Until we know why our clients want the weight loss, we are not going to be able to empower them to reach their goals. Sure we can go commando style and bark orders at them, make them sweat, make them hurt, and possibly even make them hungry enough a couple of times a day so that in the short term they achieve a weight loss result, represented to them by the numbers on the scales. But is it sustainable??
Well, since gaining over 25kg during my first pregnancy, now over 6 years ago, I have not stepped on the scales. Reassuring myself that I was heavier than I thought I should be did nothing to stop my desire to eat cake - yes, I had a weakness for cake. What it actually did was give me a reason to be angry with myself, which then created more reasons to be angry with myself as I punished myself by eating more bad food!!!
Lucky for me I'm a fitness trainer with a long strong history of eating well, and when I understood that the cravings and weight gain during pregnancy were my body's response to my growing baby's needs and my pre-natal lack of excess body fat to meet those needs, it started to make more sense. Now, 2 children later and 4 years since my last delivery my body has almost returned to its pre-natal fitness level and with it my body shape is returning to what I would consider normal. And it's been through a simple process of returning to what I know my body needs to give me the fuel and energy to achieve what I want to achieve, both on a daily basis and in the long term.
Everyone has a different why. As trainers, to be able to give our clients the tools to succeed we need to uncover the why that is truly personal. Mine is to be the best mum that I can be ... which being a mother of boys means playing soccer, climbing everything, running lots and being generally energetic for most of the hours of the day. Poorly fuelled I will fail. So I choose real energy fuel - the stuff that nature has given us. Consequence ... lots of energy and a healthy body shape!
Find out your client's WHY.
What is the personal consequence of achieving their goal? And more importantly, what is the consequence of not achieving? Amazing pictures emerge of young people that see a short future as a result of their genetics as they look ahead to becoming their parents; the fear of the heredity of heart disease and the implications of that for life in the long term; older people that see the time clock running out; fear of cancer; diabetes; depression and a myriad of other reasons that in many cases are unpredictable and often unexpected. And there are also active living motivations - the desire to walk the Kokoda trail, climb Macapichu or dive Galapogas.
As my mate OD says, "You need to find the WHY to find the WAY". How true is that? By finding the why you can help your client uncover their own vivid pictures of their present and future life that relates to the overall experience they enjoy, rather than the number on the scale or the size of the jeans they will wear.
When the client understands their own why, it is even more powerful as they take ownership of their body and responsibility for its operation (fuel, service, operation, recovery) and in so doing take an active interest in learning how to do the best for themselves.
As a trainer my job is to empower my clients to success. Without the true why, the way will remain unclear.
Start with yourself. What is your WHY to be fit?
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