Bad nutrition advice - PART 1

Today, we're pulling apart some of the "less than ideal" 🫠 nutrition advice that I've heard people receive! We're taking a look at why it may be detrimental, and the things I would want my gals to know, understand and be aware of if they were given this advice!

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DISCLAIMER
The Eat Like Ruby podcast is not a substitute for professional medical or dietary advice.
The advice given in this episode is general in nature and should not be used to treat any medical conditions, health conditions, illnesses, injuries and/or any nutrition related conditions, deficiencies or similar.
This podcast is not to be used as, or in place of, medical advice or dietary advice.
Please consult your health care professional before implementing any of the advice, information or protocols discussed in this episode.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hello fam, welcome back to the pod. Today I'm gonna do an episode that's a little bit different to normal, but it's been brewing for a while. And what we're gonna talk about today is, for lack of a better description, pretty much effed up advice that is coming out of the fitness, nutrition, online coaching, etc. Coming out of that industry. And I mean, I think we all know straight away there's some crazy shit that comes out of that industry. But as someone who's worked, I've worked in the industry for nearly 20 years. Like I started in the gyms when I was 17, which is crazy. And then obviously I've gone on to work through gyms, study nutrition, work online. Like I've been here for a minute and I've definitely heard some crazy things over the years. But then at the same time, because I've been doing this work for a long time and we've had the podcast for a long time, we've been really clear on our message and our way for a long time. You kind of get stuck in your little bubble. Like I feel like I've been in a bubble for years of just thinking, well, like everyone gets it now, and everyone knows how to do it the right way, in the positive way, in the good way. And then you forget that there's a lot happening outside of your bubble. And at the start of this year, I did a few consults or got a few girls started with ongoing coaching. And obviously, when we do that, we have a video call and we just talk about like, where are you at? Where have you been? What has nutrition training, everything looked like for you over the years? And I just got like a few stories during those consult calls where I was just like, wow, like that's crazy that someone told you to do that or put you on that plan, etc. And it kind of just made me realize, like, Rubes, get out of your bubble because there's still people doing some bizarre shit out there. And I made note of those and I was thinking, like, I think there's a podcast episode in this, but I was also really mindful that I didn't want to just do an episode where we just like share horror stories with no point or purpose. Like, I wanted to just get a bit more clear on like what do we actually want to get out of this episode? And then I put on my Instagram stories, like thinking of doing an episode about this because I've just been hearing a few things. Do you have any stories? Do you have anything that you would want to contribute? And I got a lot. I got a lot. And it just made me realize again, like, wow, there's still some crazy shit happening out there. But again, I was still just thinking, like, what is actually the point of this episode? I don't just want to get on and like rip into people for 40 minutes. I want there to be a bit more of a point. And then I did a consult call really recently that just kind of solidified, I was like, yep, we're gonna do that episode. And now I'm pretty sure like I know what direction to take it and what to get out of it. So I would say like it's gonna be a very chatty episode. I'm definitely probably gonna rip on a few things at times, but I just want to make it really clear before we get started. First of all, I'm not gonna name and shame. I'm not going to like point out particular coaches, people, PTs, companies, businesses, anything like that, and shame them. I'm just going to share like stories or protocols and things that people have told me they have been told by PTs and coaches and stuff. And what I really do want to get out of it is pretty much just talk about like where my mind goes when I hear that thing. Like when I've had clients say to me, I was put on this plan or I was told to do XYZ, I was told I'm not allowed to do XYZ. That's gonna be a big one today. I'm probably gonna rip into that. But when people tell me what they've been told, obviously my mind straight away just goes, like, that's such a poor way to have that communicated to you. Or if I was gonna communicate that to you, I would explain it this way and I would want you to know this. Just like basically as someone who I would consider myself obviously educated, but I would also consider myself open-minded. And if you've been here for a while, you'd be like, yeah, but Rubes, you get passionate about things. I do get passionate about things, but I always come back to the fact and say, there is no right or wrong, there is no one size fits all. I will never give people one size fits all, plans, protocols, etc. I will always give the education and the information people need to then go, now that I know this stuff, how do I make my plans? What should my protocols be? Knowing the actual facts and knowing that I can navigate things in so many different ways, if I have the information to do that, I can decide how I want to navigate it. So even though I can get passionate about things, I'm always open-minded to the fact that we can navigate nutrition and training in so many different ways. And so coming back to what I want to get out of the episode, I thought the way I see it is like if I was a fly on the wall when these coaches or PTs, et cetera, are giving people this advice, what would I want to jump off the wall and say to that person? Like, you've just been given that plan or that advice. Knowing that, I would want you to also know this and this and this and think about this before you implement that plan. So that's kind of where I'm gonna go today. I'm gonna share like a few different stories or just things that I've heard and then just more so go into like what I would want people to be thinking about or how I might approach it differently. And even in saying that, it's not to say that my way is right and other people's way is wrong, but I think the things we're gonna hear today and the things we're gonna look at today, there is a real one size fits all approach to this. It is very narrow-minded in my opinion. It's like people have been given plans and protocols in the sense of like, this is the only way to do it. You have to stick to this, you have to do it this way. If you do not do it this way, you are failing. And I just don't operate in that way. So I just think it's worth pointing