by IcennaEmach | Dec 6, 2014 | Uncategorized
One year ago today, the readers of Bodysmart News and I began a conversation about how our lifestyles can become smarter.
One year into this new beginning, the signs of a smarter health conscious group of people in our local communities are evident. Smarter thinking is creating a more sophisticated mindset of what it means to be truly healthy.
People Are Questioning
Eating healthy, exercising consistently, and living life in the present moment, is beginning to take off in our local communities. People are questioning the effectiveness of quick fix dieting practices, outdated modes of exercise adherence, and wavering self help practices aimed at seeing life as joyful and satisfying.
Awareness, it seems, is all around us. “I’m tired of eating these so called healthy meals found in supermarkets and restaurants. They are overly processed and loaded with sodium”, says one client in St. Augustine whose trying to live a healthier cleaner life. “And exercise”, one Serenata Beach Club member remarks, “is getting to be too much of the same old thing.” “Stepping out of the box of the same old routine is a good sign that people are aware”, one fit looking member comments, “that there is a need to progress physically and mentally in different directions.”
A Local Physician Notes
And, a physician here in town, reminds me that, “the need is there to work from the inside out with people by inspiring a more enjoyable process for living healthier. Health coaches are miles ahead of the game.” And, he states, ”those coaches that are armed with a background in kinesiology, physical therapy or personal training, are going to be the leaders in the next decade when it comes to infusing a sensibility into people that is effective in treating lifestyle induced diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, chronic pain, and premature heart disease.”
Two years into this conversation with Bodysmart readers, this new found perspective on health continues to take shape. Readers have progressed from asking, “What is the quickest way to lose weight?” to “What exercises should I be doing to be healthy?” “Is cardiovascular exercise better than weight training, and should I be doing both?” “I am exhausted after work, is it a good idea to exercise when I am so tired, as I have high blood pressure?” Questions such as these are inspiring to hear as they indicate a smart trend in thinking. A trend that recognizes that life is about feeling good about ourselves, our health, and what we can obtain that brings us a satisfying life.
Being Lean Makes Us Feel Good
However, as a trainer, I don’t want people to feel I am downplaying one’s desires to lose weight and look better. We all want this. Being lean makes us more feel alive, more in tune with life, more vibrant, and more satisfied with our physical appearances.
The reason I am so excited about this new trend in thinking is that positive psychology tells us that when it comes to weight loss, focusing on weight is futile, but focusing on behavior change is central to shedding weight for a lifetime. “With an emphasis on the power of mindfulness and positive lifestyle strategy planning we can actually begin to see people change their lives. In most cases body composition changes and people lose weight, feel better and become more satisfied with the way they are focusing their energies,” says health coach Sandy Moore of Boulder Colorado. “Health, Moore says,” is viewed more as changing behaviors vs changing body fat content.”
Changing Behaviors is Essential
In my 10 years as a personal trainer and health coach, I can attest to the fact that those that lose the most weight and keep it off, are the ones that have learned to change behaviors. In my practice people are aware of behaviors they do not want to change and they let me know. This is an important point, because we can’t change what we don’t want to change. And that’s OK. The important aspect is to get started on behaviors you feel ready to change. One should have no feelings of guilt. This is the old way of thinking. Just change what you want to change now, and keep it simple. You will progress. You will feel better. You will see results. There’s no hurry, but you must go into these changes with a positive spirit by making them manageable and meaningful.
Without a doubt this new focus on behavior strategies accomplishes the ultimate goal, which for most is losing weight. But many people still are not aware of how health coaches assist their clients. Everyone knows what a personal trainer does, but not everyone knows what a health coach does.
What is Health Coaching?
Health coaching can be described as a newly emerging profession that focuses on developing a partnership with individuals who are interested in improving their health status in order to enjoy a more vital and vigorous lifestyle. It has its roots in the findings of behavior scientists who have shown that one-to-one coaching is among the most effective approaches to helping people make and sustain improvements in their lives. A coach enables change by focusing on the client’s stated needs, values, vision, and personal goals in order to bring about his or her physical and mental best.
Weekly strategy planning with the client in a conversational setting is a large part of what a health coach does. At first glance, it often appears that “little work” is taking place. After all, most of us are conditioned to what we see on TV, for example, with the Biggest Loser television show, and how they have their clients exercise physically hard. It seems we are conditioned to think that the more physical exercise we do the, the more weight we will lose. This is rarely the case, and people are beginning to understand this fact. Don’t misunderstand me though, as health coaching involves quite a bit of strategy planning in exercise adherence. But for those that are most successful, balancing exercise with healthy eating changes is an absolute must in any successful weight loss plan.
