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To continue the series I want to address the people who you will want to coach. If you are reading this series as a possible client you may see yourself in one of the categories mentioned.
First Timers
This is a group of folks that have decided for the first time in their life to really take on their health. They are ready to take an honest look or have been motivated recently to take care of themselves. Often one would associate this with age, but I see a trend that it is about awareness of their personal health condition. They may have recently visited their doctor, taken an honest look in the mirror, or even heard someone say something when they thought they weren’t listening. Something has them thinking about needing to make a change without any knowledge of how to get started, more or less to finish the journey successfully. They need someone with the expertise to do it right and teach them how to make it stick!
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Yo-Yo’s
I was one of these so I have particular affection for them. This person is someone that tries to lose weight, in fact often has tried many times. They may have had some measure of success. The hard thing for them is the ability to find it inside to try one more thing. Why would they think this diet would work for them, everything else failed at some point, why this one? They don’t understand why and they don’t know about metabolism and diet, they just know they have really tried and failed. They need someone that understands they are serious about it, they just struggle with something that keeps them from succeeding. Often they are the hardest to get to try again. They need an uplifting coach to believe in them and motivate them to give it effort and determination that this time they will succeed.
The Expert
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This bunch is a hard bunch to even get to work with. They know it all. They have read every book. They have tried everything, and yet they have not reached optimal health. Another version of these wonderful people show up at trade fairs and run when they see a weight loss booth. They know nothing will work for them. I was also part of this group. I was convinced that nothing would ever work and that somehow I had messed up my body so bad that I would never be able to lose weight. I knew that there was no magic pill, no patch, no abs system, and it seemed like there was nothing that would work. If there was certainly I would have found it already, after all wasn’t I the real expert on what would work for me. This group has one question to ask them: Are you happy with the results you are getting now? If the answer is yes, they automatically become un-coachable. To be coach you have to be willing to admit you don’t have all the answers.
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It doesn’t matter if you are thinking of being a coach or a client of a coach it is helpful to understand the reason for the need of a coach. I hear it all the time. I can do weight loss and achieve health on my own. I have one honest answer to that. If you can then why aren’t you? When you look in the mirror are you happy with what you see? Why aren’t you at your optimal health then?
You see in today’s faced paced world many of us don’t have time to focus on all the education we need to optimize our health. I know personally I have worked on this journey for 20 years before I made the decision to focus all my spare time in that direction. Sure I had to give some things up. What I have gotten back was well worth the journey. Now it is a focus and one of my biggest purposes in life. Many of my clients simply can’t devote the time. Coaches are primarily self-made, self-developed. They work on themselves continually, learning, growing, and becoming more capable and competent over the years.
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People want results. They want the most effective use of their time and commitment to their health. A good coach can make all the difference if they are wasting their time or getting the most out of it. Why do you think when people yo-yo diet they often fail their attempts to lose weight and keep it off? It is because they don’t understand what is going on within their body when they diet.
Many give up even before they lose any amount of weight because they can’t figure out how to create a plan for themselves. They simply don’t have the time for it. But do they have time for the illness that will follow if they don’t do it? No, this is where you come in as a coach. You spend the time to sort through the noise of why they are where they are now and how to get to where they want to be. You help to create an individual plan for their success. You bring the panel of experts with you to make it all work.
After you get them going then your role shifts a bit. You still measure and adjust the plan, however your main role is to believe in them and inspire them to be accountable to their plan. Your goal is to get them to believe in themselves. It is important to work towards always raising that level of belief in themselves. This by the way is another area where many dieters have given up.
Look for the next in our Why Be a Health Coach – Part 3 Who to Coach.
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Looking back this week I notice that I miss the excitement of the Olympics. There are always such great stories of human triumph that come from the many participants from the various countries. This year’s Olympics where no exception. The women’s figure skating championships by itself, was enough to get even the toughest heart to shed a tear or two. (me I was a big baby)
I can’t imagine the pressure felt by the medal winner from Korea that had her whole country behind her as long as she won. If not she would live in shame before he whole county. And I get nervous talking in front of people. She not only gave a stellar performance but she went out on a limb to woe the judges. Just one piece of bad ice could have tumbled her hopes for the gold but she went all out.
