I know this sound strange for a fitness facility, right?
EVEN THOUGH ….. almost everyone tells us they need nutritional advice when they first start!
Prepare to be shocked: PEOPLE DONT NEED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FOOD.
What they do need is to start following some simple, sustainable, small, daily, manageable steps that with repetition, turn into daily, monthly, yearly, lifelong habits.
Here’s an example of a “chat about nutrition”.
Person: “I need nutritional help, my food is a mess. I just keep putting on weight. This needs to stop!”
Trainer: “What’s happening?”
Person: “During the day, I get these cravings and start scouring the cupboards for sweet stuff. Same thing happens in the evening after dinner.”
Trainer: “Why do you think this is happening?”
Person: “I’m not sure, it just happens. I must be hungry”.
Trainer: “Do you feel you’re hungry, for example, just after dinner? Are you eating enough?”
Person: “Yes, I have a decent meal, quality food. I dunno why, I guess it might be just boredom!”
Trainer: “Do you think this could be happening during the day too?”
Person: “Now you mention it, after sitting at a desk, staring at a screen for several hours, I do get restless!”.
Trainer: “Do you think you’ve identified what might be happening?”
Person: “Sounds like it, doesn’t it?”
Trainer: “What do you think you could do to prevent this from happening?”
Person: “I could go for a short walk, I work from home and manage my own diary.”
Trainer: “That’s brilliant, shall we try that?”
Person: “Sounds good”.
Trainer: “How long do you think we could try this for? What’s a good time period in your mind?”
Person: “Let’s try a week, I think I could do that.”
Trainer: “Great, let’s touch base again next week and see how it went.”
A very concise version of a typical discussion that will occur about food. Please notice a few things …..
RARELY!!!!! Is the conversation EVER about food. It’s about habits leading to the consumption of food, triggered by boredom, stress, anxiety, fear, feeling out of control, helplessness, all deep emotions.
It’s NEVER about the food. People know what they should be eating.
– They KNOW protein helps with weight management
– They KNOW vegetables are a pretty good idea
– They KNOW water fills them up
– They KNOW getting sleep is good for us
– They KNOW too much screen time affects mental health
Notice too, how the person had all the answers they needed. They simply required someone to hold up a mirror to them and relay back, what they identified themselves. **They’re beginning to take back control, themselves! Not being hand held**
People don’t need MORE information. We are surrounded by information. Too much.
They need a hand to recognise what is causing their habits that are affecting them. We prefer to tackle habits and emotions than simply – handing out meal plans.
We prefer to firstly. get people consistent with training for at least a month. When they’re feeling better, their mind begins to naturally veer towards eating better (accessing the info they already know). They begin small habits, clean up the quality of their food, become more active, going for walks. Simple isn’t it? 🙂
Hope this offers an interesting insight into what we feel true help is!
Kevin.
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