“Here’s what you should eat…” Tell someone you want to lose weight or improve your nutrition, and this is almost always the first advice you get. However, that’s not, in fact, what the average person says they need the most help with. Not by a longshot. We know because every year, we ask thousands of clients about their biggest nutrition challenges. “I don’t know what to eat” doesn’t even crack the top 10.
Year after year, people tend to have the same food frustrations, no matter what new “diet revolution” or “no-fail meal plan” comes along. You might write that off as human nature. But we’d suggest another possibility: Many nutrition programs don’t focus enough on solving the real issues that prevent people from making progress. Nor do they help people build the fundamental skills they need to sustain any changes they make.
We’ve analyzed client survey answers and aggregated them into a snapshot of what truly troubles people. The data here are people’s own descriptions of their real-life nutrition struggles and stressors.
As you can see, “I don’t know what I should eat” is near the bottom of the list. Yet that’s the nutrition challenge most people—including coaches—obsess over. Of course, what you eat matters for all kinds of reasons: health, appetite control, proper nutritional balance, optimal performance, and so on.“What to eat” probably isn’t the #1 thing holding you back.
Most people kinda-sorta know what they should be eating. You’ve probably never said “I really shouldn’t eat this,” right before downing a big bowl of spinach. More likely, you utter those words as you dive headfirst into a bowl of salted caramel ice cream. If you’re looking for a long-term fix to these top-ranking problems, more nutrition knowledge probably isn’t the answer. Neither is a meal plan. Or a new set of macros.
If you’re struggling with your food, eating, and exercise habits, you probably need help with your behaviors, especially being consistent with crucial fundamentals. According to our clients, their most-pressing nutrition problems boil down to this: How do they stop overeating and, at the same time, find convenient, practical ways to enjoy foods that best nourish their bodies?
Easy problems to solve? No. Are they solvable? Absolutely. With that in mind, here are the 8 biggest nutrition challenges, along with some “get you started” suggestions to move you towards overcoming each challenge. Don’t try to tackle all these challenges at once. That rarely works. Instead, choose just one. Focus on it for 2 or 3 weeks. When you feel ready to take on more, select another area that needs some TLC, and give it your full attention.
Nutrition Challenge #1: “I can’t stop stress/emotional eating.” More than 60% of our clients list emotional or stress eating as a major nutrition challenge. What’s more, over 50% say they also “get intense cravings” and “snack when not hungry.” If you can relate, it might be a relief to know you’re not alone. Of course, that’s little consolation when your spoon’s scraping the bottom of a freshly opened jar of cookie butter. What if you become aware when this behavior occurs? That it happens every time your mom calls? On Sunday nights, when you’re dreading the start of a new week? Whenever you see, smell, or hear something that reminds you of your ex?
We call this “noticing and naming,” and it offers us great opportunities to regain control. Emotional eating and intense cravings are typically part of a pattern of behavior that’s triggered by a specific experience—a thought, feeling, and/or situation. If you can identify the trigger, you can disrupt the pattern of behavior and make different and better choices.
Nutrition Challenge #2: “I don’t plan meals.” Survey says… 53% of both men and women check this box. But good news: Serious improvement in this area may not be as time-consuming and complicated as it sounds.
Think about meal planning on a continuum. At the far left end: You put zero thought into what you might eat later today or tomorrow or the rest of the week. Most decisions are made after you’re already hungry and while you’re staring at the contents of your refrigerator—or looking at a drive-thru menu. At the far right end: You spend Sunday morning grocery shopping and taking the afternoon to prep seven days of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, packing it away in containers and leaving nothing to chance.
But in between? There’s real opportunity to progress, and it doesn’t require a complicated meal plan. You just need to do a little better than you are now.
A great place to start: Plan to eat 1 to 2 servings (think: an amount the size of your fist) of produce at each meal. Don’t worry about variety for now: If you like steamed broccoli or raw carrots or sliced cucumbers, you could have those at every meal, if you want. Just practice buying what you need and eating it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you find yourself at a restaurant, stick to the plan. That could mean getting a side salad with an order of broccoli instead of fries. For bonus planning, try checking the restaurant’s menu online before you go. You’ll be amazed at how this simple approach can transform the quality of your meals, yet it doesn’t require a ton of effort.
Nutrition Challenge #3: “I eat too quickly.” While this isn’t at the top of the challenge list overall, it was the #1 issue for men—with nearly 60% of guys raising their hand. Almost can everyone benefit from eating more slowly. In fact, slow eating is one of the first practices we ask clients to do. The reason is simple: It’s incredibly effective.
The act of consciously slowing down—even just taking a breath or two between bites at first—can help you eat less without feeling deprived. We’ve found it works for everyone from the most advanced dieters to those who’ve struggled with healthy eating for a lifetime.
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