Grocery shopping with a client.

First off in the state I live in its not illegal to give nutritional advice without being licensed so I don't wanna hear the its illegal blah blah blah.


Anyone ever done this? One of my clients asked me if she could use one of her session at the grocery store and I said yes. I'm pretty excited about it. I spend almost as much time on nutrition with clients as much as I do training and I'm just as much as a nutrition coach as I am a Personal Trainer and it's been the reason a lot of people have picked me over other trainers. Just wondering if anyone has done this and if its a regular thing you do with new clients?

I do it. I take groups of my clients to the grocery store, get them the little baskets, teach them how to read labels.

When i do this, i always get a shopper who ask for my business card. I've gained clientele from taking my clients to the grocery store.

[QUOTE=MVP;504577851]I do it. I take groups of my clients to the grocery store, get them the little baskets, teach them how to read labels.

When i do this, i always get a shopper who ask for my business card. I've gained clientele from taking my clients to the grocery store.[/QUOTE]

Awesome! I'll be sure to wear my shirt that says ask me about personal training on the back.

I've actually done it once.. it didnt go so well for me anyway.. i made a thread about it..

[QUOTE=Keltron;197225661]
So about grocery shopping....I did it as a last resort w/this one particular lady. It was a waste of time. Not that I'm knocking the idea in general. It's actually a good idea provided that it's done w/the right client....

So It took me forever to just get her to start keeping a food journal. Once I finally got her to keep track of her food, every time I'd look at her journal, it would be full of crap; especially drive thru McDonald's for breakfasts.
"I'm just so busy in the mornings, I don't have time to make breakfast."

"Ok" I said, "If there's absolutely no other alternative, then I'll just work it into your calories. Let's just forget about specific food and just try to get you to take in the right amount of calories. It's not as healthy but you'll still drop a good amount of fat."

So she starts hitting her calories almost exactly but after a month she still weighs the same with the same bf and same circumference measurements.

"There's got to be something wrong." I said. This lady was 300lbs and according to her journal, she was taking in 2200 calories. There's no way in hell for her to not see SOME kind of change if she really was eating this many calories.

Turns out she was still eating out but she was "eating healthy" and that she was eyeballing and guessing how many calories were in her food.

"You can't eyeball and guestimate. I'm a professional and I still don't trust my eyes. Don't eat at restuarants. I don't care if you get the salmon w/steamed veggies and brown rice. If you're eating too much you won't lose fat regardless of how "healthy" it is. Don't eat anything unless you can accurately determine the calories."

"So does that mean I have to cook everything and measure and weigh everything out?"

"Umm.. YEAH."

"But I don't have time to sit down and figure all that out."

"Ok, how about this? I'll go with you to the grocery store and we can pick stuff out that you like together. I'll tell you exactly what to eat at what times and at what weight/quantitiy. I'll even find breakfast food for you that you don't have to prepare.. you don't even have to eat it at home.. it'll be stuff that you can take out of the fridge on your way out and eat in the car on your way to work."

"Ok, that I can do that."

"Wonderful.. Now Jackie, I've exhausted every single means possible for you to eat properly. From this point, I can see no possible excuse for you not to lose weight. I've eliminated every conceivable reason for you not to follow your diet. There should be no reason for you not to lose weight from this point. OK?

"Yes, you're right. Let's do it!"

So the next day I skip my personal workout so that I can take care of this. Just as we head out, she says that she doesnt shop at the grocery store near the gym. She shops at the safeway near her home which is about 10 miles from the gym. I don't know what godfosaken difference it made but whatever. We get in and get out fairly efficiently. I help her sorry ass load everything in the car and I figure if I get back to the gym now, I can squeeze in a pretty good workout.

"Hey Khalil [my name is Khalid by the way, NOT fxcking Khalil, it says KHALID right on the name tag that you've been seeing on my chest for the past few months] " can we just drop this off at my house first? I'll drop you off at the gym right after we're done. It's just that it's hard for me to get up the stairs while carrying all this stuff. Normally I get my neighbors son to help me bring up groceries and stuff from the car but he's out of town. The road that goes up my hill is not even two miles away."

Ok, screw the workout, I think to myself. Getting Jackie to her goals is more important so I agree to it

. It took us 5 minutes tops to get to the base of the hill but it turns out this mothergrabbing hill has more twists and turns than the vericose veins on her legs. On top of that, she lived at the VERY top and the roads were narrower than Amy Whinehouse's neck so you had to go super slow. By the time I unloaded all the crap and got back down to the hill it was damn near 30 minutes.

