Nutrition and wellness coach Dallas Heath has a lot of insight on how health affects productivity.
Self-care (including nutrition and fitness) and productivity
Nutrition and wellness coach Dallas Heath works as a Lead Coach for MetPro, a concierge health coaching program. Dallas lives in California, where she enjoys lifting at the gym, walking in nature, practicing a variety of martial arts, taking dance classes, and shooting at the archery range. She also devotes time to nutrition advocacy in a variety of ways, including volunteering at a local nonprofit that focuses on improving food insecurity in impoverished areas.
Dallas has been interested in nutrition and fitness from a young age. She entered the fitness industry at age 17 and got involved in competitive body-building. By 19, she was managing her own gym. After that, she moved on to managing supplement shops, took some time to travel, and coached some people along the way helping to improve their lives.
She went on to get her bachelor’s degree in nutrition management and focused a lot on child development during that time. She wanted to help people create great habits from the beginning rather than having to undo the bad habits accumulated over the years. Her interest in child development led her into doing policy and advocacy work so underserved children could get proper nutrition through school lunches and, ultimately, the same opportunities as more privileged kids.
A typical day
Dallas wakes up between 6 and 6:30 am. She spends a few minutes stretching and getting her body moving. Then she checks in with herself to process the dreams she had the night before and her present emotions and getting into a mindset of intention.
She then gets back into reality, gets her hair and make-up done, gets dressed, grabs her lunch out of the fridge and heads out the door. On her way to work stops by her go-to coffee shop. Right after she orders her coffee, she writes in her gratitude journal. It’s important for her to be in a good place when she’s talking to her clients, so she gets herself into a positive mindset by listing and pondering a few things she’s grateful for before she starts her workday.
As soon as she gets into work, she has a team meeting. She finds that eating breakfast at work takes some of the pressure off her, so she throws together a quick and simple meal, and jumps into work.
Her first priority is responding to client messages and “putting out fires.” Then she tends to her clients. It’s hard to say exactly how much time she will spend with each client because they each have different needs. Some days, the day gets away from her, and other days she’s ahead of the game. She has learned to roll with it.
She has an hour lunch break, so she uses that time to either work out or go for a walk or drive. After her break, she returns to work and tends to her clients again or goes through her to-do list.
At the end of the workday, she shuts down her work, because she believes it is very important to have a disconnect from work and personal life. She has a lot of things she likes to do after work. On Mondays, she goes to Taichi and Jiujitsu. On Tuesdays, she does archery. On Wednesdays, she takes violin lessons. On Thursdays, she’s at the gym. On Fridays, she takes dance classes. She likes to schedule these on her calendar, but she doesn’t like to turn them into obligations.
By 8 or 9 in the evening, she’s back home. She listens to audiobooks or sometimes journals for a bit and winds down for the night. Then she goes to bed.
I had the pleasure of working with Dallas as my health coach through MetPro for a few weeks. I really appreciated her help in getting a better handle on my own nutritional needs.
The results of my experience with MetPro and Dallas surprised me because I had so much energy! I appreciated Dallas’ help because it made such a huge difference for me. I found pretty quickly that taking better care of myself with respect to my nutrition was helping me make a meaningfully productive life because I just felt better physically, but also because I was able to get more of the things done that I needed to do.
Tools Dallas recommends
Dallas uses Calendly to schedule appointment times with her clients.
To keep her nutrition and health on-point, she uses the MetPro app to create and track her meals, her workouts, to get reminded when to eat.
She also uses an app called Plant Nanny to remind her to drink water.
She wears a Fitbit that reminds her to get up and walk and tracks her sleep.
Journaling is another important tool for her to keep her mind clear and focused.
She also uses a Law of Attraction planner that keeps her in check with her goals monthly, weekly, and daily.
Biggest Productivity Challenges
Dallas’ biggest challenge right now is managing her time well with each of her clients. She’s there for them, she provides information and encouragement for them, and she guides them on what to focus on that week, but her challenge is that she wants to give them so much all the time. She recognizes that she needs to be realistic about how much she can give at each point. She really connects with her clients and wants to be there for them, so she has to remind herself to not get carried away or to carry on too long.
Dallas recognizes that she cannot force someone to change, so all she can be for them is to be their humble guide and support. Remembering that place is key for her from getting overcome by her clients’ journeys.
What happens on a day when everything gets away from you?
Dallas says it is important to talk it out with people it’s safe to talk with. If she doesn’t have that opportunity, she writes it out. That’s why she can’t emphasize enough how important journals can be. So when she’s overwhelmed, she goes to her list and determines her most important priorities. She really has to take a step back and think about what has to be done today and what can wait. In her mind, if you are on “g0!go!go!” mode rather than taking the time to think about what needs to be done first, it actually leads to a longer day.
What’s on the horizon for Dallas?
Dallas will continue to push forward with helping her clients and developing to become a better coach. On a personal level, she will continue with her hobbies, get her body into a better place physically, and plan a trip to Greece.
Last thoughts on making a life that matters
Take care of yourself. Take the time to fill up your cup. You can’t give to others from an empty cup. Fill yourself up so that you overflow in love and abundance. That will provide so much more for everyone you touch in life, and lead you through a higher quality of life when it is full of happiness and prosperity. It is easy to give and give and give and forget to give to yourself. We tend to feel that’s selfish and not honorable, but taking care of yourself means you’ll have more to give to others. You need to take care of you. Nobody else out there is going to do that. Nobody else can. Only you know how to take care of you. So fill that cup up, ladies. Make sure you’re taking time out of your day to take care of you.
What do you think?
Do you have any questions for me or Dallas? Please share them in the comments section of this post at the bottom, or send me an email.
Connect with Dallas
More about Dallas
Dallas comes to MetPro as a Lead Coach with over 10 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. With a strong background in Nutrition & Food Science, Dallas has helped people achieve their health goals, from teaching the importance of nutrition and exercise to coaching competitive bodybuilders.
As a Lead Coach at MetPro, Dallas is dedicated to helping people understand their unique metabolism. Using a process called “Metabolic Profiling”, Dallas and her colleagues at MetPro are able to analyze their clientele’s metabolism and provided them with an individualized approach to obtaining their health goals.
In her free time, Dallas enjoys lifting weights at the gym, walking in nature, practicing a variety of martial arts, taking dance classes, and shooting at the archery range. She grew up on a farm, so she also loves going home and helping out with the animals whenever she’s needed. She doesn’t have any children yet but uses this free time while she still has it to travel as frequently as possible.
Other interests include Nutrition Advocacy work; bringing people together and educating them on how we can help create a healthier future for our kids and speaking with State Representative on this matter. Whenever possible, she also volunteers at a local nonprofit that focuses on improving food insecurity in impoverished areas.
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