Kristia Roco weighs in on nutrition coaching
As a serial dieter who chases instant results, I have long equated losing weight to deprivation. Name the fad diet and I have most likely tried it. At least half the time, I gain all the weight back so quickly. That is why Kristia Roco’s line of work piqued my interest the moment I chanced upon her faint yellow-themed Instagram feed.
The postpartum, functional nutrition, and metabolism science specialist describes what she does with a simple line in her profile – “I help women achieve and maintain their dream bodies without giving up the joy of eating.” After seeing those magic words, I soon found out she’s a nutrition coach.
“Nutrition coaching is for the general population with fat loss and physique goals,” introduced Kristia. “I help them by giving them macros or macronutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, and fats to hit, as well as lifestyle factors to consider to achieve their targets.” She added that in tandem with a Functional Medicine doctor, her specialization in Functional Nutrition and Metabolism Science equipped her to support clients who have hormonal issues.
“I do not provide meal plans and do not treat a particular condition,” Kristia clarified when asked to explain how different her work is from that of a nutritionist or dietitian. “Instead, I give them the education behind meal plans and help them with general lifestyle toggles like sleep, workouts, movement, and self-care that play a big role in their transformation,” she added.
Kristia is also a certified personal fitness trainer so she includes workout programming for her clients. She said, “I tie nutrition, movement, recovery as a nutrition coach and I attack their goals in the most holistic sense.” Kristia offers three services to make this happen – one-on-one coaching, macros movement group coaching, and postpartum body group coaching targeted to moms six weeks to 15 months postpartum.
Armed with her Psychology degree from Ateneo de Manila University, Kristia is now able to pursue a profession that fuses her interests in teaching, putting theories into application, researching, and presenting solutions to problems. She used to handle her own food business and ventured into corporate sales before joining the family business after getting married. She discovered nutrition coaching after giving birth to her second child.
“I got into it because I struggled with finding a sustainable approach to my weight loss goals,” Kristia talked about how macro counting became her gamechanger. She recalled also having tried numerous diets in the past only to struggle with keeping the weight off later on.
“In the middle of 2020, right smack at the start of the pandemic, I invested my savings for my education as a nutrition coach for women,” Kristia disclosed. ”Because I am a woman and a mom, myself, I choose to work with my tribe.” She acknowledges the complexities of a woman’s body and believes that more women need to get better education to reach and sustain their goals.
Kristia’s own experience with a nutrition coach inspired her so much that she eventually earned her international certifications from ISSA or International Sports Sciences Association, Nutritional Coaching Institute, Girl Gone Strong Academy (pre-and post-natal coaching), and Functional Nutrition and Metabolism School. Currently, she’s taking her Menno Henselmans Personal Training course.
With a growing list of satisfied clients in just one year and three months of practice, it does seem like Kristia has found her purpose. “I love that I get to change lives,” she said.
With all the stress eating and pandemic weight gain experienced by a lot of women these days, Kristia narrowed down the keys to weight loss. “There are essentially three important things – nutrition, movement, and recovery,” she said.
Additionally, Kristia shared valuable tips on addressing the urge to binge on food these days. She makes sure she drinks at least three liters of water, eats balanced meals, and injects self-care activities throughout the day like napping, journaling, listening to self-growth and encouraging podcasts, walking, having social media breaks, and spending time with her kids.
With her positive approach and effective strategy, Coach Kristia makes losing weight worth the wait.
Happy International Women’s Month! Get more tips on nutrition and fitness by following @nutritionbykristia on Instagram. For your random thoughts, e-mail the author at kate.adajar@gmail.com.