I got to the gym just in time to eat and prepare for my next client. "Screw it." I thought, "It was for a good cause."

A week later I look at her journal and it's got the same crap from McDonald's and all those damn restaurants near her work.

I honestly was in too great of a state of shock and disbelief to even be upset at her or even react. I closed her journal and just stared at the floor in a catatonic state. I never spoke to her after that aside from directing her workouts. I was utterly fed up. Luckily she only had 2 more sessions after that. On her last session she said, "I can't resign today but I'm getting my check next week so give me a call when you want me to come down and I'll get the biggest package this time."

I never called her. And I was having a slow month at the time as well.

So my point in all this is that grocery shopping w/your clients is a wonderful idea provided that the client is serious. Some people are just full of kaka-doo-doo, full of excuses, and full of blame directed at anyone and anything besides themselves. They will be disgustingly obese for as long as they inhabit this wretched earth. Don't waste your time, energy and mental well-being for these people.[/QUOTE]

A lot of businesses down here do that. Shopping tours.

It's a good idea if you can group the people together at the same time (those with similar goals that is). Excellent exposure to the general public as well. It's them getting a first hand look into what you do, and more importantly, that you care about people.

If you seem genuine about what you do, that's very attractive to onlookers.

[QUOTE=Keltron;504718821]I've actually done it once.. it didnt go so well for me anyway.. i made a thread about it..[/QUOTE]

I read all of it.

Yeah it depends on the client. That woman wouldn't have taken your advice under her wing no matter what you said. That's where you have to know when a person is wasting your business time.

They have to take action and physically help themselves. They can't have somebody else do it for them. Direction, fine... But physically doing it for them, no.

PT'ing a client is also about personal development and growth in character, not just a number on a scale.

As for the topic, like i said, it's good if you bunch the "good" clients together. The ones that are genuinely interested in change and have shown action.

Poor Keltron. I'm surprised he's not even more bitter and cynical than he already is :p Alas, sometimes there are some people we just can't help. They always have excuses, always have issues in their life, there's always something [i]totally beyond their control[/i] which makes them have a poor diet not supporting their goals, always late or cancelling at the last minute, always unable to do this particular exercise, and so on. So that some particular idea didn't work with them is not a reflection on that idea, necessarily.

It seems like a good idea, going to the shops with them, and Simmo's comment that it's better in a group makes a lot of sense.

[QUOTE=Simmo0508;504722031]I read all of it.

Yeah it depends on the client. That woman wouldn't have taken your advice under her wing no matter what you said. That's where you have to know when a person is wasting your business time.

They have to take action and physically help themselves. They can't have somebody else do it for them. Direction, fine... But physically doing it for them, no.

PT'ing a client is also about personal development and growth in character, not just a number on a scale.

As for the topic, like i said, it's good if you bunch the "good" clients together. The ones that are genuinely interested in change and have shown action.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=KyleAaron;504722231]Poor Keltron. I'm surprised he's not even more bitter and cynical than he already is :p Alas, sometimes there are some people we just can't help. They always have excuses, always have issues in their life, there's always something [i]totally beyond their control[/i] which makes them have a poor diet not supporting their goals, always late or cancelling at the last minute, always unable to do this particular exercise, and so on. So that some particular idea didn't work with them is not a reflection on that idea, necessarily.

It seems like a good idea, going to the shops with them, and Simmo's comment that it's better in a group makes a lot of sense.[/QUOTE]

lol, well I did make this thread very early in my career. but yeah, it's just like the exercise aspect of it.. if the client wants it, they'll do it.. so yeah I think it's a great idea.

I've done it before but not in an official capacity... i.e. client going shopping after and you have to go to so go together. I used to offer it on my website...

I personally think it's a waste of time... It's not going to stop them from getting 3 glasses of wine and eating a loaf of bread at that French restaurant...

What's next, wiping their asses?

Having them join Weight Watchers should cover everything nutrition for more than 90% of the average trainer's clients...

Of course you want to help every client with training and nutrition to the best of your ability but it's not possible to do so w/ a high volume of clients and the sooner you get over it, the sooner you will start making more and better money... (if that's your goal)... I'm saying the way most trainers make more money is w/ a high volume of clients, not 1 individual super-client who pays you an assload of money and shopping is something you'd do w/ those super-clients, not people paying you 30 or whatever an hour...

I hope I don't sound too much like Al Shades ;)

Well this girl seems pretty dedicated and want's to hit her goals, she trains really hard. Most of my clients weigh and measure everything. Some absolutely refuse. I only bug them about it a couple times then I leave it up to them if they're going to do it or not. Its an additional service I offer if people don't want to take advantage of it its their loss.