out to people like, hey, it's not just a one-size-fits-all thing. Yeah, that could be a way you could do it. There's also a lot of other ways you could do it. And I think it's worth you having all the information you need to decide the best way to do it for you. So I hope that made sense. We're gonna get into it now. I've got a few, like I said, I got hit with like so many stories and things. I'm not just gonna sit here and like share them all. There was a lot of common themes, and then there was a few really particular examples that I was like, yeah, we can really use this particular one to explain something really well. So that's what we're gonna get into now. The first one, this is um one that I did the other day in a consult call. And if you're someone who's sitting there and you've like done consult calls or coaching or anything with me, and you're thinking, like, oh my god, is she gonna like out me or name and shame me? No, I'm not. Like I said, I'm not gonna name and shame the coaches, the companies, etc., that are doing this. But I'm also not gonna name any clients or anything. So everything's gonna be really anonymous. You can keep laying low. But the consult call I did the other day, as soon as I read, pretty much as soon as I read this person's form, I was like, wow, this person is just giving me the last piece of the puzzle for that podcast episode. So thank you. Big slay. But I did this consult for someone that was a one-off consult. And when we do those, people obviously like set up their consult time and then they fill in a really detailed form before we get on the consult for this exact reason. Not so we can get a podcast out of it, but so I can read it beforehand and be like, where is this person at? What do they want to talk about? What do they want help with, etc.? So I read this form straight away. I was like, wow, I'm so stoked this person has booked in. I'm so stoked that they are like questioning this thing, and we'll get into it now so it makes more sense. But basically, this person was early 50s. She's been on a weight loss journey for a while and she has a bit more weight she wants to lose, but she's also very into training. And just in that mentality and in that position, I think of as she's getting older, just thinking, wow, I really want to keep looking after myself. I want to keep pushing myself, I want to keep trying things and doing things. I don't want to just like succumb to, oh, well, you're aging, so you have to like stop doing things. That was the real vibe I got from the form. And that was awesome. Like, as soon as I was reading that, I was like, yes, I frigging love this. Obviously, if people don't know, I have a mum who's early 60s who like absolutely gets after it in the gym, is a PT, became a PT in her 50s. Like, I am all for people getting after it regardless of age. So just the vibe I was getting from this person of like, I'm not stopping just because I'm going, like, went through my 40s now, I'm going through my 50s. I'm not stopping. I'm still keen to do stuff, right? So that was awesome. She had, like I said, been on a weight loss journey, had a bit more weight to go, but was literally saying, like, I'm happy to just chip away at that over time while also working on other things. She was doing some group strength training stuff that was a bit like highroxy, like high rox vibes, which is cool, like hybrid training. And then she had started to get into running a little bit towards the end of last year, and then a lot this year, like really like getting more consistent with it this year, which is awesome. And then, long story short, I'll try, I want to like make sure I give all the information, but I don't want to be here all day. She started with an online coach in September last year. And this coach, there was a couple of things that came up with this coach. This coach put her on 1,785 calories, I think it was, which is fine. That's awesome, right? She went to this coach, said, I'm doing strength stuff, tiny bit of running, but predominantly at this time was just like doing the group training stuff. And I want to lose a little bit of body fat, want to drop a bit of weight. This coach has put her on this particular intake, and then a strength training program. The first red flag that was like so random, I don't want to spend too much time on this, but it's just worth pointing out. This client stuck to this plan for four weeks. She was averaging a kilo loss a week, and then the coach dropped her down to 1600 calories. No one knows why. If you're sitting there going, why? I'm right there with you. Like straight away when when she was she said this to me on the call, and I was like, hang on, so like just I just want to make sure I've got that right. Your initial intake was in the 1700s. You were like, you just said you were averaging a kilo loss a week, and then after like four to six weeks, the coach dropped her down to 1600 calories. And she's like, Yep. And I was like, so you were progressing in the direction that you wanted to progress and you were achieving weight loss. And she's like, yep. And then she's like, I didn't understand that either. But I was just like, well, you're the coach, I'm just doing what I'm told, kind of thing. And I guess that's something to point out right now. Like, if you have a horror story or you've been through something like this, or you hear something we talk about today, and you're like, yeah, wow, I can relate to that. I just want to point out, like, I absolutely understand as a client, customer, etc., if you have implemented something because you're like, well, I paid this person, I thought they were the professional, I thought that was the right thing to do. That absolutely makes sense. Like, I'm absolutely not shaming anyone who's just pretty much done what they're told because they thought that that's what they should do. That absolutely makes sense. So coming back to this person, she dropped down to the 1600. Again, no one really knows why this happened, why this was told to be done. But she then hung there for a while and she continued to achieve some weight loss. So she achieved like a few kilos weight loss in the back end of last year with this coach and then with doing her group stuff. And then, like I said, the coach had put strength training in place. That's gonna come up again in a second, because then we're gonna fast forward to start of this year. So start of 2026. She came back in the new year, like had a bit of a crissy holiday, crissy break, whatever. Came back in the new year, and coach was like, Yep, okay, back to our 1600 calz. This client then communicated, like, hey, I'm doing group strength training and I want to get a bit more consistent with my running this year. I'm gonna be doing two, maybe three runs a week. I'm not sure, like, about that strength training program that you've given me. I'm not sure how that's gonna fit in. Coach said, I can drop it back to three days, but you need to get the three days done. This is our first red