Your Lifestyle Spending Account Is Pure Gold

If your company has a lifestyle spending account as part of its benefits package, you have just been handed an opportunity to reach healthcare providers you may not have considered using before. If you have thought about working with a nutritionist, but aren’t really sure if they're what you need, and you realize how expensive they can be, you likely have just dropped the thought and moved on.

But you are still dealing with the same aches and pains.

The same gut symptoms that have been bothering you for years.

The same afternoon, fatigue and fog have plagued your afternoon meetings.

And what about those sales dinners, work trips, and those conferences? I bet you are exhausted just reading those last three items.

But what if I told you that nutrition might be the key to improving those annoying symptoms? What if some small changes, not a lifestyle and diet overhaul, could make all the difference?

Let me give you an example:

I worked with a vice president of sales who traveled constantly, was at every conference, and was miserably exhausted. I’m talking bone tired, exhausted. I’m talking about when she would go visit a client an hour or so away; she would stop on the side of the road or at a gas station and take a 10-15-minute nap before and after the meeting. Now, if you are someone who is on the go all of the time, that may not seem bizarre to you. However, if you are someone in the healthcare industry, that is a major red flag. But her sleepiness wasn’t the only thing plaguing her.

She had gained weight that wouldn’t budge, she was chugging coffee and Diet Coke just to keep her eyes open and make it through the day, and she lost sight of the things she enjoyed. Even walking along the water wasn’t something she looked forward to anymore because she hated how she looked, and she felt terrible. Now, you may be thinking she has no time for diet and lifestyle changes- that is where you are wrong.

I specialize in working with this exact kind of client. High-performing, no time to kill, and 10 seconds away from falling asleep during important meetings. So how do I support this kind of client? I start small. The first thing we did was strategize her caffeine intake so that she could go to sleep at a decent hour. We set non-negotiable “turn it all off” times so she was actually getting sleep at night instead of trying to catch up during the day. We added one new fruit or vegetable a week. Throw kale or spinach in a smoothie. Toss some carrots in a salad. And the truth is, she couldn’t handle the mental gymnastics of adding one fruit or vegetable. I pivoted, and we did a meal delivery service plan for her so she didn’t have to think about meals at all. She and I chose the meals together and made sure they met her needs; they were delivered weekly, and she got to eat in peace. She didn’t need one more thing on her plate. That is the beauty of nutrition, you can’t hack making your meals? No problem, we can still make the changes happen for you.

I didn’t add any exercise to her day initially. I encouraged her instead to revisit hobbies she enjoyed but had been putting off. It turns out she loved renovating her home and had all the materials to tackle a room, but no energy to do it. The goal was to spend 30 minutes renovating each week. Once she got started on that, she couldn’t get enough and ended up spending hours. She loved it. That was her exercise, but she didn’t know it. Then we discussed adding walks after her dinner to help her fall asleep.

After 4 months of small changes, what happened? She lost 30 lbs, was sleeping through the night, no longer taking nap breaks on the side of the road, and had energy for all of her sales meetings, travel, and conferences. But, best of all, her mental health changed. Her brain fog was gone, and she was spending time doing things she enjoyed during the week and weekends. The biggest reframing I gave her was to stop listening to the voice that told her she couldn’t and that she isn’t that type of girl,, and to say, "I can." Changing her mindset from I’m a Diet Coke girl to I’m a girl who enjoys carrots was pretty unsettling for her. But it changed her mindset about herself and what she is capable of.

That is what working with a nutritionist is like- food, lifestyle, sleep, repeat. AND, if you didn’t pick up on the timeline, it only took 4 months. That is minimal time with huge benefits! Now imagine getting all of that and paying for it with a lifestyle spending account, HSA, or FSA. It’s like your company is paying you to take care of your health. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that!