Looking for advice from a professional

[Visagex]

My current gym wants to hire me to help with nutrition for clients. I'm NOT certified. Everything I know is self taught I believe I have a great understanding on nutrition.. not to the point to where I would recommend a full diet plan where I pick the clients food for them or anything like that.

I would like to help out my gym and help out their clients since they just want to focus on the training aspect of it.

What scope of nutrition am I legally allowed to do for clients in the state of CA? And if I do help with diets / macros etc what type of disclaimers should I have to prevent myself from getting sued?

Figured I'd ask here first before I said yes to anything.

Thank you

[rhadam]

My current gym wants to hire me to help with nutrition for clients. I'm NOT certified. Everything I know is self taught I believe I have a great understanding on nutrition.. not to the point to where I would recommend a full diet plan where I pick the clients food for them or anything like that.

I would like to help out my gym and help out their clients since they just want to focus on the training aspect of it.

What scope of nutrition am I legally allowed to do for clients in the state of CA? And if I do help with diets / macros etc what type of disclaimers should I have to prevent myself from getting sued?

Figured I'd ask here first before I said yes to anything.

Thank you

You're in luck, i was practicing RD in CA before i joined up. Legally you can do whatever you want as long as you don't claim to be something your not. It's why there are so many "nutritionists" who hold no certification/license yet still claim the title and see clients.

If you are being paid by the gym then you will fall under their insurance, not to mention no one is going to come after you personally for nutritional counseling lol. The gym will decide how they want to advertise your service, it's up to you to decide how much you want to divulge. If you want to PM me for more info i'd be happy to help where i can.

[Visagex]

Perfect thank you. I'll take you up on your offer and message you.

[AdamWW]

This explains so much about the crap I hear personal trainers telling clients about nutrition...

[Visagex]

This explains so much about the crap I hear personal trainers telling clients about nutrition...

That's a very general statement.

[AdamWW]

That's a very general statement.

It's also true, and based - as I said - on what I hear.

I was not aware that gym employees required no education on nutrition to be 'hired' for such services. I very frequently hear clients asking basically all types of gym employees for advice on the subject, and their answers are often pure nonsense. If they require no training or education at all, then it makes sense, and it's kind of... I would say... unfortunate, given the amount of misinformation already out there.

[Visagex]

It's also true, and based - as I said - on what I hear.

I was not aware that gym employees required no education on nutrition to be 'hired' for such services. I very frequently hear clients asking basically all types of gym employees for advice on the subject, and their answers are often pure nonsense. If they require no training or education at all, then it makes sense, and it's kind of... I would say... unfortunate, given the amount of misinformation already out there.

It's not true in all cases, you also get misinformation from certified trainers as well.

In any case, I don't know your personal experiences but I'm not a fan of general blanket statements that may or may not apply especially since I feel like it is targeted towards me currently in the thread.

Bad information is everywhere.

[Heisman2]

I have no actual practical knowledge from which to give you advice but as a doctor if you come across clients with medical conditions that you are not comfortable with (ie, type 1 diabetes), make sure to tell them to run any dietary changes by their physician before implementing them. That should hopefully prevent any "bad outcomes" that would put you or the gym at risk of being sued.

[AdamWW]

It's not true in all cases, you also get misinformation from certified trainers as well.

In any case, I don't know your personal experiences but I'm not a fan of general blanket statements that may or may not apply especially since I feel like it is targeted towards me currently in the thread.

Bad information is everywhere.

I never claimed that all people in gyms give bad info. Please reread my statements. I also never targeted you.

[Visagex]

I have no actual practical knowledge from which to give you advice but as a doctor if you come across clients with medical conditions that you are not comfortable with (ie, type 1 diabetes), make sure to tell them to run any dietary changes by their physician before implementing them. That should hopefully prevent any "bad outcomes" that would put you or the gym at risk of being sued.

I will definitely suggest that to any future clients if I don't feel comfortable giving any suggestions to their different medical conditions. Thank you

[rhadam]

I will definitely suggest that to any future clients if I don't feel comfortable giving any suggestions to their different medical conditions. Thank you

A large portion of study involves "at-risk" populace. I was lucky enough to live with a doctor as well as work in a hospital where i was able to attain plenty of practical advice/knowledge for clients. My passion was in research, learning was what i excelled at. I considered myself much more knowledgeable than most dietitians and other professionals in the field.

[Heisman2]

I will definitely suggest that to any future clients if I don't feel comfortable giving any suggestions to their different medical conditions. Thank you

You can still advise them as for most people the appropriate advice will be similar, it is just important that they run the advice by their physician before implementing it. Most people with significant conditions where this can be an issue (ie, inflammatory bowel disease) will have a decent idea of what they can or cannot eat but will not necessarily know how to make that jibe with general advice regarding bulking and cutting; you can give them tips and general nutrition knowledge and they can work with their own doctor to implement it safely. This will not even be an issue for the vast majority of your clients.