flag. Well, actually, not the first red flag. The big dropping cows for no reason was the first red flag. But this is something I want to look at here. You need to get this done, right? And we're gonna come back to that in a second because it really ties in with the main point I want to make here. This client then starts going through 2026 with three group classes happening a week that are a mix of like strength training and cardio, quite high intensity. If we think about what I said before, it's kind of like a high rox vibe, hybrid vibe, that's pretty high intensity three times a week. She's then starting to run consistently three times a week. Running is looking like, just to give a bit of context, building up to a 10K. So sort of dabbling in those like three to eight K runs as the weeks and months go by, but consistently doing that, building up to doing a 10K, which is awesome. And when I spoke to this client, she pretty much said to me, like, the running is something I just want to like prove to myself that I'm coming into my 50s, I can start something new, I can do hard shit, like I can put effort into something, I can do something I've never done before. And she was like really positive, really pumped about that. So that was awesome. I was like, yes, this is really cool. And this is where our problem starts to kick in. So we've got a person on 1600 calm cranked up their activity level because they've started adding three consistent runs a week, and then is finding herself in a position where she's on 1600 calories, doing three group classes a week and three runs a week, and is feeling hungry and does not have much energy at all. Makes sense, right? And she starts just to put into context as well, this person is sitting around the 90 kilo mark. So that's important because that's a factor when we look at how much energy someone's body needs. Obviously, if we look at the size of that body to make sure we're fueling that body. So come over to the fact that she's really starting to feel hungry, starting to feel these energy dips. Communicates this to the coach, and the coach says, This is because you were running, you need to stop running. I should have actually bought a red flag and just waved it every time to the camera. This is such a red flag to me, and this is like the biggest problem in this whole thing to me. Because we have a person here who is saying, I like doing this thing. I want to be doing this thing. It's feeling positive for me physically, it's feeling positive for me mentally. It's like a really positive challenge. I'm getting an element of fulfillment and success. I'm feeling good about myself. I've got progression in place with these things, so I'm working on it and I'm feeling great about the fact that I'm consistently implementing it and working on it. All of those things are so good for a person's physical health, mental health, emotional health. Like, there's so much benefit to that. And to then just have a coach that goes, you need to stop doing that thing. That's wild to me. Like this, this is when I was reading this form and I was like, oh my god, like I've got so much to say about this. And when I got on the consult call with this person, I was like, just want to know like how you're feeling about this and where you're at. Because I have a lot of strong opinions, but I also don't want to just unleash on this client and be like, you're getting fed shit information. This is crap, rah-r-rah. Like the last thing I wanted was to make her feel bad about the advice she'd been given. But I was just like, I just want to know how you're feeling about this. Like, do you want to stop running? Because I'm getting the vibe that you love running. And then you've got this person over here telling you to stop, which just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It doesn't make any sense to me. And this is where I think the real issue is. So then she's communicating to this coach, I'm hungry, my energy is dropping, I'm finding it very hard to stick to the 1600. So she was in a position where she was trying to hit these 1600 calories for a few days a week, just hitting the wall like midweek and just being like, so hungry, cravings, energy, training performance, like everything is suffering big time. I cannot stick to that intake, and then would just spend the next few days going well above it and then going back to the next week and being like, no, I should try again to hit the 1600 because this coach has told me to, and just in this really vicious cycle. And then again, come over to the coach, and it side note, I say vicious cycle with love, like it makes so much sense that she was in that position. I said this to her straight away. The fact that you've been going through that makes so much sense because you are eating such a low amount relative to what you are doing. Right? And then we come over to the coach who's going basically saying the same thing. Like the coach is basically saying, yes, these calories are too low for your activity level. So then the coach is saying, drop the activity level. But then we've got to come over and go, but this person likes doing that activity. And I straight up said this to this client on the call. I just want to confirm everything you are doing for training is something you want to be doing and it's feeling positive for you. You're not running because you feel like you have to run or you should run or it's good for weight loss or whatever. You're not going to this group thing feeling like you should do it. I said, like, I'm getting the vibe that you really love the group thing and you've really started to love running. And moving forward, you would love to continue doing both of these things. Can I just confirm that that's right and nothing is feeling forced or negative for you? And she was like, Nope, I absolutely am loving this like training that I've got going on. Haven't even really been doing the strength training thing from the coach. But again, she's like said to this coach, Well, I go to a group thing that does strength training a few times a week. Do I really need to do your program? And the coach is like, Yes, you do. Right. And then this kind of ties into the whole like, you need to stop running thing as well. So coming back to what I was saying before, the coach is basically saying the same thing as me in terms of like your energy and your training and everything is suffering because your calorie intake is too low for the training that you're doing. The coach is then going, so you need to reduce the training. I think anyone who's listening who's been in the Eat Lack Ruby world for a while will know straight away, like you're not even a coach, but your mind straight away is just going, why not just adjust the nutrition to fuel the training that this person wants to do? Why not just increase the nutrition intake to fuel the training that this person wants to do? This is where the huge red flag is to me. Why are we telling people what you want to do is wrong? It's not