Behavior
What I’m about to share with you is not only very important, but also took me many years to figure out. First, let’s begin with a little example on the typical coaching experience:
Susan Smith (for example) goes out and hires a coach. This particular coach happens to be a personal trainer and a very good one at that. This personal trainer actually has a certificate from the NSCA or similar organization; he has a decent understanding of the way the body works and basic nutrition principle’s. He’s also a student of the field and has some “under the bar” real life experience. He’s in the top 10% of trainers in the country! Overall Susan Smith is in good hands and smart to have hired a well qualified personal trainer.
Susan Smith is absolutely fed up with being overweight. She’s tired of feeling bad about herself and she wants something better. If it requires some sacrifice, hard work, and dedication so be it! So Susan Smith begins her journey for weight loss. She loses 5 lbs then 10 lbs, then 20 lbs. It’s quite simple; calories in vs. calories out. Before this Susan Smith worked 10 hours a day and had NO physical activity. She ate 2-3 large meals a day consisting of prepackaged junk, or fast food and only slept 6 hours per night. Now she’s feeling great! She’s lost 4-5 clothing sizes, works out 3-4 days a week, changed her nutrition, has increased energy, and her libido is through the roof…..basically life is good!
But then guess what?
Susan Smith is doing so well and thrilled with her results that she begins to forget about what worked and she starts to slack off a little. First it starts with a reduction in exercise. She thinks to herself, “this whole experience has been great, but I can do it on my own”. She promises herself that she will workout just like she did before with her trainer. 3-4 days a week of weights plus a little cardio…how hard can it be? She starts off the first week and only misses one workout. By the second week she’s missed two workouts and after that it’s all downhill. Something always seems to come up! With the slippage in exercise comes a slippage in food choices. Before when she had a trainer, wine was only for very special occasions and now it’s back to a nightly thing. “A little sugar, pasta and fast food can’t hurt; after all she deserves it because she has worked so hard”.
The pounds start to creep back on….5 here, 3 here, 8 there…and before you know it she’s 10 lbs heavier than her starting weight!
This pattern or a variation of this pattern is very, very, very typical. In this example I used a personal trainer but I just as easily could have used weight watchers, Jenny Craig, PX90, the Atkins diet or any other modality for weight loss. The outcome is most often the same. Have you ever wondered why the country that spends more on weight loss than any other country in the world is also the most obese?
Well I have the answer for you-
And it’s simple.
Real simple.
In the example with the personal trainer and all the other weight loss methods mentioned here, there is no permanent behavior change.
Unfortunately Susan Smith didn’t actually learn anything. What she did do was modify her behavior temporarily to achieve a desired outcome. She “sacrificed” and “deprived” herself so she could lose 20 lbs. Once she got what she wanted she went right back to her old behavior. Sadly Susan Smith is not seeing the big picture…she hasn’t learned that the 20lbs lost represented a healthier happier, more productive individual. She is missing out on the fact that in order to keep off the 20lbs and keep feeling great she must continue to do the things that she once did.
She must remain physically active, she must continue to eat foods that are created by Mother Nature and overall she must take care of herself!
The problem as I see it is this – Most people go into a weight loss program with a mindset of deprivation and sacrifice. They believe that they must suffer to be thin and look good. Since the old behavior habits are 15, 20, or 40 years old it’s very easy to fall back into these patterns. They go right back into their old routines and very quickly forgot about how good they once felt.
There was no real behavior change and ultimately their life style never changed!
If you want to continually be happier, healthier and have a better quality of life I suggest you consider giving up the notions of deprivation and sacrifice. The next time you start a weight loss program consider, beginning with the end goal of getting healthier and becoming happier. Avoid focusing on just the scale and realize that in the end if you want the results to be permanent you must make a life style change.