Weight Loss is Best Accomplished in Collaboration With Others
For me personally, most of my clientele have a weight loss goal. “OK,” I’ll say, “you want to lose weight? Let’s set a three month weight loss goal. Now, forget about it!” Many look at me with questioning amazement. But only briefly. To tell you the truth, many are relieved. And that is exactly how I want them to feel. Think of all the times you were caught up in negativism while trying to diet. Wasn’t it a constant struggle of feeling good about yourself then bad about yourself? Now ask yourself if this is really the way you want to diet. Like so many things, learning new skills is best addressed with a positive spirit and with a collaborative partner that has an interest in you. Most successful businesses are those whose top people are coached and partnered in a collaborative effort to breed success. This idea, I am happy to report, is taking hold in savvy weight loss communities across the nation. And we fortunately, here in the Ponte Vedra and St. Augustine areas, are a part of that community.
Let’s continue to build a smarter community. Together we can realize a more abundant life. One that is free of obesity, lifestyle induced diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and all diseases that can be attributed to our lifestyles. Besides, looking good, feeling good and performing great is central to our continued good health!
by Kim Miller | Feb 19, 2014 | Uncategorized
People often ask me what a health coach does. Usually I give them the text book version. I help people implement strategies to enable them to achieve more than what one could achieve on their own. Today I thought it would be more interesting to show my readers what a typical conversation in health coaching may look like. If you read the conversation below you’ll see that it is a first meeting with a client’s husband who is interested in improving his life, by improving his tennis game. As you will see, the conversation opens up some interesting insight into exactly why Paul is failing at his tennis game.
The goal in the following dialogue is to assess where Paul is at regarding the stages of change and what he actually would like to change. It’s also designed to assess gaps in information regarding his health that he may not be aware of. The questions are open ended to give the most latitude to the person being interviewed. Open-ended questions allow the person being interviewed to speak more freely creating a relaxed atmosphere that is conducive to finding out where, and if, there is a starting point for change.
“Hi Paul, it’s nice to meet you. I am enjoying training and coaching your wife. She tells me you are a tennis player?”
“Yes. Yes, I play a little. At one time, I thought I was pretty good. But lately, not so much so, however I still enjoy the game.”
“Yes, I enjoy tennis a lot as well and play some myself.”
“Well.” said Paul, “It’s a little complicated. My wife is concerned to a degree that my energy level has been low lately. And it has been. My guess is that it that I am just getting older that causes my lethargy.”
“My weight is a little up, but frankly that does not bother me. I think I look pretty good anyways. My doctor says my blood sugar is up somewhat, but advises that we will wait and see what it is next time and to watch the sugar intake in the meantime. Nothing serious. The same with my blood pressure. A tad high but not alarming.
“I guess the reason why I am really here is that I am lethargic a good part of the day. My energy seems low and my tennis is failing because of my decreased energy. I don’t feel old but I wonder if something could be done to help me play better tennis and increase my energy during the day?”
“How great!”, I said, “Increasing energy levels is one of my favorite things to help people with! Everyone thinks I specialize in helping people lose weight and get fit, but really all I want to do is help people feel their “old self again”
“Sometimes,” I said, “feeling better is about losing weight and sometimes it has nothing to do with losing weight. It often has more to do with movement patterns and implementing just a few better eating habits. Everyone is different.”
“What do you think is causing you to lack energy and not play tennis as well as in days gone past?
“Well. I am not certain,” Paul replied. “My job is stressful and sometimes I don’t even want to play tennis because I can’t compete at the level I did before. Guys I used to beat handily are beating me now. I don’t mind losing but it just seems they are not playing any better, but I am slower or something.”
“Yes, slower is seldom a winning strategy on the tennis courts. It is especially tough when you believe your slowing up is not due to aging but rather, as you say, due to lack of energy. However, energy level can be improved. We can get to specifics later on this aspect of tennis.
“You mentioned that your doctor said your blood sugar and blood pressure are both up. Are you aware that there is a corresponding lack of energy that tends to take place when blood sugars and blood pressure are up?
“Really? I did not realize that”.
“Yes! It sounds contradictory, but that your blood pressure and blood sugars are up, in a way, is actually good news. It makes my job a little easier. If you came to me after a great physical with your health numbers and weight perfect then I would have little to work with. Your lack of energy and deteriorating tennis game would be a mystery to solve. Your situation seems to call for a straightforward fix. Fix the blood pressure and the blood sugars watch your energy soar. How does that sound?”
“It sounds great! What do I need to do?”