allowed. You shouldn't be doing that. You need to stop doing that. So let's just confirm we're telling people they should stop doing the exercise they enjoy. Like what the hell? Instead of it is such an easy fix, and like obviously, I don't say easy fix in terms of like, like, we then need to look at what the whole protocol and plan and everything would look like, but it's such an obvious fix in terms of like, well, if this person wants to do this training, why would we not just put nutrition in place to support that? And that nutrition can still be set up to progress towards a fat loss goal and a weight loss goal over time, but there's a real sweet spot for this person where it's like, okay, cool. If this is what training is going to consistently look like, and this is basically the conversation I had with her. And again, I said to this person, I know I'm going all over the place, but this one got me very fired up, if you can't tell. I said to this person straight away, like, I'm really mindful that I'm about to give you conflicting advice. And I know that can be just make things harder for people. Like, you've basically got a coach telling you one thing, you're about to have me telling you something else. Can I just confirm you're happy for me to just give you the plan and protocol that I think you should do? And I'll explain to you why I think you should do it and you can decide where you go from here. But I just want to confirm before I hit you with conflicting advice, you're happy to hear it. And I mean, you would assume yes, because she's paid to do a consult and get my opinion, but I'm always just mindful of that fact. And this is the process that I go through with every single client that I work with, whether it is a one-off consult like this, or obviously for ongoing coaching, because I work with people who have gym goals and like body composition goals, they're predominantly spending their time in the gym. Obviously, I work with a lot of runners, triathletes, high rocks girls, people that are doing all of the above. And that's just such a perfect example right there of why we need to be open-minded to this and be open to adjusting nutrition to support training. Because think about this person. Obviously, she's just started getting into running. But let's say someone else came along to this coach and said, like, hey, I would love to get some help with my nutrition and training. And just so you know, like, I'm doing the gold coast marathon. So I'd love to do like maybe a bit of strength training with you and some nutrition, but then just like FYI, I'm gonna be running three times a week because I'm doing the Gold Coast marathon. I've actually been a runner for years, I've done that marathon twice, I'm going for a PB. I love running. Can we see how positive this is? If this coach just turned around and said, no, no, no, no gold coast marathon for you, it's like, why not? Like, why not? Why could we not factor that into the plan? That's where the red flag is to me. It's like, why are we not asking people what they want to be doing and then setting the plans and protocols accordingly? And obviously there's something to catch there where it's like, we can't just do every single thing we want. Like if someone comes to me and they've got a million things they want to do, we've obviously got to look and go, okay, well, what does it make sense to work on at what times? I want you to understand what's required for you to work on that thing and progress with that thing. But this is where there's no right or wrong, and this is where we need to be open-minded to having a conversation. And that's what it needs to be. It needs to be a conversation of like, okay, you've told me what you want, tell me what you don't want, what you like, what you don't like, where you're at, what your history is, where you want to go. My wheels are turning big time anytime anyone is rattling this stuff off to me. And then I'm like, okay, cool. Given like everything you've just told me, here's everything I think you need to know and just understand. And then we can start to map out how do we work towards all these things for you. Maybe we do need to cut back on some things at some times, and I'll explain what that might need to look like and why. And we can continue to map out a plan that suits you. And that's really what it is. Come back to this person that's just getting told no, you need to stop running. And side note, there was there was an element of like, you need to stop running because that's just not part of our plan. And then there was also, and I think we're gonna have some listeners that don't like this at all. There was also a mention of you shouldn't be running because of your age. Don't shoot the messenger, guys. That did not come from me. That came from this coach. You should not be running because of your age. That's why you're feeling like shit. That's why your energy is low. That's why your recovery and training and all of that is shitty. That's why you're hungry. Because you shouldn't be running because of your age. I've got a client at the moment in her 50s that's getting ready for a half-iron man. Like I said, my mum is in her 60s and trains all the time. She became a PT in her 50s. I've done nutrition consults for women in their 50s doing ultra marathons. We cannot just say, no, you shouldn't be running because of your age. Obviously, there can be a factor where if someone has experienced like bone loss or arthritis or different things like that, there can be a factor. I'm not oblivious to the fact that there can be a factor where age might impact someone's running, but it also might not. And we can't just say, oh no, you can't do that because of your age. And then coming back to that other point of this coach was just basically like, you're going to get the best results if we have you strength training three times a week and eating these low calories. And I'm all for strength training and obviously I'm all for putting someone in a deficit if it's the right time and right environment, et cetera, for them. But at what point do we say this person, yeah, but hey, do you want to strength train three times a week? Or do you actually prefer to do other training? If you do, let me know what that looks like because then I can just come over and adjust the nutrition accordingly. Because that's my effing job. And I think that's where some coaches need a little bit of a slap around. Is like, your job is to help work with this person. And that brings me to another point I really wanted to make in this episode. Different coaches can specialize in different things, and different coaches can work really well in some areas and not so well in others. And that is fine. I believe that to my core because there are certain people who apply for things you need like Ruby, and I straight away just go, like, nah, with what you've written, you need help with, we're not the best person to help you. And I've said on the podcast before, like, some people can think that's a bit