Which program to choose for designing meal plans for clients

[asmith7501]

Hello, this is my first post on this forum. I am planning to start classes to get my certification as a personal trainer within the next few months. At this point I'm still in the research phase, reading all I can about the different organizations offering certifications and the specializations they offer as well. After I become a personal trainer, I'd like to also have either a specialization in nutrition or do certification for health coach. What I'm wanting from this is to be able to legally give detailed advice to my clients about nutrition, including writing up personalized meal plans. Does anyone know anything about what is required to legally do this? Would some sort of nutrition specialization be the way to go, or health coach?

[Mike8213]

I think it depends on the state you plan to practice. In my state I believe it's beyond my scope of practice and I have to refer out to a registered dietitian or nutritionist.

[Voltri]

I think it depends on the state you plan to practice. In my state I believe it's beyond my scope of practice and I have to refer out to a registered dietitian or nutritionist.

^ This. Many states require you to be an RD to give out meal plans. People don't stick to meal plans anyway, so don't bother-- Stick with offering basic nutritional guidance.

[WoofieNugget]

If you want to do a good course with lots of resources, Precision Nutrition is an excellent one - it also gives you many tools.

However, I always caution against trainers giving people meal plans. It is a headache, 90% of people won't follow them and you're much better off giving them small changes and advice as they go rather than trying to redesign the way that they eat.

[WolfBeast]

Its best just to give them a list of foods to choose from and help them figure out a calorie/macro range to shoot for.

Example being
Good sources of protein:
Chicken thighs/breasts
Beef/Steak
Eggs
Turkey
Fish

Good sources of fat:
Natural peanut butter or almond butter
Almonds
MCT oil
Coconut oil

Good sources of carb (high in nutrients)
-Green Veggies (good source of fiber)
-Oats
-Brown Rice
-Sweet potato
-Beans
-Fruits (bananas w/ your post workout shake to spike insulin levels)