Every morning you wake up and deal with different relationships. I wake up and say good morning to my husband, cuddle with my dog, call my mom, check countless emails, and work with members… And this is all before 8:00AM. In your pursuit to enjoy life, you need to create a variety of healthy relationships. Open, honest, well-balanced relationships.
When a relationship stops being open and honest, it often times damages existing ones. It’s a chain reaction. They’re fragile, and when broken, can take a long time to repair. It’s important to remember this when dealing with nutrition, and the rocky relationship that most people have with it. It needs to be slowly transformed.
Teaching your clients to create a healthy relationship with food is one of the most important jobs as a coach, and can also be one of the most challenging. Anyone can give out a Paleo cookbook with every rule and pantry list known to man. Anyone can say cut carbs, and raise protein. But, can anyone get their members to understand the why behind what they are doing? Do they understand the reward outside of the six-pack or are they still chasing record low body fat percentage?
It’s our job to show the importance of high-energy levels, peaceful nights sleep, and beautiful skin. It’s our job to share in the pure joy felt when once tight jeans now button with ease. Breaking years of bad nutrition habits is a huge challenge, and we need to remember that. Everybody wants what they can’t have. Setting them up for success is more important than immediate results. In my experience, immediate results are often temporary. I would much rather long-term success for my members, and long-term success doesn’t happen without habit change.
I lost 60 pounds before getting into the fitness industry. Truth is, it’s what made me want in. I remember what it felt like, thinking you’re alone, feeling helpless, and unsure if I would ever be satisfied with my body. I get it, and it sucks. Now I get to be on the other side. I have the opportunity to take what I learned throughout my journey, and share it with others. It’s our job to instill motivation outside of the workouts, and to impact the decisions made by our members the other 166 hours in the week.
It takes a great coach to understand that you are trying to repair years of damage. It takes a great coach to be empathetic and real. So next time you look at a food journal be real. Be open. Be honest. Put yourself in their shoes. When they know you care, and they know you’re proud of their progress, they will want to continue to better the most important relationship of all... The one with themselves.
- Jordan McConaha