of a dick move to be like, oh, so you're not gonna help me. And it's like, no, it's not that I'm not gonna help you. It's that I don't think I can help you. And I would rather let you know that straight away than have you invest time, money, energy, hope into me if I'm sitting there on the other side going, I don't even think I can help this person that well. This is not what I do. This is definitely not what I specialize in or what I do really well. That is absolutely a factor. Like there are so many elements to nutrition and training and so many things that we can implement nutrition and training to work towards. So I think it's important as a coach to understand that. And if you have someone who either comes to you and communicates straight away what they want to work on and you're like, that's not really what we do, you have to be able to say that. And I think for some people, like for some coaches, it might be like you don't want to turn away the money, or maybe it is more of like a people pleaser thing where you're like, oh, is it rude of me to say no? I think it's more rude to end up in a position like this. We have a client who is not getting what she wants. She's you're pretty much telling her she's not allowed to do what she wants to do. She's gone to the extent of paying someone else while she's also paying you to get a second opinion. So it's important to come back and go, like, should this have just been communicated at the start? Like, hey, maybe we're not the best people to help you with this thing. Or even if we look at this specific example, this client wasn't really that into running when she first reached out to these people. So maybe in the back half of last year, maybe they were a good fit for her. But then she's come into the new year and been like, hey, 2026, I'm gonna rip into running. Hell yeah, let's go. If that coach then clocked, like, oh, hey, this person wants to start running, if we don't think we can help her with running, that's not really what we do. We don't work with runners, etc., you've got to have the balls to have that conversation and just go like, just FYI, that's not really what we do. It might be worth just having to think like, are we still the best people to help you? If you've got any questions about that, let us know. And we have these conversations in Eat Like Ruby all the time, especially over the last few years, because people really have made that transition from doing a lot of strength stuff into doing more of the hybrid stuff like running, high rocks, et cetera. When my girls want to go through that, or like if I've got long-term clients that want to start moving in that direction, we just talk to them about what that process might look like. And at the same time, when we have people apply for coaching, if they say something like, I want to do running and strength training, we will straight away just say, like, just FYI, we don't do the running programming. That's not what Ruby does, that's not what Ruby specializes in. I would have no idea what sort of running program to put in place in terms of like pace, heart rate, intervals, tempos, et cetera. I've never studied that. I have no intention of studying that. Apologies to people who want to do it all with me. But we communicate that to people straight away. If you are looking for someone that will do it all, like nutrition, strength, and the running, we don't do the running. If you do want to do like some strength training with us and nutrition, and then you've got your running sorted somewhere else. So many of our girls just use something like runner, strava, etc. And I'm not saying that's right or wrong. I've never used them, I don't know. But what I'm getting at is like communicating to people what we can help you with and what we can't help you with, and making sure they know that instead of just being like, imagine, I just, I just think right now about all of my clients who are runners. Like there's there's 30 of them. If I had just said to them when they came along, oh yeah, you can work with me, but if you do, you gotta drop the running. Like, imagine, imagine. It's just wild. So I just think it's so important to really think about that as a coach, but then also as a client and just be mindful of that as a client. Like, different people are gonna be able to help you with different things, and just understand, like, in my opinion, it's not a dig move for a coach to say to you, like, hey, I don't think I'm the best person to help you with this thing. Because if we look at what's happened right here, this coach hasn't said that. And instead, they've pretty much backed this person into a corner of like, do it my way or don't do it at all. And that's where I think coaches really just got to open their minds. So, an important thing to think about as clients and just know that there is an element there like that, that you just want to like find the right people to help you with the right thing. But then I think the bigger lesson here is for coaches to just be like, you've got to be open-minded to either helping people with different things, like it's not a one size fits all, because the vibe I get from this coach is very much like we put people on strength training, we put them on calorie intakes, like we're basically strength and macro coaches, right? If someone needs assistance with shit outside of just low calories and low macros for fat loss and a generic strength training program, are we just not gonna help them with that? And if you don't, if you go, no, that's actually just all we do, that's fine. Like that's not wrong, but it's wrong to not communicate that to people. And then when you find yourself in this position where, like I said, maybe you guys were the right fit six months ago. Now this client's goals and everything have changed. You have to be able to step up as the coach and go, like, hey, that's cool. Like, you want to work towards new shit. The worst thing this coach has done, in my opinion, is basically tell this person that they shouldn't want to work towards the things they want to work towards. Because what this person does want to work towards is really positive and really awesome. So the fact that the coach is going, like, no, you shouldn't want this, like that's the biggest red flag to me. Instead, it should just be a conversation. The coach has to have the balls to have that conversation of like, this is awesome that you now want to work towards something else. But we personally don't do that here. So I just would like you to have a think about like, is there something you still think you would want to get from us alongside the running? Or do we think like we've had a great run, now you're moving in a different direction? Maybe it's time to find different coaching. