A few years back, I hired someone to program my diet for my figure show. I know that competition diets are low; it’s the nature of the beast, however mine was too low, and I didn’t know any better at the time. I followed my diet with nearly 100 percent compliance for 18 weeks. It was brutal and I always felt awful, but I chalked that up to being part of contest prep. As my show drew closer, I felt worse and worse. I placed first in my class in my show and although I was excited, I was a bit relieved that it was over. I had planned on bringing my calories up a little with hopes of starting to feel better. Little did I know what I was in store for…
Over the next few weeks I was diagnosed with severe Metabolic Syndrome and Adrenal Fatigue. I also suffered from a vicious weight gain rebound and watched with horror as my weight climbed 30 pounds over the course of the next 10 months. I was exhausted, cold all of the time (living in Las Vegas, where it is boiling hot in the summer), my hair was falling out, my sex drive was gone, and no matter how clean my diet was, I simply could not stop gaining body fat. All of this contributed to my sinking into a deep depression. I wanted to sleep all of the time, I avoided my friends, and I wouldn’t wear anything but sweat pants and baggy clothes because I was so ashamed of my body. The nutrition coaches I sought out didn’t know what to do to help me bring my weight back down. It was the worst year of my life. I visited an Endocrinologist countless times for thyroid tests and blood work. I remember the doctor reprimanding me for following such a low diet, which I found confusing. I had thought my adherence to this insane diet showed my dedication and commitment!
It took about 10 months of slowly increasing my calories until my weight finally stopped climbing, and then it took about another five months to get my weight to start crawling back down.
It was hell. It was the only time in my life that my body was completely out of my control. It took me over a year to reverse all of the damage I had caused by following a severely low and restricted diet for a little over four months. It was a very long, sad, and tough journey that I don’t wish upon anybody. I wish I would have had somebody to give me some guidance on what to look for in a diet coach, because there is a good chance that what I went through could have been avoided.
Over the course of the last year, I’ve gotten countless emails from girls that have found me through elitefts™ or my blog, that are in the exact same situation. I welcome these e-mails because I’m in this industry to help people in any way I can, especially with this topic because it hits so close to home with me. I know from experience how hard and upsetting it is. The majority of the e-mails I receive are from girls that aren’t even competing – they are all from girls that have enlisted the help of a nutrition coach to simply help them get a little leaner. These girls have all shared their current diets with me and I’ve been absolutely shocked. Most of these girls are eating under 1,000 calories a day, with a few as low as 700 calories per day, and they wonder why they are so tired and feel so sick! There’s no excuse for this and it’s irresponsible of anybody to prescribe a diet so low.
A good nutrition coach should be able to help you achieve your goals while enhancing your health and keeping you sane. Sound impossible? It’s not. Even if it takes longer to achieve your goals by going a safer and more conservative route, so be it. The journey to a bangin’ bod is a challenging one, however it shouldn’t be a completely miserable one.
I feel very passionately about this and I feel like it’s a topic that desperately needs some light shed onto it, so I’m going to give you a few suggestions on how to hire the right nutrition coach to ensure that you don’t compromise your health like I did.
When you hire a nutrition coach, you need to do your research. Do not let anybody talk you into some hairball diet where you are eating 1,000 calories (or worse – LESS) per day! I don’t care who they are or what they promise you. There is no reason for it and your health is so much more important. If a coach can’t get you leaner without starving you and making you feel awful, then that shows their ineptitude in the field and you need to find somebody else.
Things to consider before hiring a nutrition coach:
First off, you are hiring them to do a job. Don’t forget that! Make your goals very clear and be as specific as you can, that way the coach knows what you want and there is no confusion. A good coach will be honest and tell you if they don’t think that they can help you achieve the goals that you have listed.
A good nutrition coach will ask a ton of questions about you and require a lot of information up front before they ever agree to take you on as a client.
Some of the things that they should ask you about are:
- Your specific goals and your timeline in which you’d like to achieve them.
- Specific details of your current food intake.
- What is your current nutrition plan doing for your body? Are you losing, gaining, or maintaining?
- How long have you been eating this way?
- Any supplements you are currently taking.
- Your lifestyle activity level (i.e., do you sit at a desk all day? Are you on your feet a lot?)
- What training program you are following, frequency, intensity, and what time of day you typically train.
- Your stress level.
- Your sleep patterns.
- Any medical conditions.
- Food allergies.
- Food preferences.
After a coach receives your above information, they should analyze this information to assess if they can, indeed, help you meet your goals in a safe and healthy way. A good diet coach will be very selective of whether or not they take you on as a client. Be very leery of nutrition coaches who agree to take you on as a client without knowing anything about you, your goals, or your lifestyle, but they are quick to take your check or send you a PayPal invoice. Also, beware of coaches that give out cookie cutter diets! Every body is different, and must be treated as such.
Other things you will want to find out before you hire a diet coach:
- How long will their program run?
- Will they provide references of people they are currently working with and people that they have worked with in the past?
