Are you a nutrition coach in a gym trying to get more engagement with your nutrition coaching program? If so this article is for you!
During our free calls with gym owners inquiring about our mentoring program, we unfortunately see many gyms with nutrition programs struggling to get clients. It’s not surprising that we also find out there is no physical presence of a nutrition coaching program in the gym.
If you have a nutrition program in a gym, it’s imperative that from the time your clients walk through the door, they understand they are in a facility that has nutrition coaching and fitness. This is step number one when it comes to increasing engagement strategies in your facility.
Check out this article if you are interested in more tips for increasing engagement.
Today we will break down step number two for increasing engagement by talking about nutrition questions of the day. Did you know that by simply incorporating nutrition questions into your daily and weekly routine, you can increase the presence of nutrition in your facility? By constantly talking nutrition, you are keeping it at the forefront of your clients minds.
Read more to find out the top three ways to use nutrition questions of the day to get more nutrition coaching clients!
What Are Nutrition Questions Of The Day?
Nutrition questions of the day are questions asked by the nutrition coach or coaching staff directly related to nutrition, or the holistic pillars that effect nutrition choices. These questions are used to spark engagement from your fitness members so they understand that in addition to their fitness membership, they have the option of nutrition as well.
Why Should I Use Nutrition Questions Of The Day?
Clients have so many options when it comes to nutrition coaching either online, or from the other gym down the street. If you as the nutrition coach or gym owner don’t consistently talk about your nutrition coaching program, these members will find nutrition resources very easily, somewhere else.
Open up a separate tab on your computer and Google “hire an online nutrition coach”. How many results popped up on the first page?
So many!
And who knows what kind of nutrition philosophy these companies have! They could be persuading your clients to use a detox or juice cleanse, eat fewer calories, and skip entire food groups. When their new “diet” begins to fail them because of nutritional deficiencies and they lose productivity in the gym, they are not going to consider their food intake is off. They will immediately blame the fitness program, put their membership on hold, or quit entirely.
We don’t want this to happen!
Our goal for you is to get you so proficient at talking about nutrition, that your members don’t even think to go elsewhere for advice.
The more you talk about a subject matter, the more it shows your knowledge and expertise in the field. When your clients are finally ready to work on their nutrition, they will see you as the expert.
How To Use Nutrition Questions Of The Day
Something great about asking these questions, is that the whole coaching staff can be involved. It doesn’t just have to be the nutrition coach or gym owner. In fact, it’s better if the coaching staff is asking questions too as the more people with knowledge of the program, the more engagement and participation you will get from members.
Part of the curriculum in our nutrition business mentoring program is to teach nutrition coaches and gym owners how to get their entire coaching staff on board with the nutrition coaching program. We educate the nutrition coach on how to prepare and communicate answers to the questions so the fitness coaches know how to respond when implementing the question of the day.
Imagine if Sally walks up to Coach Johnny and says, “Hey Coach, I’ve packed on about 30lbs this winter and I really need to begin working on my health. I heard the gym has a program that will help me.”
Coach Johnny says, “Oh yeh- we have a nutrition program. I don’t know much about it but let me find out how to get you some more info. Sounds like a great idea!.”
You can only imagine how Sally feels as she’s left wondering if Coach Johnny is going to remember to get her any information on a program he knows nothing about.
Now if Coach Johnny were to say, “Hey Sally, as a matter of fact we do have a program that can help you. Coach Jen, our nutrition coach, helps people gain weight, lose weight and learn to eat a health promoting diet consistently using a habit based approach. Come over here with me to this iPad. I will get you signed up for a free intro right now!”
A much different outcome can be expected from the second scenario vs. the first one. Sally is pretty much guaranteed to sign up for the program in scenario two.
Tip #1 - Use The Workout Floor To Ask Nutrition Questions
A great time to ask a nutrition question is at the beginning of class when the coach is briefing the clients on the workout. We like to see a certain day of the week picked for the nutrition question like maybe Tuesday. It can be called Nutrition Tip Tuesday so that all members know that on Tuesday we talk nutrition.