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Like I keep saying, it's a way worse thing to end up in this position. And just coming back to like basically where this client had ended up is like I said, she was trying to do the locales for a few days. She was then just not able to stick to them because she's hungry and energy's low and everything from everything she's doing, which made perfect sense. I calculated just as a like skip ahead for a second, I calculated this person to be consuming about 1900 calories with everything she was doing and still have that as like a moderate deficit in place. And just know, guys, like that was very relative to her overall activity level, step count, size, height, so many things going on there. But again, so many things going on there, and we pulled all those things apart and worked out what is the best plan for you. But coming back to what she was doing, she had those low calories in place, didn't stick to it like towards the end of the week, and rightly so. Then she would try again. She then started to just put herself on higher calories and then was like, oh, but I've got to check in with this coach and they can see my nutrition, they can see what I'm doing. So I feel like I should go back to what they said I should be doing. So this is like just a huge element there of like basically paying this person to do me, tell me to do one thing. I'm doing something else, but then I'm like trying to hide it from them. Like it's clearly just not a match anymore, right? And that can be shitty to admit and it can be an awkward conversation, etc. But better to have one awkward conversation than to end up in this position for months from a coach and a client perspective. And so I just feel like the biggest lesson to take from this one is I'd say two big lessons. First one for coaches. Be open-minded to the fact that people can work on so many different things with their nutrition and training. Like I said, if you had someone that came to you and was just like really into running, had been for years, and it was a super positive thing in their life, would you just tell them that they have to stop? If someone played a sport and they loved playing that sport and it literally their whole life revolved around that sport, are we telling them to stop? Because we have this one size fits all, this one-way approach. And then I guess the same lesson for clients, just really thinking like if you are working with someone and they're basically just giving you like a one-way, like this is the way it has to be. Again, come back and think, well, no, it doesn't, because there's so many people working towards so many different things and doing so in a really positive, awesome way. So how can it just be like a one-way approach, a one-size-fits-all? Like I said, I've got girls that train in the gym twice a week. I've got girls who train in the gym five times a week, I've got girls doing high rocks, I've got girls doing marathons, we've got triathletes, we've got girls getting ready for Iron Man's. Like I said, I've got a client in her 50s getting ready for a half Iron Man. I'm not going to give her the same plan as a 20-year-old client who wants to build her booty and go to the gym five days a week. It's just a completely different person working towards a completely different thing. Yes, both fall under the category of nutrition and training, but very, very different nutrition training goals, habits, actions, plans, protocols, etc. So it cannot just be a one-size fits all. And then I feel like this story segues perfectly into the next story I have. This is um from one of my current ongoing clients. I think she'll know who she is once I start getting into this. But this client had worked with previous coaches and basically just been put on very low calories with a very high step count. And to just put into bit of context, we're talking about a female who weighs in the 80 kilo range, is around 40 years old, was put on 15,000 steps a day and 1300 calories a day. 15,000 steps a day and 1300 calories a day, weighs in the 80 kilos, average height, like I said, around the age of 40. And if we just think about 15,000 steps a day with 1,300 calories a day. Wild. Wild. And just side note, if anyone's on protocols like that, maybe they're right for you, maybe they're not. Like I'm not saying those are right or wrong. It's a pretty rare circumstance that someone would need to be on protocols like that. And for this particular client, shouldn't need to be on protocols like that. And there's a few things I want to look at here, and it's quite similar to that client we just looked at before, but it was a really similar thing of just being like, this is the plan, this is the way. You have to hit these steps, you have to hit these low calories. And this client basically just ended up in that same position where she just couldn't stick to it. And rightly so, always want to point out to people if you have just been put on some sort of crazy protocol and you're struggling to stick to it, it makes sense. And this is where this shit can be really detrimental, really devastating, really shitty. Because, like I said before, you've got people in a position where they're just like, well, I don't know what I'm doing. So I've sought out the professional help. I've paid this person, I've invested my time, my money, my energy, my hope. I'm going to do everything they say. And that makes so much sense if a person does feel lost or desperate or shitty and they're like, well, I want results. I've paid this person for results. They're telling me this is how I'm going to get them. So I'm going to try and do this thing. And then we try and do the thing, and it's so extreme and it's so intense. It's like I literally just cannot stick to it. Like I'm starving. So then that just starts to lead people to like extra snacks or just straying from the plan or getting to the weekends and having these big crazy weekends. And then there is just that huge element of guilt and everything of being like, oh shit, this person gave me a plan. I didn't stick to it. I've got to try again. And I think we can have guilt in so many ways of like feeling guilty to the coach, like, oh my God, this coach told me to do this thing and I didn't do it or I fell off track, etc. So we feel guilty in that sense. I think we also feel guilty to ourselves in terms of like, shit, I have invested my money, I have put time and energy into this thing, and I'm not sticking to it. Like, what am I doing? Just get your shit together kind of energy. Like it can become so negative, so toxic. And we see people just getting stuck in that cycle of like, oh, just try again or just try again or just try again. And it's like, we're trying with something that is so intense and so restrictive. So are we ever really gonna succeed with it? And I think this is probably a good place to segue into another client that I had in another few notes that I had. This client gave me heaps of notes. She'll know who she is. She had a lot of horror stories. And these horror stories were quite similar to the ones I was getting from just different people on Instagram. Just in terms of people getting put on really low calories andor a really strict meal plan of just literally