Everyone watches the world through their own unique lens and mine is definitely coloured by a love of health and nutrition.
Not everyone wears that lens and over time I have observed 4 general “tendencies” when it comes to people’s approach to health and nutrition.
There’s no right or wrong here, just my observations and perhaps an opportunity for some self-reflection: which category do you belong to and how does that affect your attitude or resistance towards making diet changes?
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The Indifferent
This is the person who eats to live. They don’t care what’s for dinner; they’ll eat whatever is served. As long as they feel fine, they don’t see the need to change their diet and they are often blissfully unaware of the power of food. Happy to pop a pill when something’s out of whack until a health issue or a serious a-ha moment pushes them into the next category.
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The Reluctant
Scary lab test results, weight gain, some type of health scare forces this person into making diet changes. And they are often reluctant to do so, either because they have no real interest in food or (what’s more common) for fear of having to give up the good life. If there is the promise of a magic pill they often prefer to take that route. Because what is life without dessert or a good bottle wine?
These are clients that are looking for a quick “reset” so that they can go back to enjoying the good things in life. Their approach is: tell me what to do and I will do it so that I can go back to living my life. In working with people in this category they key is to help them identify their ultimate motivating factor, which often lies much deeper than their health issue and is connected to things such as quality of life, purpose, dreams, looks or longevity. Once they have tapped into that motivation, making changes becomes easier.
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The Interested
These are the people that love to try new things. They are suckers for super foods, their cupboards are full of health books and cookbooks and they are very much aware of the latest trends in nutrition. Mention the word “kefir” for example, and they are on to it. They want to feel good and know it is directly connected to their diet and lifestyle. This is also the person that can get utterly confused with the potential overload of information and how to figure out what works for them.
What I find works with people in this category is taking it back to basics and creating a plan to help them identify their unique foundational requirements. Once that foundation is in place they are able to happily experiment with new trends.
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The Extreme
These are the people that don’t mess around. They find the most promising trend, try it on, love it and stick with it, like some of the keto diet followers currently. Or they are driven by passion for a cause, such as some vegans. These are the believers who love to spread the word, sometimes even to the point of preaching. They found their magic bullet and don’t need help as long as it’s working for them. The challenge that the Extreme face is to keep an open mind and recognize that what works for them may not work for others and that circumstances change and that they may need to adjust their approach as a result.
Does any of that resonate? Does it help explain your approach to making diet changes? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Be Well.
