Day 73 - Failure is only an option

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a trainer. He had a lady client that started his program overweight and out of shape. He weighed and measured her and then did all the standard tests. At the end of one month he tested her again. She went from no pushups to 12, from no pull-ups to 1 and 11 situps to 25. The problem was that while her proportions changed, she did not loose any weight. This lady promptly quit the program.

If anyone is to blame, who would that be? Far be it from me to tell this experienced and certified personal trainer what to do. I have found during the course of the PCP that you need to see progress, and if no progress comes, then your initial goals have to be cultivated and motivation must be increased.

One aspect missing from this trainers program was a systematic nutrition program. Rather then telling people that they need to eat better, I believe people need a specific guide, at least to start, of what to eat and what not to eat. One of the things I found very enjoyable about the PCP when starting was that the portion weight was right there, all I had to do was find the right protein, carbs and vegetables and mix them together. It was and still is a lot of fun putting these combinations together.

This lady that gave up was likely unaware that what she was eating was the real problem – she may even have been rewarding herself with high calories after a great workout. I find that most people believe that if they would only start working out, they will get into shape and they don’t need to change their high calorie diet.

There are so many factors that can stall or derail a program like this. If one of the crucial elements is not in place, it makes it easy or inevitable that a person will give up.

I’m glad I found this program.

See you soon!