like meat and veg protein shakes, like very, very restrictive meal plan, very low calories, pretty gnarly step count, pretty gnarly training protocols. So just like huge energy output, low energy intake. And I think this is purely just my opinion, but like I have tried to sit there and be like, why are people doing this? Like, why are coaches and PTs and stuff doing this? And the only like conclusion I can draw from this, or the only thing I can get to, is like usually these people don't have a lot of nutrition education qualifications. It'd be wild if they did. Like it would be wild to me if people did. I think where I see this happen the most is people who have fitness qualifications. They work in gyms or online or whatever. And obviously, like fitness and nutrition go hand in hand. So people start asking you about dieting, or people start complaining about results, or you just think, hey, I could make an extra buck on top of my fitness stuff because I can start handing out nutrition stuff. And I think it is just a lack of real education and understanding, which is crazy. I mean, I could talk about this all day. There's a reason that PTs shouldn't be handing out macros and meal plants. They are not educated and qualified to do so. And what we so commonly see them do is put people on these really intense restrictive protocols. And I feel like it happens for multiple reasons. I feel like it's like it is so intense that if a person does stick to it, of course you're gonna get a result. Like if you stick to a crazy high step count and a crazy low calorie intake, of course, if you want to progress towards fat loss and weight loss, you're going to. I just want to make it very clear right now, I'm not saying people should do that. I am not saying people should do that. But we know that fat loss is achieved through an energy deficit. If we have such a low intake and such a high output in place that it creates a really big deficit, and you are actually able to implement that consistently for long enough that it's effective, it is going to lead to fat loss and weight loss. So I think there's an element there for the PTs where it's like, well, if I make it so intense, this person's going to get results. And then happy days for them because they're getting results. The other thing, and I had multiple people say to me that they were treated like this by PTs especially. The alternative is if the person doesn't stick to it and they don't get results, and the PT can simply just turn around and go, Well, it's your fault because you didn't stick to it. That's effing brutal. That is cooked. I I'm trying not to like say too much in this episode. I can't even word this well. I don't want to say things that upset people and have people think like, oh my god, I am working with someone really shitty. I am getting bad advice. Like, I understand there's an element there where it's like, yes, we do want to know about this, but also it's really shit to find out. Like, wow, maybe I've been getting terrible advice. So I feel like I'm dancing a really fine line here on that. But with this one, I would say, like, this is just my opinion, but I think a lot of people would have this opinion. If your nutritionist or your PT is literally just black and white saying to you, well, it's your fault because you can't stick to it. It's your fault because you didn't stick to it, you really want to catch that and be like, is this person conversing with me on why I couldn't stick to it? Or what else is going on for me? There are so many things I would want to talk to a person about. If we're putting nutrition plans and protocols in place and a person is just consistently not sticking to them, there are so many things that you want to talk to this person about. Because we want to look at, like, first of all, hey, what's going on in the rest of your life? Maybe you have something really gnarly happening in the rest of your life, and putting an intense deficit in place is just the last thing you need on your stress levels and your mental health, emotional health, et cetera. Side note, we don't ever need to put a gnarly intense deficit in place like these PTs are, but just coming back to then this element of them being like, well, it's just your fault for not sticking to it. If I put any plans and protocols in place for a person and they're not sticking to them, the conversation does have to happen of like, okay, well, is there something else happening in your life that we need to look at? Have you been trying to implement something for a really long time and we're dealing with a big element of diet fatigue? Like the mental load of dieting has been weighing down on you for a long time. Do we need to look at relieving that with diet breaks, time at maintenance, a more flexible period, a more chilled period? Like there's so many directions we can go. But the way that we work out what direction to go is by having a conversation. If the conversation is one-sided from the PT just going, well, it's your fault because you didn't stick to it. That is probably the one thing. I mean, there's probably a few things, but that is one thing that I would say, if that is the level of assistance that you're getting, I would be looking for other help. I would be letting that person go. I was gonna say politely letting them go. Don't even have to be that polite about it. I would be letting someone go. If someone is literally just shaming you for not sticking to something without actually talking to you about like, why can't we stick to this? What's going on here? Because you've got all those factors that I just said before, but it might even just be like, we I can put a deficit in place for someone that I don't think is that intense, but for them it just is. And then we talk to them and go, like, hey, we've put you on 1700 cows, you're really struggling to stick to that. What if we bring you up to 18 or 19 and see how we go there? That might just make it a little bit easier for you. We then might be able to get the consistency that we want, and then we can start to get the results that we want. You need to be able to have these conversations. So if you're a nutritionist, like, like I said, it would blow my mind if people with actual nutrition qualifications and education were doing this. But if you're helping people with nutrition in any way, you've got to ask yourself, like, am I conversing with this person? Or am I just telling them what to do? And then more importantly, am I shaming them when they can't do it? Again, without actually conversing with them on why they weren't able to do it. And if you're a client who's receiving coaching like that or you're experiencing something like that, that's a huge red flag, in my opinion. And it leaves the PT in this position. This is where I was initially going, I think. It leaves them in a position where you basically have put someone in such a restrictive diet that, like, A, if they do stick to it, they are getting a gnarly result. So they're like, well, hell