Let’s be honest, your clients struggle to stick to diets and coaching clients to stick to a diet plan can often feel like pushing a boulder uphill. Despite your best efforts, some clients seem to struggle endlessly, falling off the wagon time and time again. If you’ve felt frustrated or unsure about how to help them succeed, you’re not alone. Here’s the good news: it’s not just about willpower, and there are proven strategies that can turn things around.
I’ve coached hundreds of clients, and I’ve seen every kind of roadblock. The common denominator? It’s rarely the meal plan that’s the issue. It’s the behaviours, habits, and mindset behind the plan. Let’s dive into why your clients struggle to stick to diets and, most importantly, how you can help them make lasting changes.
Why Your Clients Struggle to Stick to Diets
1. All-or-Nothing Thinking
Many clients come to us with a perfectionist mindset. They believe that if they don’t follow the plan to the letter, they’ve failed. One missed meal or indulgent snack, and suddenly the entire diet is “ruined.” Sound familiar?
You may have a client come to you saying they started strong, but after one indulgent moment (like having cake at a birthday party, or one alcoholic drink) they spiralled into eating crap food and poor food choices. If this happens on a Thursday? Well, “I will start again on Monday”.
This spiral is incredibly common and a single lapse can trigger an avalanche of poor decisions in many clients.
To make things worse, all-or-nothing thinking often leads clients to focus on what they can’t have rather than what they can enjoy. This mindset amplifies feelings of deprivation, making it harder for them to stay committed in the long run.
2. Overly Ambitious Goals
Another major issue is setting goals that are unrealistic from the start. For instance, a client who has never cooked at home might aim to prepare three meals a day, seven days a week. Or someone who drinks soda daily decides to cut out sugar completely overnight. These drastic changes rarely stick because they don’t account for the client’s current lifestyle or habits.
You might encounter a client who’s excited to dive into meal prepping but quickly becomes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work involved. By the end of the first week, they’re back to eating takeout every night.
Breaking these ambitious goals into smaller, manageable steps can make a world of difference and help clients stay consistent. This is one of the core skills we teach in our coaching courses.
3. Lack of Emotional Awareness
Emotional eating is a big player in diet struggles. Clients often turn to food to cope with stress, boredom, or even celebration. If these emotional triggers aren’t addressed, no meal plan will stand a chance.
You might see a pattern where a client frequently snacks on junk food after stressful workdays. By helping them identify stress and fatigue as triggers, you can guide them toward healthier coping mechanisms, like taking short walks or practising mindfulness techniques.
4. Overemphasis on Restriction
Diets that focus on restriction (cutting out favourite foods, eating too little, or labelling foods as “good” or “bad”) can often lead to rebellion. Clients feel deprived, and that deprivation often leads to binge eating.
You may have clients who feel they need to cut out every food they love to “be healthy.” When they eventually indulge, they feel ashamed, guilty and believe they’ve failed. Teaching clients how to incorporate their favourite treats into their plan in moderation can break this cycle and foster a healthier relationship with food.
5. Lack of Support Systems
When clients feel like they’re tackling their goals alone, it’s easy to give up. Friends, family, or coworkers who don’t support their efforts can further derail progress.
For instance, you may have a client whose partner frequently brings home high-calorie takeout or sugary snacks. This can make it incredibly hard to actually stick to healthy habits.
Helping them find compromises such as enjoying a smaller portion or pairing indulgent meals with healthier sides, can go a long way in maintaining balance and progress.
How You Can Help Clients Succeed
As coaches, our job is to meet clients where they are, not where we think they should be. Here’s how you can help them overcome these common obstacles:
1. Teach Progress Over Perfection
Help your clients shift from an all-or-nothing mindset to one that embraces progress. Reinforce the idea that small wins add up and that a slip-up doesn’t negate all their progress.
For instance, if a client eats a doughnut for breakfast, encourage them to focus on making a healthy choice at lunch rather than dwelling on the doughnut. Celebrate the healthy choice rather than penalising the misstep. Explaining that the journey to health and fitness is a long one, and that there are going to be bumps along the way can also be helpful.
