One does not simply ban the brownie

The Fitness Industry is full of many things – Massive biceps, glistening six packs, 8 week transformations and semi naked males and females using their bodies to sell you shit you don’t really need.

Now I feel the world would be happier and healthier without many of the above staples, however in my eyes one of the damaging things in the industry is the idea that we need telling what to do.

As someone who makes a living from seemingly “telling people what to do” this may sound strange and counterintuitive, however I shall explain.

To assume that after a couple of meetings, I know what is best for the body you have lived in 24/7 for X years, and have to live in for the rest of your life is ambitious at best.

How much should I weigh? What should I eat? What exercise should I do?

I get these questions a lot, and they often come from people who are used to being told what to do, in an industry full of people who “know what’s best”.

They Don’t – not for you anyway.

The reason 95% of people who go on a diet end up putting the weight they lose (and often more) back on is because at some point they decide they don’t want to follow the diet anymore.

Why they make that decision can depend on many things – maybe they don’t want to live without chocolate brownies, maybe they don’t want 2/3 of their meals to be shakes, maybe they realise life living off just grilled chicken breast and broccoli isn’t actually worth living.

Either way continuing the diet simply becomes unsustainable.

That is the problem with being told what to do – It rarely creates long term change. While you may follow something for a while, at some point you’re going to start making decisions based on what you actually WANT to do, if that doesn’t align with the advice then the advice goes out of the window.

This is where I see my role as a PT.

I help and support people to make better decisions around what is important to them.

For example – not every chocolate brownie is created equally.

A chocolate brownie eaten at the office while stressed isn’t the same as a chocolate brownie shared with the kids after an afternoon of baking together.

Yes calorifically they may be similar, but one comes as part of enjoying important experiences in life, and one is simply mindless emotional eating which will barely even register in our brain.

In one situation eating the brownie adds to your life and is worth the extra calories, whereas in it other it doesn’t and probably isn’t.

One does not simply ban the brownie.

My job is to share knowledge and insights with my clients and then together with their own experience we decide on what to do next.

Maybe we take an alternative snack for when the office munchies kick in and could even find a healthier recipe to bake with the kids.

That way we get the best of both worlds.

I see myself a bit like a compass, I can guide clients and help them stay true to their course, but they are still the captain of the ship and ultimately they decide where it goes.

Sometimes we may need to make adjustments to our course, we may try something and decide it didn’t work, sometimes we may need to take the long way round and sometimes we may even decide to change where we are headed as we find out what does or doesn’t work for the cllient.

But ultimately it’s a collaboration between my experience and what the client wants – not me telling them what to do!