Then there was Canada’s skater who won a medal even though her mother had died there just two days before her performance. I can’t imagine the courage and discipline that it took just to suit up and put her skates on. When she blew that kiss to her mother in the heavens I was weeping and touched.
I waited for a while to write this to not distract from their time in the spotlight and to think about what it took to do those things that most of us think of as superhuman efforts. I believe it has everything to do with vision and goals. You see both young ladies had the vision to be skaters and win from a very early age. Both had to put in hour after hour of practice. They sacrificed friends, family, and time to be everyday normal kind of people to do something that takes a committed effort and persistence.
This meant that when it came time to reach their goal, they knew that they could not stop. They had to go on and do what they had come to do. That would be to give their all. I heard that story told throughout the week by many athletes. No matter what they achieved they walked away giving it everything they had. That to me is true inspiration!
What if each of us gave our lives the best we had to offer each day. Does it have to be hours and hours of practice or working towards some endeavor? Or can it just be the best we can do that day to improve ourselves and our situation? See effort looks different for different people. I remember when it took effort just to walk up the stairs. It took effort not to give up. It took effort to even keep any hope that life could change. But, when I watch the achievers I am reminded that nothing achieved comes without effort. And much of the time the effort is always rewarded.
Take a moment out today, ask yourself what one thing you would change about yourself if you could. Then find a way to change it. Olympians use trainers and coaches. They don’t do it on their own. Together as a team they reach for their ultimate “perfect performance”. They got at it again and again, doing a little better each time at whatever they do. For some they come away with a medal, for some they just come away knowing they have to do better next time or they had some bad luck during the competition. All of them can come away knowing they gave it their best and got to participate in a competition that very few can qualify for.
Where will you compete? You will you inspire? Whose life will change by something you decide to do? I can say I will never win an Olympic medal but already this year I have done things I never thought I would be able to do. This year is still young and perhaps there is at least a medal or race that I can run for my age and win. Perhaps all that I will ever take away is knowing I gave it my best, and that my dear readers is always enough.
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On my journey to help myself it now occurs often in my life that I am helping others. It is not often that I write about family because I don’t want to be the one to pressure them to get fit. I want to be an example and not a nag (you know what a nag is, an almost dead old horse that has been badly beaten). I also believe (to quote another horse analogy) you can lead someone to the well but you can’t make them do anything.
Now before I give you the impression that the person I am writing about is stubborn and not wanting to get healthy let me clear that up. I am writing today about my wife. She has been the most wonderful, supportive, understanding, caring, loving, and the list goes on and on. I do not deserve the beauty and the joy that this woman has brought into my life. And truth be known it was wanting to spend a much longer life with her that motivated me to start all this. She would also be the first to recommend me as a coach to someone else, but knows that I can be much more patient with someone outside my immediate family then someone that lives in the same house with me.
She patiently waited (times are tough and money tight, but it is getting better :=) )for me to release the weight and get off my program. She puts up with all of the comments like “Hey look how much I lost this week!” or the infamous “Do you see that new little muscle poking out here and there?” She has put up with it all and just waited.
Last week we got her on program. Not without some trepidation however. Once concern she had was how badly I was going to watch her every bite. I had to reassure her that this was her journey and not mine. I am only there for her when she has questions about her progress. I would help her with encouragement and only give advice when asked. I gave her my word. She began her journey.
Well this weekend was her first weigh in. Now me the caring husband wanted her to see double digits as is often the case between water retention and the beginning of any change in eating. We use a scale that calculates body fat percentage, water percentage and muscle mass percentage. I knew from her starting weight and percentages she is not one to retain water and so I wondered what her first number would be.
Well that morning she got on the scale and as I looked over her shoulder I paid close attention to her number (although quietly as I could). She had lost 6 pounds her first week! Now it was not the double digit number I had hoped for her and I guess I showed the disappointment on my face. She asked me if I was disappointed with her weight loss. So I had some explaining to do.
I explained that in fact no it was a significant weight loss for her first week. That in looking over her first set of numbers the 6 pounds was most likely very real for her and not just water weight. I was very happy! But that brought up the important question, was she happy with her weight loss and paying such close attention to the program. She grinned and said of course, who wouldn’t be happy with 6 pounds of fat gone?