“Well here are a few questions I am wondering about. They are kind of cut and dry but they will help me to move you forward more quickly if that is what you choose to do of course. And if not, that’s ok too. Would it be ok for me to ask you a few questions regarding your desire to change?”
“Sure that’s fine.”
“On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being highly motivated, how motivated are you to increase your energy levels?
“Well from the little I know now, reducing my blood pressure blood sugars seem doable. Unless you are going to have me running five hours a
day or something like that? What do you think I need to do to decrease these number and how long would it take?
“Those are good questions. It makes sense to know what you are getting into before you decide on how motivated you can be.
“My experience says to give us three months of weekly coaching conversations on lifestyle changes and exercise habits. The weekly conversations will help you determine what changes, changes that you will want to maintain, such as eating more vegetables, will move you towards a better tennis game and health numbers.
“Weekly, we’ll progress your exercise habits taking small incremental exercise steps that will pay off over the 12 weeks. It is finding out what you are doing now exercise-and-eating-wise then tweaking it towards your ultimate goal of more energy. It is an interesting and intriguing process because unlike a personal trainer who tells you exactly what to do, you set the stage for improvements and exercise with a little help of me at our discussions. You will be the captain of this team because that is the way that change is best made. You do not have to be concerned that you will have a will of steel to do this. You will do just fine. I am certain.
“Ok, so do you have a number between 1 to 10, regarding your on the level of motivation to make changes for increased energy?”
“I feel like a 9 or a 10 now.
“Great. I want you to feel like that. In my mind, how we feel is what it is all about- so bring on the tennis boys and give us 3 months for a better game too.
“I am curious though, why a 10 and not a 5 or 6?”
“Well, what you are saying makes sense. I would have never thought that the levels of my blood pressure and blood sugars were hurting my tennis game and causing me to feel lethargic. I thought it was just me getting older. And I have to confess, I did not tell you, but my doctor said I should lose weight and get on a diet. Right now, with your help, I feel I can do that too. They must be all connected, right?”
“Yes absolutely, we can view it that way. Personally, I dislike the word diet. I am glad you came to me more focused on improving your tennis game as opposed to losing weight. When we focus on what really matters in our life the good stuff begins to happen. This is how I see us structuring our time together. Let us not focus on weight, although the weight will come off, and yes, you guessed right, the blood pressure and blood sugar will then come down and because of that, your energy skyrockets and your guy tennis-playing friends get slaughtered! It’s my answer to all the people out there who are just focused on a number on their bathroom scale. I like your thinking. It is the right approach. Oh and by the way, I think this will really be a positive force in you and your wife helping each other to be the best you can be. What do you think?
“I think you are right. Pamela and I enjoy each other’s company. We do a lot together but we never really have been able to exercise and eat better together. I am wondering if that couples coaching would work for us?
Although the above conversation is not exact, it is typical of how I begin to help people explore the possibilities of becoming even more happy, healthy, lean and fit!
by IcennaEmach | Jan 2, 2012 | Uncategorized
Integrated thoughts from the American Council on Exercise and myself.
NationalProjections
1. Obesity Awareness
Losing weight will continue to be the primary reason consumers seek personal training support as the public responds to the expanded messaging concerning the dangers of physical inactivity and obesity. The recently released Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index report that showed a modest improvement in the nation’s obesity rates for the first time in more than three years is a very encouraging sign. However, the fact remains that three out of five Americans are still overweight or obese requiring more work to be done.
2. Whole-life Training
Lifestyle coaching will become a bigger trend, with more personal trainers expanding their education and training to enable them to holistically improve their clients’ lifestyles. Additionally, fitness facilities will hire nutritionists and other allied healthcare professionals,such as physical therapists and psychologists, to serve the expanding needs o ftheir health-conscious members by offering wellness, nutrition and stress-management programs.
3. Behavior Modification
While great strides have been made in health education,too many still believe the best way to lose weight is by following a restrictive or current fad diet. The recently introduced ACE Integrated Fitness Training® (ACEIFT®) Model incorporates tools personal trainers can use to help identify appropriate strategies for working with each client to enhance goal setting, motivation, adherence and rapport. Educational campaigns and programs such as the ACE IFT Model, “PersonalTraining, Reinvented™”, and the ACE Lifestyle & Weight Management Coach certification will prepare fitness professionals to help clients better understand that there are no shortcuts to lasting results.
My Thoughts
1. Obesity Awareness
The primary reason clients retain the services of personal trainers and health coaches are often more layered than simply losing weight. Although most people begin training/coaching because they want to lose weight and look better, their motivation for continuing is reinforced when they see that exercise offers much more than just weight loss.
