Personalized counseling process

When diet and modification of nutritional habits are not enough to achieve an individual's goals, nutritional coaching can provide the support and guidance they may need to achieve their goals. The nutritional coach is prepared to provide personalized advice, allowing the client to discover what is limiting him/her, enhance what motivates him/her, teach him/her to manage emotions and stimulate self-esteem and self-confidence.

Most common actions followed as part of personalized nutritional coaching counseling.

The behavioral diary: The daily record of behaviors is a document that is made by the coachee with the guidance of the coach, where information about the eating behavior and the physical activity developed should be noted. This document will be reviewed periodically during the coaching sessions and consulted in search of answers to situations that arise throughout the process.

The following elements, among others, should be noted in the daily behavior log:

• Meals eaten throughout the day. The meals eaten throughout the day should be noted down, with each of the foods eaten, the way they were prepared and the quantities.

• The times at which each of the meals and snacking occurred. The time spent at breakfast, lunch and dinner should be noted.

The following items, among others, should be recorded in the daily behavior log:

• The environment in which each meal occurs should also be recorded.

• The place where they take place, the participation of other people, the type of communication established among the diners, the presence of music, television, video games, or other intervening agents should be specified.

• How you felt before, during and after each of the meals should be recorded. You should record the times when you felt hungry during the day and the way in which you were able to control it.

• You should write down all the activities you do during the day, describing the type of activity and the time spent on them; you should include the way you moved to the places (how many meters you walked, how many floors you climbed or descended, etc.) in order to assess the level of physical activity and rest you had throughout the day.

What is the daily behavioral log used for in the nutritional coaching process?

• The client can self-monitor the amounts of food he/she eats. This aspect is fundamental, especially for people who are trying to lose weight, since most of them minimize their intakes.

• It allows the identification of unnecessary meals associated with certain habits. For example, many people, when they come home from work or school, go straight to the refrigerator and have a beer, an industrial soft drink or a juice.

• The review of the diary also allows us to recognize the existence of false ideas or beliefs about nutrition, which can get in the way of the goal. One of the most widespread false beliefs is that you can eat as much food as you want after a workout.

• Evidence of emotional eating is also recorded in the log. For example, farting after eating enough food is most likely to be caused by difficulties in managing anxiety or stress.

• Log analysis allows both the coach and the coachee to self-evaluate their behaviors and maintain their motivations in the short, medium and long term.

Identification and differentiation of emotional hunger and physiological hunger. Achieving conscious eating, motivated by physiological needs, is a premise for healthy eating. For this, during the review of the behavioral record or through the theoretical dialogues established between coach and coachee, we will try to recognize the manifestations of emotional hunger and physiological hunger, so that the client learns to identify them.

Characteristics of emotional hunger:

• It arises suddenly and requires immediate satiation.

• It is produced by an emotional stimulus such as anxiety, sadness, boredom.

• Satiety is achieved only after exaggerated food intake.

• After the ingestion is done, feelings of guilt appear.

Characteristics of physiological hunger:

• It arises gradually and can be endured without generating restlessness or anxiety.

• It is produced because of a physiological need.

• Satiety is achieved after a moderate food intake.

• After the intake is done, no feelings of guilt are produced.

After identifying emotional hunger, it is necessary to determine the emotions that provoke it in order to channel them. For example, an individual who is feeling discomfort for considering that he is poorly paid at work, may feel anger, frustration or anxiety that he can calm momentarily by eating sweets; when he manages to identify the cause that provokes the behavior, he can evaluate his alternatives (demand a raise, change jobs, etc.) and thus stop feeling emotional hunger.

Practice mindfulness exercises. In addition to being aware that you eat because your body needs it and not for emotional reasons, nutritional coaching recommends practicing mindfulness exercises to make eating more enjoyable.

Mindfulness is a practice that consists of paying dispassionate attention to thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations and the surrounding environment, without judging whether they are appropriate. Mindfulness exercises applied to nutritional coaching can help.

Eating slowly, a habit that benefits our health for the following reasons:

• Food is better crushed, favoring the digestive process.

• The flavors and smells of food are better enjoyed.

• It favors the appearance of satiety signals.

The aesthetic improvement of the presentation of food and of the premises and accessories used for eating. This motivates families to gather around the table to enjoy in a special environment; propitious to retake traditions and introduce new customs that promote healthy habits. For example, one of the healthy habits for any type of diet, is to serve in small trays everything that each diner is going to eat; instead of serving containers with food for everyone to take what they want. MANAGING RECAiDiTiONS:

• In nutritional coaching processes, relapses are treated as a normal phase that occurs during the processes of changing eating behaviors and that in most cases occur due to the influence of underlying inadequate eating habits and psychological components that affect behavior.

• It is also considered that not all are conditioned by mistakes made in following certain diets, or plans designed to achieve a healthy eating behavior.

• Relapses in nutritional coaching processes cause discouragement in the client, affecting motivation and the achievement of goals. To overcome these stages, the advice and accompaniment of the coach are essential; the coach must first erase from the client's mind the idea of loss or failure and replace it with an opportunity for learning and overcoming.

• The effects caused by relapses will be less, the sooner the symptoms that accompany them (apathy, pessimism, etc.) are discovered and adequately treated by the coach. There are many actions that coaches can take to discover the stimuli associated with relapses and to enhance motivation. The joint study of the behavioral diary could help in the short term to discover motivating stimuli and also actions or feelings that slow down.

NUTRITIONAL