2. Focus on Habit Formation
Instead of sweeping, overnight changes, guide clients toward building sustainable habits. This approach takes longer but has a far greater chance of lasting success.
For instance, a client who drinks several sodas a day might start by replacing just one soda with sparkling water. Over time, they can continue to reduce their soda intake. Small, gradual changes are far less intimidating and easier to maintain. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good.
Habits can also be “stacked” with existing routines. For example, if a client already drinks coffee every morning, encourage them to pair that habit with a new one, like drinking a glass of water right before they drink their coffee. These small, incremental changes can snowball into much bigger habits over time.
3. Set SMART Goals
SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) help ground your clients’ ambitions in reality. Instead of “I want to lose weight,” help them define goals like, “I’ll walk for 30 minutes, three times a week, for the next month.”
When goals are tangible and realistic, clients feel a sense of accomplishment and are more likely to stick with them. Celebrate these milestones with your clients. Success breeds confidence, and confidence leads to consistency.
4. Address Emotional Triggers
Teach clients to identify and cope with emotional triggers without turning to food. This could involve journaling, practising mindfulness, or using non-food rewards like taking a relaxing bath, reading a favourite book, or spending a few minutes meditating.
You may encounter clients who turn to comfort foods like ice cream after a stressful day or snacks while watching TV to decompress. Helping them replace these habits with alternatives (such as a walk, a soothing cup of tea, a creative activity or other hobbies) can build healthier coping mechanisms over time. These alternatives don’t just serve as substitutes but can also introduce new positive associations with relaxation or stress relief.
Additionally, encourage clients to reflect on their emotions before reaching for food. Asking simple questions like, “Am I truly hungry, or is something else going on?” can foster awareness and pause impulsive behaviour. For more deeply rooted emotional challenges, suggest exploring therapy or joining support groups where they can develop greater emotional resilience and learn constructive coping strategies. Emotional resilience is a cornerstone of long-term dietary success.
5. Create Flexibility, Not Restriction
Instead of framing diets as restrictive, encourage a more flexible approach. Use the 80/20 rule: aim for 80% nutritious, whole foods and 20% indulgences. This allows clients to enjoy life while staying on track.
You can explain to clients that enjoying treats in moderation is not only acceptable but a vital part of long-term success. Reducing guilt and reframing dieting as a flexible, enjoyable process can significantly improve adherence.
6. Build a Support Network
Help clients involve friends, family, or even coworkers in their journey. Encourage them to find a workout buddy, join an online community, or share their goals with a trusted friend. As a coach, be their biggest cheerleader, and consistently remind them of their progress and potential.
For clients who lack immediate support, online communities or coaching groups can fill the gap. Having others to share their journey with can provide much-needed encouragement and accountability.
Final Thoughts On Why Your Clients Struggle to Stick to Diets and How You Can Help Them
Helping clients stick to diets isn’t about handing them the perfect meal plan. It’s about empowering them to change their behaviours, build sustainable habits, and develop a mindset for success. Remember: small, consistent actions really do win the race.
Every client is unique, and the key to lasting change is personalising your approach. Use these strategies to guide your clients toward not just sticking to a diet, but thriving in a healthier, happier lifestyle. After all, their success is your success too.
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Finally, if you want to learn how to coach nutrition, then consider our Nutrition Coach Certification course, and if you want to learn to get better at exercise program design, then consider our course on exercise program design. We do have other courses available too. If you don’t understand something, or you just need clarification, you can always reach out to us on Instagram or via email.
Paddy Farrell
Hey, I'm Paddy!
I am a coach who loves to help people master their health and fitness. I am a personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and I have a degree in Biochemistry and Biomolecular Science. I have been coaching people for over 10 years now.
When I grew up, you couldn't find great health and fitness information, and you still can't really. So my content aims to solve that!
I enjoy training in the gym, doing martial arts and hiking in the mountains (around Europe, mainly). I am also an avid reader of history, politics and science. When I am not in the mountains, exercising or reading, you will likely find me in a museum.