give you a stronger more functional core. A strong, flexible & functional core will also decrease your risk of injury while enjoying your other sports & daily activities.

Week 6 ULTIMATE 6-PACK: It’s time to take everything we have learned and increase the FUN FACTOR!

All of the workouts, healthy recipe guidelines and AB BLAST fat burning tips will be posted in the “Motivation” and “News” sections. The best way to achieve your goals is to make a plan and we’ve already done all the planning for you so lets go! It’s time to blast the belly fat and reveal those amazing abs! Post a message on the Community wall in the club www.TheHollywoodTrainerClub.com and let us know that you’re joining us! Click on “Exercise” and then “Virtual Gym” and then “30Day Ab Blast” in the drop down menu and Press Play on Day1! Let’s Go!

All of the workouts, healthy recipe guidelines and AB BLAST fat burning tips will be posted in the Motivation and News sections in The Hollywood Trainer Club.

The Meal Calendar above shows you options of healthy balanced meals required for fat burning. We have designed this meal calendar to show you examples of healthy meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks! Pick the meals you like the best and add them to your shopping list! It’s perfectly fine to have the same breakfast every day or the same lunch 3x a week! Do what works for you. All of the meals will help you achieve your fat burning goals and provide your body with the nutrients needed so you feel great! All of these recipes plus over 150 more are in the Recipe section of the club  www.TheHollywoodTrainerClub.com let’s go! You can do this!

The best way to achieve your goals is to make a plan and we’ve already done all the planning for you! It’s time to blast the belly fat and reveal those amazing abs! Post a message on the Community Wall in The Hollywood Trainer Club and let us know that you’re joining us! Click on “Exercise” and then “Virtual Gym” and then “30Day Ab Blast” in the drop down menu and Press Play on Day1! Let’s Go!

30 Day Ab Blast Challenge Begins April 1st posted first on http://www.thehollywoodtrainer.com

Integration of Massage Therapy in Outpatient Cancer Care: Part Two [Research Perch]

Join host Doug Nelson, LMT, BCTMB, as he facilitates a continued discussion of, “Integration of Massage Therapy in Outpatient Cancer [...]

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