Our tagline is “we’re not going to make you change your lifestyle to fit our food plans our food plans will fit your lifestyle” It’s on our homepage something I take seriously. After all, I have a lifestyle (travelstyle, cocktailstyle) too. With that being said, we are results and often weight-loss oriented. There are certain tenets of Foodtraining. Many of them hone in on timing or when to eat. For example, we suggest eating after exercise. And we have a 12-hour rule suggesting clients keep their eating, from first bite to last, to 12 hours. We also encourage dinner to be smaller than lunch, eating your largest meal earlier in the day. There are exceptions to each of these guidelines, that’s why we meet one-on-one with clients.
Last week, a longtime client sat in my bright orange chair. I’ll refer to her as Dinnerella. Dinnerella takes her wellness seriously. She has a varied, hardcore exercise routine, cooks using mainly farmer’s market ingredients and knows our “secret weapon” products as well as Grace, our snack keeper. But Dinnerella took issue with my dinner advice. “Let’s make one thing clear, dinner is never going to be smaller than lunch.” I think she expected pushback but I wasn’t pushing (yet). This client eats dinner with her family, it’s a well-rounded meal and more of a serious meal than lunch.
After her declaration, I negotiated a bit. “Do you have seconds at dinner?” My client said she didn’t. Her portions were moderate. “Are you sticking to the 12-hour rule” Dinnerella said she’d make sure her breakfast wasn’t too early. I encouraged her to keep dinner as early as possible, when she had a choice. I also explained to Dinnerella that she didn’t need a ton of protein at dinner. Protein controls our appetite and keeps us alert, so we really need it early in the day. Dinnerella was cool with that. The truth is, wellness is a puzzle with many pieces. I’ve explained before that I’m not the world’s greatest hydrator. As long as you’re doing the majority of things correctly, you’ll get your results. Dinnerella is.
What’s your dinner strategy? Is dinner your largest meal like Dinnerella?
