Conversations with Clients
“I track my calories.”
Inconsistent tracking
The following conversation is an example of how a Behavior Coaching Certified Fitness Professional could address a client who believes they are in a caloric deficit and is inconsistently tracking their food.
Setting: Consultation room for the initial meeting with a potential client who is frustrated at their lack of progress despite some effort invested in tracking food.
Client: I want to lose X lbs. but nothing works for me.
Coach: What do you mean?
Client: I watch my calories.
Look at my tracking.
I’m at 1000 to 1200 calories per day.
I’m starving myself and not losing weight.
Coach: (Looking over food tracking app) I see the last few days on here, but I don’t see any entries for the weekends.
Client: Well, yeah. I mean, I track throughout the week
but I don’t track as much on the weekends.
Coach: I see a lot of well-intentioned effort here (gesturing toward the client’s phone). I think there’s a better way to do this. First, it’s important to somewhat rethink the idea of a caloric deficit. Instead of viewing each day in isolation, it’s far more useful to think of the daily average of calories over the course of a week. So even if a person is extra diligent over the weekdays, weekend splurges can sabotage those efforts and lead to stagnation or a lack of results despite the efforts early in the week.
That’s why one of our foundational premises with Behavior Coaching is (turns to the dry erase board)
Coach: Instead of restricting throughout the week to the point of rebellion by the end of the week, together we’re going to create strategies that match your personality, tendencies, resources, and environment so you can be consistent with them and see the results you want. And we can do all that without necessarily tracking your food. How does that sound to you?
Client: If I can see results without having to try to track everything,
that sounds way better. How do we get started?
Coach: Let's get our Behavior Coaching sessions scheduled. I'm excited to work with you.
If you're ready to become a Certified Behavior Coaching Fitness Pro, click here to get started.