On April 1st I started my Precision nutrition journey. It was during the thick of the quarantine so I was home working away at it everyday.
To be completely bold, the course changed the way I think about nutrition. Not only from the “food” side of it, but more so on the mentality we have around how we eat, how we choose to eat, our emotional ties to food and the games we play with ourselves to ultimately get what we want, and not necessarily what we NEED.
The first 6 or so chapters begin with not a single mention of particular food or food choices. There are no lists of “should” or “should not eat”. It is about taking a deeper dive into our emotional and mental relationships of how we go about nourishing (or not) nourishing our bodies. We learned about how our social and physical environments play such a huge role into how we go about making those decisions. We dived deeper into the psychological factors, such as our limiting beliefs we create around ourselves, the control we have or think we don’t have, the compromises we are willing and able to make and creating actions that can eventually turn into habits through constant practice and consistency.
Later on in the course, we dived into biochemistry. How food is broken down to create energy, and how that energy is used and/or stored in the body. We studied about how to precisely calculate a persons macronutrient needs based on their activity and life style, to working with clients with more individual goals such as athletes, and body builders/physique models and people with illness, food intolerance, and special dietary needs etc.
Finally the 3rd part of the course was how to coach each type of client. From grandma, to construction worker, busy mom, to elite athletes. Again PN, strongly builds and insists on teaching us how to create those trusting relationships, gaining an understanding of each individual and working with them as people rather than just another client wanting to lose weight or build muscle. The major take away to this was that, PN really emphasises the importance of each individuals story, their reasons for wanting to make a change and how they will go about it.
I noticed myself having a very new relationship to food and the choices I make for myself and my family. For example setting up an environment to succeed, treating outings in a restaurant as another time to make a good choice that supports my goals, and making every food choice a conscious choice. I would be lying to say that being on top of your nutrition is easy as pie( no pun intended), but taking small actions to create healthy sustainable choices takes practice. Small actions repeated become habit.
Finally, and on a personal note, my relationship to food has never been healthier. I struggled my entire life with weight and yoyo’ing. I had a toxic relationship to food. I feel where I am t now is the place where I want to be. I love to eat, and cook food that makes me feel good. The only difference now is that I’m conscious about the decisions I make. I choose foods that make will make me feel good not only in the short term but also throughout the day. I choose foods that support my goals, and I choose food that will create a long and healthy life for me.
By
Rebecca Fox