Consulting Client Tip #4: Pace the Client

These answers were taken from a student assignment. This student is working with a client and helping her with some lifestyle changes that will improve her health. I added the following suggestions after her suggestions. The student suggestions are in regular font. Mine are in bold italics:


8-10 glasses of water a day (promotes flushing out toxins, body 80% water, helps with snacking and can help avoid the junkaholic time).

6-8 should be fine. Tell her to monitor. Drink the 8. If she feels ill drinking more then the 8 was enough. Recent studies are showing that too much water can hurt people’s ability to digest or absorb certain foods. If she is thin she may not need the 10 glasses.

Eat 5-10 servings of vegetables a day

However, be sure to tell her that even 3 or 4 is great. Sometimes if we set the bar too high for a client they will become discouraged very quickly. You might want to start her on a less intense program first and then lead her into something more intense. The advantage of this is that you can also monitor her response to your “first level” of suggestions and modify the final program even more to suit her needs.