- Are their programs customized to each individual?
- Will they give you a specific meal plan or just macros to hit?
- If they give you a meal plan, will they provide a list of appropriate substitutions?
- If they provide a macro guideline, will they provide a list of appropriate food choices?
- How often is the diet adjusted? Once a month, once a week, or as needed?
- How often is the coach available for consultation if you have questions or concerns?
- Are they available in person, over the phone, or only through e-mail?
- If they are only available through e-mail, what kind of turnaround time can you expect on correspondence?
Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions. If the nutrition coach that you are looking to hire can’t answer these questions, and do so cheerfully, then you need to look elsewhere. I can assure you that there are very competent coaches out there that meet all of the criteria listed above. This brings me to my last tip: shop around. Talk to a few different coaches to see which one will be a good fit for you. Nutrition coaches are typically not cheap and you are hiring them to do a very important job.
I realize that reaching certain physique goals can be challenging. Some days will be a little tougher than others. However, there is no reason that a diet should make your life miserable. If you’re exhausted, starving, light headed, foggy headed, or feel cold a lot, those are warning signs that something is very wrong. Other warning signs are very dry skin, very low sex drive, and hair loss.
Please make sure your diet coach has your health as their No. 1 priority!
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Jen Comas is a nationally qualified figure competitor in Salt Lake City, UT and is attempting to crossover into raw powerlifting. Michael Keck is based out of Somerset, KY and is a world record holding raw powerlifter.
View Jen’s Training Log 
Just the kind of article I am looking for, great info! Is there anyone in particular you would recommend? I am looking for a nutrition coach but having trouble finding one.
I love this Jen! So true and so often overlooked! Great work girl .
Very good article, I saw my GF go through many of the negative things you spoke on with her coach as she got ready for Jr. Nationals this year and it was not a good thing at all. Luckily she did not get hit as hard by the negative effects of her diet as you did but they were still very bad and are still having some effecct on her. But she is coming back and will be ok. Thanks for such a great article and word of warning.
I felt as if I was just reliving a few months ago! so glad I got the nerves to ask for your help!
great article! it amazes me how many “nutrition experts” there are floating around at my gym, but yet really don’t seem to have any credibility. i am actually doing a powerlifting meet in february then decided i want to do a fitness competition in may…i know, only a few months to trim down, and yes, i live in fear of having an “expert” stick me on a 1000 calorie a day diet…BUT, now i am armed with those great questions to ask when searching for a nutrition coach, so thanks jen!!
I second Ryan, well written article. I became a dietitian because I knew it was harder to kill people than being a nurse or a physician but don’t let anyone fool you, food and nutrition is not harmless. Dietitians are trained professionals and know their science which works for the general population as athletes approach standard deviations beyond the normal curve dietitians can still be heleful especially if they train themselves and or have personal experience with your goal. You have the right to a second opinion and who coach/ delivers your care, if something doesn’t seem right ask, they shouldn’t be offended to explain unless they are selling you quackery.
Than you for sharing your story Jen. I had the same type of experience with my first “trainer” and it was the support of other veteran competitors who helped me realize how wrong everything was. I researched, asked a billion questions and found a reputable and respected trainer I trust. There is sunshine after the storm!
Excellent article, Jen. Thanks for sharing your personal experience on the internet. I fully agree with you that a trainer/diet coach who doesn’t ask questions should raise a red flag. You really provide excellent bullet points and questions to ask. I believe your topic would apply for both sexes and not just for figure athletes, so I feel there’s a lot in it for me by considering your guidelines. I wish most trainers at my gym would learn some things about nutrition. They seem to apply cookie cutter fitness programs to their clients without asking about goals, and they know nothing, or even address the nutrition part (which I consider the most important). I’d like to find a good nutrition coach, or at least someone to talk with who could provide useful and applicable advice considering I don’t want to eat dry chicken breast or cans of tuna at every meal. Thanks again for your writing.
For those of you that don’t know, both Jen and Mike Keck are nutrition coaches.
@Brian… Shelby Starnes is the obvious one. His work speaks for itself!
Glad you all like it! This is a topic that desperately needed some light shed onto it and I may do a Part II because there are things that could be added.
For coaches, I highly recommend The Body Transformation Team or Precision Nutrition. They are absolutely more geared towards enhancing health while meeting physique and performance goals than anybody I’ve ever came across.
Michael Keck and myself are both Nutrition Coaches as well.
This article is not targeted towards Figure competitors, or even just women, but towards the general public. The majority of girls/people that have came to me with these problems weren’t even prepping for a show – they hired a Nutrition Coach to simply get a little leaner and wound up with a slew of health problems and the kicker? They STILL weren’t lean! Do your homework my friends! A coach got somebody lean? Great. But at what cost? And were they able to maintain it? These are the questions to be asked!
Jen! You totally hit the nail on the head with this article!! I think more people should read this. They think starving themselves is best. I have been there too and my body hated me for a very very long time. Great article!! :)
An interesting tidbit that helps put things in perspective: According to Naomi Wolf (in “The Beauty Myth”), WWII-era Nazi doctors determined that concentration-camp inmates could not survive on less than 900 calories a day.