During the class intro coach will say “Welcome Everybody! We have an exciting workout today, but before we get into that let’s talk nutrition! I’m super excited to know how many of you know what lean protein is?
The class will laugh and people will begin to volunteer their protein choices. Could be some jokes about sausage and hot dogs… 😉
The coach can then say something like, “Eating lean protein is important because it helps promote building muscle mass. Lean protein sources are lower in calories than fattier sources of meat. Saturated fat is unhealthy and is solid at room temperature. It has been known to cause cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer. Unsaturated fats coming from plant based sources are a great choice. Can you help me name some lean protein sources that are low in saturated fat?”
Boom! You’ve educated your class on a nutrition topic, and brought the nutrition program to the forefront of their minds.
Tip #2 - Use Nutrition Questions In Private Social Media Groups
Ninety five percent of the gym owners and nutrition coaches I speak with on a monthly basis have some sort of private Facebook group or app for their gym members to communicate in. This private group can be an amazing way to ask your nutrition questions. Typing out the question is one way to communicate, however making a video is even better.
Videos have a 95% retention rate versus when consumers read something they only retain 10% of the message. Additionally, when a nutrition coach makes a video, people “get to know” them because they are seeing their face.
Taking the next step, actually scheduling the free intro isn’t as tough to do when they feel like they are familiar with the person they are going to engage with.
Tip #3 - Utilize Your Weekly Newsletter To Ask The Nutrition Question
You may be thinking, I don’t even have a monthly newsletter, let alone a weekly one. There is no better time to start than NOW! Your newsletter doesn’t have to be a long boring email that you loath writing every week. Make it short and sweet!
Canva has a TON of newsletter templates you can use and the free version of Canva rocks. Or, you may already utilize a gym software that gives you the ability to build a quick template. Utilizing the same template week after week but interchanging the content as time goes on is a real time saver.
Make it a 1 – 2 -3 type newsletter. 1 nutrition tip, 2 fitness or nutrition products you love on the market today, and 3 workouts people can do outside of the gym when traveling or on vacation!
Boom! I just basically wrote your newsletter for you!
What Are Some Nutrition Questions I Could Ask?
Now that you have tips regarding how to use questions, how do you know what to ask on a weekly basis? If you are an HSN Mentoring client, utilizing any and all the information we have in the Individual Coaching module will give you ideas for days.
But, if you are not an HSN client, I can tell you that the sky is the limit here. Let’s visit the information super highway again, Google!
Google the term “fad diet” and see what pops up. 13.5 million results populate when typing that search term. The great thing about Google is that it will tell you in the drop down box that populates after you type your query what people are searching for related to that term.
Check it out!
Fad diet education is just one subject you can talk about, but there are so many more.
Here are a few of the questions I have used when implementing the nutrition question of the day in my gym.
How often do you eat breakfast?
Do you know what healthy fats are?
Have you ever learned how to read food labels?
What does it mean to have a balanced diet?
Do you eat mostly whole food sources or processed foods?
Do you eat protein at every meal?
Are fruits and vegetables a part of your daily intake?
If you wanted to lose fat, would you cut out eating fat?
How do you feel about detox diets?
What are your favorite whole grains?
What is your favorite sweet potatoes recipe?
What are your favorite lean meats?
What kind of carbohydrate drink do you or your kids consume during sporting events?
Rate your nutrition A-F
Do you eat out of the bag or portion snacks to a bowl or plate
Do you avoid certain foods and if so why?
Are you consuming adequate carbs post workout?
How important is food quality to you?
Do you have any experience with counting calories?
What does it mean to get adequate protein?
What are some low food budget options?
- What do you put in your coffee to enhance the taste?
- Maca root is all the rage! Have you ever heard of maca coffee, the new coffee alternative?
Wrap Up
Just like any other time when you implement something new, it takes a while to make a habit. Creating a calendar notice to help remind you to implement this question will help you create a new habit.
Whatever method you choose to deliver the message should be consistent, and on the same day each week. Members will begin to catch on to the consistency and look forward to it.
How many of you reading this are going to start implementing a nutrition question into your facility? I would love to hear your feedback!
Email me at heather@healthystepsnutrition.com and let me know how it’s going.
