I've been working on getting my personal training certification for several months now. Fortunately for me, I have some friends and family that are in some way unhappy with their physical health and have volunteered to let me practice on them.
Some of these people have shown good atittudes and work ethics, and others have not. Some have made me really work as a trainer to keep their attentions focused on their health and their goals, and some have ignored my best efforts to do so.
My loving fiance is right smack in the middle, and that's cool. She's giving me actual practice AND she's responding to it. I have to keep on her like a drill sergeant to make sure she does it half the time, but she listens and she is trying.
Then there is my beautiful and loving mother. I start off with the compliments, because the rest of this description is not complimentary. Months ago (six to be exact) she asked me if she could lose 80 pounds by my wedding, and if so if I could help her. She is overweight, and wanted to look hot for my wedding in October of this year. This gave us just over a year. I was excited, I put together the most comprehesive plan I have put together for anybody yet. I included a four month graduated workout schedule, and a meal plan that offered enough healthy meals to eat something different every day and night for a month, and my brother threw in a dumbbell set.
Armed with these tools and her very personal goal, my mom proceeded to make excuses. For months I would call her once a week to try to motivate her. I tried everything. I tried refreshing her memory of her goal. I tried badgering her. I tried guilt. Guilt seemed to work, but only for short little bursts at a time. It's like guilt is a drug and her brain built up a tolerance to it real quick, so I had to keep upping the dosage, making my pleas more and more about my feelings and concern over her health than hers. Then it started to occur to me that my approach was all wrong. Her progress would only move forward and continue to do so if she was doing it for her. If I made it about me that would only motivate her for just so long. Her reasons need to be hers.
Today I'm going to call her and insitute a time limit, see if that helps to kick her in the ass. I'm going to remind her that her goal is now only 211 days away, that fully six months of the time she had is now gone. We'll see if that works.
***********************
Shameless self-promotion time.
If you or somebody you know is interested in losing a few pounds, or maybe gaining a few pounds of muscle, or just wants to get leaner, etc etc. Shoot me an email. I can tell you without any ego that I am good at this, and I am inexpensive compared to most since I am fairly new. Very little reputation yet. But if you let me help you, you will be helping me as well with your opinion of my performance and your referrals.
No comments:
Post a Comment