Sales Call Saga: “Salads bore me”
Why it’s NOT Your Food’s Job to Entertain You
I’ve been taking a lot of calls lately where soon-to-be clients are quick to say something like:
“Salads bore me.”
“I don’t want to get bored with food.”
“Please don’t tell me I have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.”
I’d like to take a moment to address some of these. Before I do, let’s lay down a little context, shall we? I’m a nutrition coach who specialized in helping people adopt a sustainable plant-based lifestyle. After years of coaching clients on-one-on, I developed a system to help people adopt a sustainable plant-centric diet. 90 Days to Plant-Based was born!
90 Days to Plant-Based is a course with some of my best coaching tools and resources. The course isn’t a template or meal plan, rather, a system designed to teach people how to eat. We start by exploring the client’s why — Why is it they want to change? What is it the underlining desire? What current thoughts/habits do they have that aren’t producing the results they want? Let’s start with some of these common thoughts I hear on these sales calls:
“Salads bore me.”
Let’s clear something up right now… It’s not your food’s job to entertain you. Your food’s job is to fuel you. Let’s say that again for those in the back.
Food is fuel, not entertainment.
“I don’t want to get bored with food.”
Again, it’s not the food’s job to keep you entertained. In fact, reaching for food because someone is bored is what often-times gets people into the cycle of overeating and/or making poor nutritional choices. Sure, some cereal boxes contain mazes or riddles which could be seen as entertaining. Strip away the brightly colored packaging. What’s left? When food is in its whole food natural form — it’s doing its job. The fuel is waiting to be prepared and consumed. An apple doesn’t care if it makes you laugh just like a pint of sorbet doesn’t care if you’re using it as an avoidance mechanism. Fuel is fuel is fuel. Once a client is able to recognize food’s purpose and take responsibility for their own projections/avoidance-seeking behaviors, everything changes.
“I don’t want to get bored with food.” — So don’t. We don’t enter a new relationship thinking, “I don’t want to get bored with this partner, so maybe I should just leave them now.” In this program, we practice an abundance mindset.
“Please don’t tell me I have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.”
My program doesn’t entail any 12-course gourmet meals, nor will you be learning how to use a blow torch. That being said, I won’t ever tell anyone what they “have” to do. Rather, I teach clients what they GET to do (whatever it is they choose!) Throughout the transformation, clients spend time getting to know their why. As humans, our“why” is our driving force and there are a wide variety of personal whys and reasons individuals have. Here a few common whys clients present with:
WHY
-improve their relationship with food
-demonstrate healthy eating habits for their children
-stop hurting animals
-show up in a way that feels empowering
-reduce carbon footprint/environmental impact
-navigate social situations with confidence
-keep up with kids/grandkids
-increase sexual desire/libido by rebalancing hormones
The program is flexible and doesn’t have a set amount of prep-time for meals. Logistics aside, that’s not really the point. The point is this: the phrases people use around food can be incredibly insightful into what’s really holding them back from making appropriate changes to their diet and lifestyle. The point of this article is to explore some of the common limiting beliefs people have around nutrition. These three example statements are often a big part of the reason clients haven’t yet gotten their desired results (but no worries — 90 Days to Plant-Based to the rescue!)
