Staying on Track

Staying on track is one of the biggest challenges I have come to find while working with my personal training clients over the past 10 years. I have worked with everyone from busy executives, to house wives, to your every day 9-5 job clients.

There are a several techniques that I have had success with as far as keeping clients on track with their fitness and nutrition programs and thought I would share a few today.

First and foremost, logging your food intake. It is proven that when you are writing down what you eat and you know that someone will be looking I over, you are more likely to make smarter food choices.

Second, communication. Emails are key in regular communication with my clients. Not only does it show that you are thinking about your client but it shows that you are on top of them. A simple email asking if they did their workout today or how their diet is going can go a long way. If a trainer trains a client once a week and never touches base with them until the next week, they will likely sway.

Third, reminders. This is a key in wellness coaching as well as personal training and lifestyle change. If you are in a fitness/wellness program and need to keep yourself on track, have a reminder of where you are and a reminder of where you want to be. I worked with a stay at home mom that wanted to get ready for beach season and wanted to wear a two piece bathing suit like she used to. How did I help her find a way to remind herself of where she wants go to? Simple, by putting up pictures. One went right on her refrigerator. This way each time she went to the fridge, she was instantly reminded of how she used to look, how she looks now and how she wants to look. An easy, but strong motivational tool.

Planning ahead is number four. It’s easy to know that smaller, more frequent balanced meals are key to fat loss and a healthier BMI. Balances within meals, ensuring plenty of color and variety, etc. are necessary, but how often do people actually cook and prepare ahead? It is important to have a list of what you need to get when going shipping. When you come home you should prepare each meal within a few days of eating it and just refrigerate it.

This way you don’t just “grab something.” If you have meals planned for Tuesday, on Sunday night, you know the calories, protein, fat and carbs in that meal. There is no guessing. Hand and hand with this type of meal planning would be using a calendar. Set your goals and target dates! Say by this day in this month, I want to be down 5 IBS of fat!

Fifth, do not grocery shop when hungry. I can’t tell you how many times clients in the past have shopped hungry and ended up buying something to snack on as they shopped or bought things that they regretted having in the house later!

Sixth, having regular fitness assessments. By regular I mean once a month. Any sooner the body comp changes may not be noticeable; any later the motivation behind assessment may start to dwindle.

Seventh, delegate or ask for help! Any idea how often clients have told me “I knew I should not have eaten that but I did” or “I know I should have worked out but I didn’t”. We need to delegate or ask for assistance from our friends and loved ones. If you know your weakness is with shopping, have your wife or someone else do it that you know will bring home the healthier foods or help keep you on track.

Also it is also helpful if your client joins some sort of like minded group. If they are just starting out they need motivation. It is easy when starting out to quit. If they become friendly with coworkers that like to walk every day at lunch, that’s great! They are like minded. That will help keep them on track.

Eighth, allow yourself certain times to let loose or cheat. This helps go a long way when it comes to motivation and staying power! Nobody changes their lifestyle easily and 100% right off the bat or overnight. It is much more practical to allow yourself to establish one goal at a time.

For instance someone that only eats once a day to take a few weeks and implement the frequent meals throughout the day concept. Once that concept is established, then move into the next one. Whether that be keeping hydrated, eating plenty of fiber, whatever it is, to be realistic about your goal setting. Setting too many goals too early on will end up frustrating the individual and they will likely quit.

If you did great for a week with diet and exercise, allow yourself to a sensible treat. The trick is to make sure it’s sensible, not over doing.

My last thought, celebrate. Recognize when you are doing well with your program. Feel good about the progress. Remember, staying with your program alone is progress! Don’t worry early on about the scale or numbers.

Remember that lifestyle change, to be sustained is gradual. Just get started and take it one day at a time! You can succeed!