[QUOTE=askthetrainer;504792841]

I hope I don't sound too much like Al Shades ;)[/QUOTE]

I think [i]I[/i] sounded more like Al Shades in my little story there. lol.

There's a little al shades in all of us :)

[QUOTE=Mr.ILL;504869991]There's a little al shades in all of us :)[/QUOTE]

HAHA

The point I'm trying to make is, if you are an up-and-coming or even established trainer, the way to make the most money is to build a high volume clientele, get them in, get them out, resigns, referrals, and once your so busy you can't handle it, hire another trainer.... open a gym.... the possibilities are endless....

The key is training clients.... all the cute things you try do (helpful or not) just get in the way and interfere w/ the money constantly flowing into your bank account...

[QUOTE=Mr.ILL;504524251]First off in the state I live in its not illegal to give nutritional advice without being licensed so I don't wanna hear the its illegal blah blah blah.


Anyone ever done this? One of my clients asked me if she could use one of her session at the grocery store and I said yes. I'm pretty excited about it. I spend almost as much time on nutrition with clients as much as I do training and I'm just as much as a nutrition coach as I am a Personal Trainer and it's been the reason a lot of people have picked me over other trainers. Just wondering if anyone has done this and if its a regular thing you do with new clients?[/QUOTE]

My understanding is that you can give nutritional advice, to perfectly healthy individuals, in any state without issue. Where you run into a sticky wicket is when you give nutritional advice to "cure" or "Fix" an existing medical issue. For instance, you can't give nutrition advice to a morbidly obese client with hypertension and diabetes with the claims that eating in such-n-such a fashion will make them thin, bring their blood pressure down and fix their insulin issues. If *I* were your client, you could certainly tell me that I should eat more veggies.

That all being said, I think this is a good idea, but for the right client. As everyone else has stated, I would just make sure that this particular client had high compliance all the way around the board, and I would probably make them buy an extra session to do the grocery shopping, vice just doing it on my time. They are using a service, if they REALLY want it, they will pay.

[QUOTE=askthetrainer;504872551]HAHA

The point I'm trying to make is, if you are an up-and-coming or even established trainer, the way to make the most money is to build a high volume clientele, get them in, get them out, resigns, referrals, and once your so busy you can't handle it, hire another trainer.... open a gym.... the possibilities are endless....

The key is training clients.... all the cute things you try do (helpful or not) just get in the way and interfere w/ the money constantly flowing into your bank account...[/QUOTE]

Shopping tours with a trainer aren't free. They still cost money.

What a lot of clients do is use up that x amount of time and take it out of their session package overall. So the trainer is still being paid for his time, and in a lot of cases, is knocking out multiple sessions at once since it's a collective group thing.

It's just a different way for a client to use up a session or two.

Don't do it for free out of your own time and your own goodness of heart.

[QUOTE=Simmo0508;504962981]Don't do it for free out of your own time and your own goodness of heart.[/QUOTE]


I've offered this a few times, never had any takers...yes free. I've even offered to comp one session if some harder clients would go see a dietician I refer to. The way I see it, the better they look sooner, the better I look. But sometimes goodness of heart isn't enough.

[QUOTE=Maximum;505006051]I've offered this a few times, never had any takers...yes free. I've even offered to comp one session if some harder clients would go see a dietician I refer to. The way I see it, the better they look sooner, the better I look. But sometimes goodness of heart isn't enough.[/QUOTE]

Yep, that's why we've reiterated here in the thread that's only for some people. Not everyone will take advantage of the option. But hey that's their loss really.

Like a lot of things in this business though, it's totally dependent on the person/people you're dealin with. Some are genuinely more interested in health than others.

Can you tell me more how you did this sounds like a great idea


[QUOTE=MVP;504577851]I do it. I take groups of my clients to the grocery store, get them the little baskets, teach them how to read labels.

When i do this, i always get a shopper who ask for my business card. I've gained clientele from taking my clients to the grocery store.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Keltron;504718821]I've actually done it once.. it didnt go so well for me anyway.. i made a thread about it..[/QUOTE]

Provided that their serious. Yup makes sense to me. Lol

[QUOTE=Keltron;504718821]I've actually done it once.. it didnt go so well for me anyway.. i made a thread about it..[/QUOTE]

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you spend hrs at night writing out workouts, trying new things, coach them on carbs, calories, cardio etc. and they dont appreciate it. when you are passionate about your job you do your best to help people reach their goals and it becomes less about the money. but as time goes on, its easy to see whos willing to do the work and who is not. most are not....... people who continue to do the same things over and over get the same results........