I met Taylor years ago when we worked together at a local manufacturing company in their corporate wellness department and we hit it off right away. In all honesty, our whole team of four ladies at that time was just plain awesome. We got along well, worked well together, and all had great strengths that balanced each other out. Taylor was our department’s first RD and that was huge for us — and our clients. Fast forward to 2023 and Taylor and I still stay in touch despite moves (out of the state for her), job changes (both of us), marriages (both of us), babies (me), and puppies (her). Taylor started her online nutrition coaching business Taylor’d Nutrition and loves working with individuals who are ready to change how they eat and think about nutrition.
I reached out to Tay because I value her knowledge and expertise and I think you would love to hear what she has to say. So here we go!
Tell my readers a little about you!
Hey there! I’m Taylor, a dietitian and enthusiast for all things health and wellness. I currently live in Texas with my husband, pup, and two kitties. We love getting outside for a walk, traveling new places, cooking, and most recently we’ve taken up playing pickleball!
My love for health started in college when I worked as a group fitness instructor. I quickly learned that fitness and nutrition went hand in hand, which led me to seek my bachelor’s degree in nutrition and eventually master’s degree in health promotion.
Tell us about what you do as a dietitian and how/why you started Taylor’d Nutrition.
I have a virtual private practice called Taylor’d Nutrition. I work with clients on an on-going basis to help them build sustainable healthy habits while providing accountability, feedback, and resource for their health journey.
I started my practice in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. My full-time position at the time had us working from home, which allowed me time to get more active sharing health tips and information on social media. The more I shared, the more interest I had from my audience about working together. From there, things organically grew as I took on more clients. I also worked with business coaches to help me get a better handle on the business side of things, which allowed me to create helpful systems to support my clients.
Who do you tend to work with?
I work with a wide variety of clients, but most are women who are simply working toward building a healthy lifestyle, learning about nutrition, or healing their minds and bodies from diet-culture.
What are some of the most common questions and/or issues you hear and see?
The more I have worked with clients, the more I realize most people are struggling with the same things. The most common is trying to sift through all the nutrition and health BS that is out there! People often come to me having been on multiple diets and truly aren’t sure what nutrition advice they should be following.
Some other common themes/issues I see in my practice are low energy, digestive issues like bloating, and fear of eating “bad” food.
What are a few of the tried-and-true tips or tricks you share with clients?
There are two pieces of advice I share with almost every single client:
- If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. This refers to any diet or nutrition advice they may come across on the internet, from a colleague, on TikTok, etc. There is so much diet advice out there that promises unrealistic results in a short amount of time, or suggests an expensive product is the only way to reach your goals. So, I always tell my clients as a rule of thumb that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is! The only way to truly work toward your health goals is by building healthy, sustainable habits.
- Don’t be afraid of convenience food to support your health journey. While eating whole foods is important, it’s also not realistic to cook meals from scratch daily or never go out to eat – especially since so many of us are full-time employees, parents, and beyond. Some of my favorite “convenience” foods I recommend are salad kids, frozen chicken breasts strips, pre-cooked rice and other grains, protein bars and drinks, pre-chopped veggies, packaged nuts, and more!
What are your favorite self-care habits and/or splurges?
This might not feel like self-care to most people, but one of my favorite self-care habits I have is prepping breakfast for my week. I don’t prep all my meals, but at least prepping breakfast helps me ensure I have a solid meal in the morning to start my day our right with minimal effort.
As for splurges, I’m a girlie girl so I always love getting pampered either by getting my nails done, having a massage, and playing with my hair and makeup.
What’s one (or two) products you swear by? (For anything! Fitness, nutrition, skincare, clothing…)
I swear by Old Navy activewear! It’s so affordable but also great quality and there are so many cute pieces. I love some of my Old Navy active pieces more than some of my higher end active clothing brands.
My favorite nutrition product is the chocolate evolve plant-based protein shakes. I don’t always love that “protein taste” most shakes have. The Evolve ones have such a good flavor and nutrient profile with both protein and carbs.
What are you reading or listening to right now?
My guilty pleasures are rom-com novels and true crime podcasts!
I recently finished the book Mrs. Nash’s Ashes. It was such a fun summer read!
My favorite True Crime podcast is “Morbid,” which I typically listen to while walking my pup in the mornings.
Who do you love to follow on social media?
To be honest, I don’t really follow that many nutrition or dietitian accounts on social! I find that it gets me in my head about comparing myself to others. Instead I follow more fun, fashion, and fitness accounts.
I love the accounts @goodnews_movement and @movementwithJulie on IG.
Okay… You have a day off… Completely to yourself… What do you do!?
I would sleep in (which for me is like 7am, haha) and then go for a nice long walk outside. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day so I would hit up my favorite breakfast spot for some chicken and waffles and coffee. Then I would probably head to the beach or pool with my kindle to enjoy the sunshine for the day. After soaking up the sun, I’d head home and make a nice big salad to cool off and probably curl up on the coach to watch some Netflix.