Awesome advice and guidance. I was one of the lucky ones who had an amazing nutrition coach for my competitions. I think it is so often overlooked to make sure they are designing a program for YOU and YOUR body!
One addendum, Ms. Keck I’m sure is thoroughly educated and a great resource but just wanted to make sure everyone knows to check credentials, most states have practice guidelines regareding dietetics and nutrition practice. For example nutrition coaches are allows in the state of Utah, whereas in the state of Florida the term nutritionist, dietitians, or any combination of these words is prohibited. That being said credentials and book smarts are not what matters most. What matters is credentialed or not, book smart or not make sure the guidlines your provider gives me are acceptable and make sense. If things don’t seem right get a second opinion, professionals shouldn’t be afraid of you trying to ask the why or to make sense of something.
Nice article Jen! It makes me wonder if some of the things I was going through during comp prep and after were because of poor nutrition/training coaching advice.
Glad you are back to feeling 200% and thanks for the wonderful advice, as usual. xoxo
Thanks SO much for this, Jen! Currently, I’m working with a trainer who actively competes, herself. I’m constantly asking her TONS of nutrition questions and she seems to be pretty big on clean, healthy eating and generous portion sizes. She’s just started having me log my daily intake and I’m anxious to see what she tweeks upon her review. I’ll be keeping your article in mind as I track HER progress. Thanks mama, and SO glad you are back to optimum health and happiness!!! Continued blessings, success and love to you and Michael!!!
Scott Abel is the go-to guy for information on these metabolic issues for extreme dieters and competitors. He literally wrote the book on the topic.
Great article, Jen. Women (and men, although we are rarely encouraged to drop our calories as low as our female counterparts) should read this even if they are not considering hiring a nutrition coach. Most of them will be following whatever new scheme comes to light, and if the ONLY thing they know is they shouldn’t go too low, calorically, then at least they will have that.
Thank you!
Ron Dykstra
Crystol – I agree in regards to Scott Abel. I’ve read/watched a lot of his stuff and it’s fantastic.
Thanks everybody!
I can’t emphasize it enough: this article is not just for competitors, it is for anybody looking to hire a Nutrition Coach.
ANYBODY can write a starvation diet and get somebody lean. Ask for references, do your research and shop around before you commit to anybody. You are paying hard earned money – make sure you hire the best. I’m happy to give recommendations if anybody needs one. Feel free to message me through the Q&A section.
I would like to consult with a diet coach- I am certainly not a figure competitor but rather a active woman with some food allergy concerns and really looking at a way to stop all the diets and really just more consistent with my food. I need a coach who can help me see through the smoke a mirrors and set up a good program and support me with it until I get the hang of it. Anyone recommend someone? I was doing more triathlon last year but became injured and now am working on more alignment and core foundation work- pilates, body weight exercises, chi walking/running type stuff.
Melissa – I highly recommend both Body Transformation ( http://BodyTransformation.com ) and Precision Nutrition ( http://www.precisionnutrition.com/products/consultation-coaching/individual-coaching )
They are, without doubt, the most geared towards optimum health, while helping their clients achieve their physique and performance goals that I’ve ever seen.
Jen, thanks for the article. I’ve really struggled the last few years on the scale due to cutting weight for weigh-ins. Since 2008, I’ve swung back and forth between 116 to 140lbs between competition seasons and have just been really frustrated with my eating habits and body, especially after multiple injuries that have sidelined my training, performance, and weight loss. I am definitely interested in having “professional” guidance in this domain as I have had in athletic training.
Look no further: http://www.mindbodyfull.com
1-on-1 coaching program tailored to your exact needs.
Email: ozlem@mindbodyfull.com for a no obligation chat about your needs – ask me anything :)
Hi Jen, I was told to look for you on this site since I am in month 11 of the same hell you speak of. I wouldnt say it was because the calories were as extreme…I ate about 1200-1300 but I worked out between 4-8hours a day with a labour intense job, 6 days of weight training, running about 250km per month, mountain biking and kayaking. I went morning till night. Then a nutritionist changed my diet to see what foods irritated my stomach-big mistake. My body crashed and I ended up 25lbs heavier in a month. Now I am hypothyroid and have many hormone issues including no period, acne and low sex drive. I have tried everything to get the weight off and to no avail. I am now on bio identical hormone creams and desiccated thyroid. still no weight loss. I would give anything to speak w you or have some tips sent to me. I have cut my wo to 3x’s a week, 3 days of bikram yoga and one trail run a week. my diet is clean but I am now eating 1600-2000cals depending on activity. PLEASE HELP!!!
Thank you, and btw this makes me feel like it is possible to get my weight back-seeing you and knowing you have been where I am. So thank you for this article!!!
Hi, good suggestions, I enjoy your page, I will come back to get future articles and also releases, Cya