yeah, this person put me on this plan and the results are so good, even though it's like killing you to stick to it. Or you're not sticking to it and the PT can go, well, it's not my problem, it's your problem because it's your fault. So it's just like they come off like scot-free in every situation, like, well, I'm good. Like, I gave you the plan. Now it's on you. Okay, yes, it is up to the professional to give the plan. It's then up to the professional to continue to monitor. Were we able to stick to that plan? Is that plan working? Is this the best plan for you? Do we need to tweak it at all? What how do we need to tweak it? Why do we need to tweak it? What does everything else happening in your life look like? There's so many things. And this is why in Eat Like Ruby with our ongoing clients, we do video calls because I hate not knowing the full picture. It's so hard to give someone nutrition advice and to work out like where do we go from here? If there's a lot happening for this person that we don't know about, I want to know about things. I get on calls with my girls and I promise you, I hear it all. I get on calls with people and they're like, I'm getting a divorce, I am on emotional stress leave from my job. I had a shit fight with my boss, I had a shit fight with my husband, I'm pregnant, I've gotten lately, I'm pregnant, I'm trying to get pregnant, it's not working, and that's a whole thing. Like, there's so many things people can be going through. And to simply look at someone and go, well, I gave you a plan and you didn't stick to it, and that's your fault. That is brutal. And it's just such a low level of coaching, in my opinion. If you're paying someone To do that. And this is what we see. This is so unfortunate. Where we see people just paying someone to give them like macro targets and a step target. And then basically just go, Did you hit those macros this week? If you did, awesome, clap, clap, clap. I'll share you on my Instagram story. If you didn't, well, please try again harder next week. That's not coaching. That's effed up. And there's kind of part of my brain in there that wanted to say, like, I don't want to offend all PTs. I don't want to put all PTs in this position. I'm a PT. I worked on the gym floor as a PT for a very long time. Like, I'm not against PTs. But if you're a PT who is not qualified to give out nutrition advice, you shouldn't be doing so. And if you're a client, feel free to ask people. You have a right to ask people. Are you qualified to give me this information? Are you qualified to coach me on this thing? Should I be paying you for a service? Are you qualified to carry out that service? You have a right to ask these people these things. Because PTs study fitness and strength and all of that. And that's awesome. There's such a role for that in the world. But even come back to what I said before. Like I've studied fitness as a PT and then I've studied nutrition, obviously. When you study fitness as a PT, like I did this in 2008. That's a very long time ago. And it's very much like a general, like it's good, but it's just like general fitness and a bit of everything. And then you can go off over the years and learn more about different elements of fitness and different elements of training that you want to specialize in. And that's where, like I said before, I've never gone to the extent of learning anything more about running. So I would never charge someone for a running program. I would never say, like, hey, yeah, I'll just like give you a bit of a running program. I could probably get one off ChatGPT. Like I would never do that because it's like, no, I don't know that thing. I haven't studied that thing. So I think PTs have to be honest as well. If you've got shit that you're really good at in terms of training and different styles of training and stuff, that is awesome. If you have not studied nutrition, you're not qualified to give out that advice. Even though you might understand macros and all of that, it's a shit ton more to nutrition than just macro targets. And I'm gonna talk about that. Um, I think I'm gonna make this a two-part episode because I've been going for a while and I still have some notes. So I think I'm gonna talk about that a bit more in the next episode. But like I said, there was part of me that wanted to be like, you know, I'm not here to shame the PTs. I'm not here to shame PTs if they're staying in their lane and they're doing their thing and they're doing it really well. That is awesome. Go off. I'm all for it. But if you're a PT that's working outside of your scope and you're charging people something that you shouldn't be charging them for and you're giving advice on something that you just don't know enough about, like I said, before you know about is macro targets, you do not know enough to be charging people for nutrition advice. And just important as a client, even though it can be confusing and it can be shitty because you're like, oh, well, I wanted to do it all through one person or I thought they could help me. They had a poster up in the gym that said they could help me with it. Like, I understand that that can be shitty, but it's more shitty to then find yourself in a position where you've just got someone giving you a really poor service and even worse, just finding yourself in that position, like I said, where they're just blaming and shaming you instead of helping you. And I did get a lot of DMs just from people almost saying like things they'd heard PTs saying on the gym floor, like just shitty advice they'd heard PT's telling people in terms of like, um, someone said like this chick, this client was saying she felt like she was gonna pass out and couldn't really train well. And then the PT was like, make sure you have caffeine before you come next time. Like, no questions about diet, no questions about the stress levels of this person, like what's going on in your life, like nothing at all. Someone's about to pass out in the middle of training. Oh shit, make sure you have some more caffeine next time. Like, just got so many little shitty horror stories like that. And I mean, I feel like that's not the shit I want to sit here and just rattle off for a whole episode. I think that just comes back to that bigger point we just made of just making sure that professionals are actually giving out the right advice. If you're a client making sure you're getting your right advice from people, I feel like we've covered that one pretty well. So if you sent me a lot of little things like that, they were entertaining, but they were also devastating and they're so shitty to hear. But I think they all just kind of fall into that one category. I think I'm gonna wrap this episode up here and then I'm gonna go straight into recording the next one. There was a couple of like bigger things that I wanted to touch on. I just feel like it's worthy of a whole nother episode, but it will flow straight on from this one. So I will be back with that very soon. Thank you so much.