One Small Step..
So... it's been a while. I've not written one of these things for ages, even though I've had a lot of thoughts going through my head. I felt that every blog needed to be perfect, with just the right image, links, message, but never had the time to do it justice. Instead, I've decided that perfection is over-rated and decided to go with "good enough". So - on with the blog post!
This is a time of year when you are probably being bombarded with ads for gym membership that you will probably never use for 11 months of the year and diet fads that will drive you or your loved ones crazy (and never work). For me, however, I don't need any of that. Not because I'm some superhuman who looks like a Greek god - no, just that I had a crappy cold over Christmas and then got food poisoning at a New Year's Eve party. Best weight loss program ever (although not quite as good as when I got norovirus about 20 years ago)!
Instead, this has been a time of reflection, as we sent our eldest child off on a 3-month school trip today. He's 14, and heading off to spend 12 weeks with 30 kids, sharing a dorm room with 4 other boys at an international school in a foreign country where he barely speaks the language. What could possibly go wrong?
But his life has been leading up to this point. We, as parents, have been preparing him for moments like this. We have tried to give him the life skills to deal with the challenges he will face - whether it be knowing how to iron his own shirts, manage his time, basic street smarts or how to be responsible for his own wellbeing. Facebook does a great job of reminding me that it was only a few years ago that he was very small and vulnerable and needed us to constantly look out for him and make all the the important decisions for him.
He's going to be responsible for his own training for the first time (he's a keen triathlete and usually trains 5-6 times a week with a swimming club and a running club). With his coaches, I've tried to give him the basic knowledge he needs - but in the end, it will come down to him as to whether he can stay motivated and disciplined enough. Will he make mistakes? Sure. But hopefully he'll learn from them. Will he train, eat and sleep perfectly? Definitely not. But if he can be focused on his goals (he wants to race for his country), then maybe he'll be consistent enough to achieve them.
I realised that this isn't much different from my clients. I can't (and don't want to) spend every waking hour with them. I don't want to give them such a strict regimen that it drives them and their families crazy. I do my best to coach and educate them so that they can make the best decisions to build a healthy lifestyle and achieve their goals. I don't expect them to be perfect. But hopefully each day we can all make small steps towards being a bit better than yesterday.
If you are ready to take that first small step, have a look at my new healthy lifestyle program: https://procoach.app/freerangefitness, I'd be happy to help.