So I wrote this all up for a lot of reasons. First as a reader of my blog you now know I have had several of the people that are most important in my life on the program. I am extremely proud of my wife and love watching her get healty and knowing I will have her around for maybe years more because of this shared journey.
I believe it to be the best way towards optimal weight loss and long term health benefits that come from being at your healthy weight. I also wanted you to see how careful I am with each and everyone I work with. It matters to me that you are successful and happy with your journey. We all know many of us had enough disappointments in our lives. Last but not least of it all, when it gets right down to it, the most important question is “Are you happy with your progress?” That will always be the answer that directs your success. It will be what gets you to follow your plan and do what is needed to get to your goals.
Do you need a coach? Not for me to answer. I just know that the success rate goes up exponentially for those you have support and make lifestyle choices after completing their weight loss phase. Won’t you join me on that journey? Either way be blessed today, enjoy the ride life has presented you with, and find a way each day to be happy to be alive.
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Seems this week is the week of rants for me. I will get back on track this next week before I head to Seattle to work with health care professionals from the 18th-25th. With all the scare and hype over the pigs and birds I felt another rant coming on. On our local radio station I heard these numbers to put things into perspective.
Every year in America (according to the CDC) 200,000 people are hospitalized with flu symptoms and 36,000 die.
Every year, more than 1 million people die of malaria.
Every minute, every day, a child dies of measles that could have been cured by a vaccination that costs less than a dollar. One in four people around the world live on less than a dollar a day. Today in America alone one in ten households will go without eating today. Every year, 15 million people around the world die from hunger.
Meanwhile obesity is running rampant in our country as it runs a close second to the number one killer only exceeded by cigarette smoking. More than half our states have greater than 25% of their population in the obese category according to the CDC. With the proven research on the effects of just being overweight we are facing a new generation that will die having lived a significantly shorter life than their parents.
What am I saying? Don’t get wrapped up in the numbers being thrown out by the media and the in suing panic that it creates. Start by taking steps with the one person you can control at all, Your Self! If there is cold and flu going around, wash your hands and take normal precautions. If you are overweight take steps to get better so that you body is not run down trying to support itself with poor circulation and low energy. If you need help then seek it. There are all kinds of good people out there ready to help someone that really wants to change their life.
Take responsibility to not be the next statistic on the news of one more, good person loss too early in life. And decide today to take life to the fullest and live it like you wanted to live forever instead of just another day. Be grateful for what you have, change yourself one step better at a time and LIVE! Then you can decide what causes you can get behind and change the world around you to be a better place.
Live well and enjoy the journey!
More From CoachRick
Be inspired this Sunday morning. First a Tweet on a link to Amazing Grace by Leann Rimes that reminds me how grateful I am for the life changes this year. Then I am reminded that abundance follows those who serve others.
Today I want to encourage you to take some time and reflect on where you are right now. Are you happy with all aspects of your life? This includes the areas of spirit, physical, health, and finances/abundance. In today’s economy that is a pretty tall order to be completely happy in all those areas. So take a look, take time to see how each of those areas feel in your life. Write down what comes up and make a list in each area.
After you have made the list, pick the top five from each area and write those down on a separate list. These would be the areas that are most important for you to focus on for the next year. Once you have made the list, put it up somewhere where you will see it several times a day. I often encourage my weight loss clients to put the weight goals on their refrigerator so they will see them each time they reach for the handle.
Focus and renew yourself daily in each one of those areas and I promise you that great things are in store for this next year. May you be blessed more and abundantly to live the live you choose for yourself this year. Remember change is a journey taken one day at a time!
Went out to Scentsy company to do a health fair. How cool is it that a manufacturer would bring in health care and weight loss talks to their employees to help them access their health? We got a warm welcome and lots met lots of great people. I believe we gave quite a few hope. Got so many comments on my before and now picture it was inspiring to everyone that weight loss is possible and easy.
I heard story after story of those concerned about their health or that of a loved one. One gal shared with me that she was worried about her dad. I told her my story and gave her hope and a way to help him get better. Not something I get to do every day with so many folks. It was great!
Oh and for those of working with the company. They are a great bunch of hard working people. You are in good hands. I have a feeling that they are going to be a much leaner group over the coming year.
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