Nutrition Focus Readiness Questionnaire:
Are you ready for this?

The purpose of these questions is to help you determine if focusing on this area of your health is right for the next 90 days. One of the hardest questions to answer is “where do I start?”

When it comes to getting healthier, there is so much to consider which makes it easy to become overwhelmed. This series of questions will help you decide if nutrition is the right focus for your current season of life. We’ll use a “red light, green light!” method to determine yes or no.  Lots of “green lights” means go for it! Lots of “red lights” means you might want to consider focusing on exercise or stress reduction. If you get a mix of both, you can choose! Pay attention to any feelings of overwhelm and indecisiveness; this can be an indication that you may not feel confident enough yet to tackle changing your habits.

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You can always take another questionnaire to see if it scores more green lights. If it does, start with that focus and plan to revisit this later.

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How to score: 

1 or 2 “Green Lights” = not a recommended focus to start with.

3 “Green Lights” = this is a possible focus to start with. 

4 or 5 “Green Lights” = this is a great focus to start with.

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You can always take another quiz to see if it scores more green lights. If another quiz scores more, start with that one and place this season as the “runner up” focus (the next one you’ll tackle!)

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QUESTION 1: What will this require of me?

A healthy kitchen. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say “I hate my kitchen” or “I don’t have enough room in my kitchen.” Feeling this way is a major motivation and success buzzkill. If you want to improve your health and nutrition, you have to do the best you can with what you already have. What's more important to you, discontentment with your kitchen or health? If you’re willing to do a little “spring cleaning” and reorganizing, then you’re ready for this. 

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• Green light (I can handle this) 

Learning about food. As a society, we are so confused. Mostly because we have been sent mixed messages about what is healthy and what is not and we don’t know what to believe. Our bodies are unique to us so we have to be willing to learn through trial and error, document the process and educate ourselves on what adequate nutrition feels like for our bodies. That will look like learning how to read nutrition labels, about macronutrients, and how our bodies use calories for our daily activities. Are you willing to find resources such as YouTube videos, books or even hiring a nutritionist, coach or dietician to help you learn this information effectively? 

• Red light

• Green light

Grocery Shopping. It’s a non-negotiable. This one task will make or break your success. If you miss shopping day, the whole week can go awry because you’ll be left fending for yourself in convenience stores and drive-thrus. If shopping creates anxiety for you, you’ll need to plan a specific day of the week to go when the stores are less busy (think early or mid-morning or early afternoon while most people are at work.)

• Red light

• Green light

Time to meal prep. “Meal prep” is portioning out healthy meals and snacks in advance so that you have them to grab-and-go. It makes eating healthy a breeze but it requires a time commitment. You will need to be able to commit some time daily, twice a week, or weekly according to what fits well in your schedule. This can take anywhere from 10 minutes to up to 2 or more hours depending on how experienced you are and how many meals you choose to prep at one time. If you feel you don’t have the time to commit to this but you can financially commit to hiring a meal prep service that offers pre-portioned healthy meals then you can still give yourself a “green light.”

• Red light

• Green light

Time to cook. Let’s cut to the chase; not everyone likes to cook and not everyone CAN cook. It is still our responsibility to eat well and we cannot rely on restaurants and drive-thrus to provide our bodies with adequate nutrition. Can you commit to setting aside time to learning a few new recipes and putting meals together? If yes, then we’ll get into the details of what this looks like and ways to save time in the kitchen. 

• Red light

• Green light

QUESTION 2: How realistic is this time commitment in my life right now?

• Red light

• Green light

QUESTION 3: On a scale of 1-4 (1 being most important, 4 being least important), how important is achieving success in this area of life to me?

• 1-2: Red light

• 3-4: Green light

QUESTION 4: Am I ready to dedicate 12 weeks to this being my new focus?

Look ahead in your schedule; are there vacations coming up? Big work deadlines that require more of your time? A new baby here or coming? Are you getting ready to move or start a new job? If the answer to any of these questions (or other circumstances) is “yes” then you may need to start with exercise or stress management. If you can say that your calendar looks good then you can give a “yes” to committing the time required for this season focus.

• Red light

• Green light

Can I financially afford to invest in the help and support I’ll need to accomplish this well?

I am betting that this is not the first time you’ve tried to eat better. I'm sure you've invested in meal prep containers, packaged diet foods, and better groceries only to find yourself unsuccessful and feeling like it was a waste. In an effort to keep this cost-effective, what have you learned from previous experiences that might save you money this time around? There are a ton of free resources such as Pinterest for recipes and meal plans as well as YouTube for cooking tutorials and inspiration. There will be different approaches and resources you’ll try over the course of 12 weeks to find what works best for you. The question is, are you willing to commit to the one that fits your budget right now, even if it’s not the one you want most (like someone to cook for you)?

• Red light

• Green light

So, is this the right time in your life for you to focus on nutrition? If yes, then check out my nutrition coaching services. If “no”, then take the exercise questionnaire to see if that's a better fit.