I don’t like the word ‘change’ – especially as it pertains to fitness and health. Someone who suggests that you need to change (in any way) is implying that who or what you’re doing now is wrong, bad, embarrassing, annoying…etc. Therefore, we’ve come to realize that changing ourselves or habits is inevitably going to involve uncertainty, discomfort, denial, doom, gloom and yuck.

I prefer to think of the health journey as an exciting array of opportunities… The opportunities to try new foods, invitations to experience new activities, chances to build strength and endurance, freedom to feel great physically and emotionally.

Doesn’t that sound infintely more interesting than preparing to grit your teeth and buckle down to make the difficult changes necessary in order to improve your Body Mass Index and Lipid Profile?

I usually avoid suggesting that fitness clients should pose for ‘before’ pictures or document their weight or measurements. Obviously, I understand that people like to track measurable results when they are working hard to make improvements in their health so I’m not dead-set against such things. But I don’t ever want to lead someone to believe that their current stats are something which should or will be looked back upon with disdain.

If we’re always looking forward to when, ‘when I weigh 140 pounds/run a 5K/wear a size 10/fit into my high school prom dress”, we miss taking delight in the present.

So rather than making a point of discussing and documenting all that needs to be changed about someone, I’d rather focus on all that’s right. Then we can talk about the many opportunities available to aid in improving our eating and exercise habits while maintaining our individual dignity and awesomeness.