They realize exercise makes them feel better, gives them more energy, and makes them feel more alive. Often they site evidence of the power of weight training and cardiovascular training when after years of being in pain they recognize their knees feel better, their back feels better, and their muscular strength and endurance is enhanced resulting in more daily energy. Often their doctors tell them they no longer have osteopenia,high blood pressure, pre – diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
One client who recently engaged my services asked if I could help him lose weight so he could pass a life insurance policy’s wellness test. He was only 48 years old, but 27 pounds overweight. With slightly high blood pressure, and increased total cholesterol of 227 he was rightful concerned .With only three months of progressive training, logging an average of 10 miles a week on the elliptical trainer, weight training 30 minutes twice a week, and making two dietary changes, he passed his insurance policy’s health test.
His 3 month BP was 110 systolic and 77 diastolic! Well within a healthy blood pressure range. His total cholesterol went from 227to 178 and his weight, which was the main reason he foresaw as hindering his ability to get life insurance went from 192 to 175 in the 3 months. Still training today, and motivated by the added benefits that exercise brings, he cites he will never go back to his previous lifestyle habits. I’d add, it is this type of awareness and intuitiveness that ultimately keeps weight off for a lifetime!
Losing weight is the most often stated reason for beginning an exercise plan, however my experience is that clients continue to train because of the multitude of benefits that exercise and being physically fit brings.
2. Whole Life Training
Lifestyle coaching will become a big trend. In my work at Serenata Beach Club in Ponte Vedra, there has been an increasing awareness of the necessity to change lifestyle habits. There is a positive trend in smarter thinking that says, “I am tired of all the dieting plans, and pseudo-health information snippets that simply don’t work!
These more savvy people understand the need to get rid of the gimmicks and start changing their habits. They are more than receptive, infact, they demand holistic coaching to help then break habits developed over a lifetime. These are the people who invariably do well as clients because they have made an attitude shift in thinking that it’s their own eating behaviors that need to be changed, rather than actual dieting plans.
Effective health coaches are not interested in coaching clients who are looking for a quick way to lose weight. It goes against the grain of the holistic approach.
With clients who have not arrived at this state of understanding, I usually suggest establishing an exercise routine. Exercise is often easier to adhere to than is modifying their diets. The thinking is that with exercise comes a clearer state of mind. Once an exercise routine is implemented and practiced, the wheels start turning in their own minds. Withina period of planned exercise progressions, I will often see a newfound initiative in clients to take further responsibility with other lifestyle changes, specifically eating behavior modifications. When this occurs, they become terrific coaching clients!
People who have been there, and done that, and are tired of playing the losing weight then gaining weight game are the self-motivated consumers. These consumers do well, lose weight, get leaner, get fit, look great, and enjoy their new lifestyle changes. No cookie cutter diet prescription can have you loving your new lifestyle and keep you from gaining the weight back like the holistic coach approach can.
The holistic coaching trend is exciting. As more trainers become certified coaches and practice their coaching profession, I am confident BMI’s will decline. We will become an increasingly more robust community, one that thrives on healthy living, developing habits that make a real difference in our own lives as well as in the lives of our loved ones who want to ensure weare around for a long time to come.
3. Behavior Modification
Ten years ago, the term behavior modification was rarely used to describe how one might approach losing weight and getting fit. We heard dieting advertisers use language such as, “it’s not your fault you can’tlose weight”, “take the mystery out of counting calories by using our prepackaged foods”, or “no need to exercise to lose weight.” Not anymore.Consumers got smart. Tired of feeling like pawns at the mercy of lose weight promoters, they now are realizing in great numbers that absolutely it is their responsibility to change their lives by changing their behaviors.
It may sound daunting to put the responsibility on one’s self,but the sooner this is realized the better and healthier our lives will be.This is not to suggest that we have no need for people to support us and coach us into a better lifestyle because that’s exactly what is needed. But the only one that can do the work in changing unhealthy behaviors is the individual himself. As a coach, I can help fill the gaps of information and provide a needed structure and outlet for people to plan and strategize what they need to be doing to change, but it’s clear that change only happens when the client himself is doing the necessary behavior modification work.
Health consumers are savvier than in years past. We are placing the responsibility of healthy living and weight loss on ourselves through thoughtful behavior modifications. This is a trend, I am happy to report, that is here to stay, and will continue to grow in this coming new year in our local communities!
My last coaching/training program sold out in 2 days.
If you didn’t get on board in time, I’ll be offering it again in June. I’ll take reservations for only 10 people, but payment confirmation will be necessary by March 1, 2012. Call 904 501 6002 to reserve for June 2012.
Wishing you a healthy and happy 2012!
