Why I ditched meal plans (and my clients got better results)

Most nutrition coaches default to meal plans and macro tracking and wonder why clients don't stick around. Here's the shift I made after 16 years and 10,000+ clients that improved retention, got better results, and made my coaching sessions a lot more fun to run.

2-Tips

By Jennifer Broxterman, RD

Kind Nerd Note: I'm speaking at a free online summit on July 16 hosted by Coach Catalyst, and I want to make sure you know about it before it fills up. More on that below. First, the tip that my whole talk is built around.

Tip #1:
The Meal Plan Trap

Early in my career I did what most nutrition coaches do.

To help my clients lose weight, build muscle, and reach their health goals, I created customized meal plans, then asked my clients to track their macros to ensure they were following the plan. I sent detailed spreadsheets with exactly what to eat at exactly what time. They got snack lists with protein measured out to the gram. I worked incredibly hard to make everything perfect and easy to follow.

And yet, my clients still struggled to follow them.

Ughhhhh. Maybe you can relate?

If your nutrition coaching practice still relies heavily on meal plans, I want to share a big shift I made in my own business that’s made a huge difference. 

Because deep down you already know this… simply telling someone exactly what to eat doesn't teach them anything. The second real life shows up, a work trip, a birthday dinner, a week where cooking just isn't happening, the plan collapses. And then the client feels like they failed.

That's not a client problem. That's a model problem.

When I rebuilt my coaching around behavior change, motivational interviewing, and what I call gamification, everything shifted. Clients stopped white-knuckling their way through a plan and started actually changing how they related to food. Retention went up. Results got better. And honestly, my sessions got a lot more fun to run.

The short version: your job as a nutrition coach isn't to hand someone a perfect plan. It's to help them build the skills to make good decisions without you.

Here's a soccer analogy I love to use with my own clients, and very timely with the World Cup:

Imagine your goal is to win a soccer championship. You wouldn't ask your coach to script out every single pass, shot, and move you should make during each game. Instead, you'd hire a coach to help you become a better soccer player. Together you'd practice dribbling, passing, shooting, conditioning, strategy, decision-making, until those skills became second nature and you could make the right call in the middle of a live match without even thinking about it.

Nutrition works the same way.

With my nutrition clients, we absolutely talk about what to eat, meal ideas, grocery shopping, recipes, and how to build a balanced plate and make better snacking decisions. But the real goal is building the habits and confidence so healthy eating eventually feels natural instead of something you have to constantly think about.

I use that soccer metaphor constantly when a potential new client asks, “Will you make me a customized meal plan?”

That reframe changed everything for me, and it's the foundation of how I've helped 10,000+ clients over sixteen years.

Like this message from my client Belinda, who is following a habits-based weight loss program that focuses on ADDING healthy actions and checking healthy daily habits off inside of Coach Catalyst, vs. tracking calories, macros, or sticking to a strict meal plan. 

One month into my nutrition program, and she sent me this message yesterday:

“This has been amazingly simple. Down 8 pounds!”

Tip #2:
You're Invited (Free, July 16)

On July 16 I'm speaking at the Nutrition Coaching Summit, a free full-day online event hosted by my friends at Coach Catalyst. My session is called Why I Ditched Meal Plans and Macro Tracking to Build a Fully Booked Nutrition Coaching Business, and it goes deeper on everything I shared above.

My session is at 11:00 AM CT, and everyone who attends gets my Liftoff guide free just for showing up.

Grab your free seat here.

When you register, you'll also see an optional $47 VIP upgrade. I'd grab it. 

Here's why: it comes with over $6,000 worth of resources including a GLP-1 and metabolic health certification (NASM-accredited), a reverse dieting course for coaches, a behavior change certification, bloodwork coaching tools, 33 therapist-grade coaching questions made coach-ready, all 11 session replays, and my own Nutrition Business Starter Kit showing you how to land your first 10 clients without paid ads or cold DMs.

All for $47 (what a steal).

Stay kind + nerdy,   

❤️🐻🌈

Jen Broxterman
Registered Dietitian
Prosper Nutrition Coaching

Thanks for reading. Here are a few additional ways I might be able to help you.

Free
Free Stuff: All Prosper Freebies
Podcast: Podcast Shows
Masterclass: Liftoff Course

Paid
Mini-Course: Accelerator Program
Certification: Nutrition Coaching Certification
  

Jennifer Broxterman, MSc, RD

REGISTERED DIETITIAN & SPORTS NUTRITIONIST
• Award-winning Foods & Nutrition University Professor
• Successful entrepreneur of owner of NutritionRx
• 16 year CrossFit affiliate owner with my husband
• Founder of Prosper Nutrition Coaching & lead nutrition coach