4 ways to find your niche as a nutrition coach


Liz Durant was unstoppable.

She packed 25 marathons in eight years before moving on to ultramarathons – while juggling a demanding career in accounting and finance, raising three children, moving frequently and playing competitive tennis.

At the age of 45, Durant was offered a job as a personal trainer at a local gym. She decided to take it, jumping from the opportunity to share her love of running in a meaningful and purposeful way.

She plunged headlong into her new haste, working to gain experience in nutrition (through PN Level 1 and Level 2 certifications), endurance, and women-specific training.

Each week she would teach 10 group fitness classes; spend 20-30 hours training in person and online clients; train for your next race; removal of certificates and other continuing editions; and of course to be there for her family and friends.

In the early 1950s, Durant noticed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to meet the requirements. The heat waves kept her awake at night. Injuries have become commonplace. Durant felt burned out and struggled to keep his schedule.

She accepted that she was entering a new phase of life. With the help of coach Durant, he made adjustments to his lifestyle and eating habits.

“I really had to judge what was important and give up some things that weren’t,” Durant said. “I practiced balancing my clients with my own learning needs and prioritizing the ‘big stones’ – sleep, stress, exercise and food.

It wasn’t long before Durant was feeling well and smearing his schedule.

And so he hit her.

She will focus her coaching business, Affinity Fitness, on women just like her: 50-year-olds who want to maintain an active, busy, healthy life, even while dealing with the realities of aging.

And so she eventually found her niche as a nutrition coach. Here are four enlightening lessons Durant has learned from his experience – plus tips for you to try.

Lesson №1: Do it in person.

The more intimately you understand what your customers are, the more effectively you can support them.

Durant knew, “The ’50s are a perfect storm of physical and lifestyle changes.”

Here are the main challenges for her clients, plus the way she addresses them.

It’s been a long time since they’ve given themselves priority.

Many women in their 50s have spent years or decades caring for others, losing touch with their own bodies and needs in the process. (Durant also found preliminary research on eating disorders and females in an empty nest, which is consistent with anecdotal evidence from her coaching practice.)

Durant helps clients practice listening to their bodies so that they can re-learn signals such as hunger and signals of fullness.

They experience hormonal changes.

As a result, many customers notice reduced energy.

“Productivity and training are starting to suffer,” Durant said. “Then your sleep is disturbed by heat waves. In addition, you are more susceptible to injury. “

To address this, Durant helps clients adapt training and recovery to the evolving needs of their bodies. It also focuses them on improving sleep and coping with stress by turning off screens and stopping earlier in the evening than they are used to.

Everyday life suddenly looks different.

Women of this age often experience significant life changes (turning into an empty nest; retiring). This means a disturbed diet and exercise.

Durant helps customers achieve a balance between lean protein, smart carbs, healthy fats and vegetables – often portioned for a slow metabolism. (Tip: It uses the PN macro calculator. “The report that comes out of this is gold.”)

And Durant teaches them a great deal of experience: “Being nimble is key. Don’t beat yourself up if you have to prioritize your life to meet your basic needs. Progress, not perfection. “

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Lesson №2: Specialize even within your specialty.

Customers in a market or niche will have things in common, but it is important to leave room for personal preferences.

For example, while some of Durant’s clients like to work out online, “others were looking forward to going back to the gym.”

To accommodate both groups, Durant offers online, limited personal and hybrid coaching models.

“I have several clients who travel south in the winter. We train in the gym when we can, and when we can’t, we use Zoom. My clients love consistency and flexibility, ”she says.

Meanwhile, Durant offers three different packages:

  • Sprint: Design a program with just a little support
  • Marathon: Designing a program with individual nutrition support
  • Ultra: Program design, personalized dietary recommendations and weekly Zoom training

“It’s all about finding what works best for individual customers.”

Lesson 3: Listen to your audience – not everyone else.

When Durant started her coaching business, she tried Facebook ads to gain visibility. This is standard marketing, but it doesn’t work.

So, she thought more carefully about the women she wanted to train. What are they interested in? How do they spend their time? What would be the real value for them?

This struck her like a sack of potatoes: Just like Durant, her customers were big fans of Instant Pot. She had conducted free seminars at the local library, plus paid sessions at clients’ homes. Why not take it to Facebook live to get more people interested in what it has to offer?

Liz started doing free planning and cooking sessions, plus demonstrations of recipes right from her kitchen. She immediately had an influx of new customers.

“It was great!” says Durant. “I’m thinking so much about developing an online Instant Pot course for runners. Simplify their lives and give them more time to escape! ”

This kind of approach may require some experimentation, Durant warns, but it helps keep an open mind. “Throw something in the wall and see if it sticks. “Try something for a month and see what happens,” she suggests.

Lesson # 4: Think about the change you want to make.

Durant says her specialization has helped her gain clients, especially word of mouth. But much more than that, it brought a clear sense of purpose and meaning to her work.

“I love helping women take care of themselves after spending so much time caring for others,” she says.

And for Durant, this mission opened the door to a larger vision: “I feel there is an idea in my generation that much of our goal is to take care of other people, even at the expense of our own health,” she says. I want to change that. “

Durand – now 59 – believes we are on the brink of social change, where women of all ages are becoming more inclined to prioritize themselves, and topics such as menopause are becoming less and less taboo.

“Women are beginning to realize that taking care of themselves is not selfish. And besides, when we take the time to prioritize our own well-being, we are more effective in caring for others anyway! ”

Customers perceive this sense of purpose. They are beginning to imagine a new future. They get results. They tell their friends.

“When we’re north of 50, we have the opportunity to create a new plan for ourselves,” Durant said. A new vision that we can choose to think about me, 2.0. ”

Given this new vision, Durant is in the lead.

If you are a coach or want to be …

Learning how to educate clients, patients, friends or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes – in a way that is personalized for their unique body, preferences and circumstances – is both an art and a science.

If you want to learn more about both, consider Level 1 precision nutrition certification.



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