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What’s my biggest weight loss coach insider tip?
I get asked that question more than you would think.
We all want that simple secret scoop that will ensure weight loss success. Me, too. I get it. The easier the better.
I have learned so much through my journey to becoming a weight loss and life coach, years of struggling with weight, and decade as a family physician. And I’m happy to share it to spare others the pain and frustration I’ve been through in this process. There is no magic pill to weight loss but there are definitely a few helping hints that will assist you in your progress…
Here’s the 5 Biggest Lessons I’ve Learned As a Weight Loss Coach
Lesson #5: I am not perfect – that’s a good thing.
So, part of me spent years toying with the idea of weight loss coaching and my treatment of patients with weight issues. Why? Because I battle my weight myself. And, secretly, I felt that I could not possibly keep my weight under control for life.
Although it was definitely my medical passion, I was a little afraid to pursue it. Who wants to go to the fat Doctor/weight loss coach to hear about how to lose weight? And the fear that I would not be able to keep my willpower up and completely embarrass myself was enough to stop me in my tracks.
That and the fact that I knew I would never look like one of those extreme athletes. That’s just a fact. I ain’t got time for that.
Lack of Perfection Means Understanding the Imperfections of Others
What I realized with time, experience, and lots of coaching, was this: I am not perfect and that’s a good thing. Don’t worry, I’ve always known I’m not perfect. I strive for it. I used to call myself a perfectionist out of a place of honor. And I no longer do that.
I am definitely a perfectionist but I am not perfect. It’s my lack of perfection that helps me understand when others have setbacks. It helps me relate to the emotional relationship my clients have with food. It guides my advice, helps me laugh when they eat a bag of stale Cheetos, and allows me to understand why they always apologize to me when they mess up.
Can I say that I will be at my goal weight for life? Probably not. I know I could, though, and that is the difference. I know how to. But, I am not perfect. And for myself and my clients, that’s a good thing.
Lesson #4: Being “weak” or “lazy” is not the problem.
There are overweight and obese Presidents, judges, physicians, CEOs, business leaders, and administrators. LOTS of very successful people struggle with their weight.
Does that mean they are lazy or weak? Come on. If you have the fortitude and work ethic to finish medical training, you are neither lazy nor weak.
Do you have an inappropriate relationship with food? Probably.
Is having an inappropriate relationship with food “lazy” or “weak?” Not the same thing. It does not mean that you lay around gorging all day and doing nothing but think about food. See below…
Lesson #3: Normal life in the US today leads to being overweight or obese.
Think about that. If you want to live the “normal life” in the United States today, you are more than likely going to be struggling with your weight.
We glamorize food at restaurants, we celebrate with food at holidays and family gatherings, and we reward a bad day by drinks with friends. We now have custom eating schedules for coffee, breakfast, snack, lunch, more snack, appetizers, dinner, and dessert.
What about that doesn’t make you question the obesity trends we see today?
Yet, we want to be thin. The thinner the better from a beauty standpoint, right? It’s the proverbial having your cake and eating it too. And it doesn’t exist in real life.
So, you have 2 choices: be abnormally American. Go to the events and don’t eat everything offered to you. And be that thin version of yourself. Or go and live the normal life. But, don’t expect to be thin.
After all, thin is no longer normal in the US today. Sorry, ladies.
Lesson #2: Diets come and go. My mind stays the same.
How many diets have you all tried? I could literally write a book on just my diet trials. It would be pretty boring, though. Diet trial – fail. Next diet trial – oh, another fail.
I literally started Phen-Phen right before my 18th birthday and there was no turning back. I did meal replacements, might have been one of the first people on MyFitnessPal, calorie-counted, starved, ate only fruits and vegetables, ate low fat, ate low carb, ate only McAlisters chicken salads. SO many diets and always the same end – I never wanted to eat that food again.
Do you know why? Because I had the “diet then non-diet” mentality. I still thought that I could eat perfect, lose the weight, go back to my regular relationship with food, but feel so happy about myself because I was thin that I would live happily ever after. Anyone see a problem with that logic?
Can’t you just diet this weight off?
I bet many of you still believe that at heart, though. You will dredge through the diet foods and then go back to your incredible relationship with food. Sorry, ladies, it just doesn’t work like that.
Do you think naturally thin people think the same way about food that you do? Here’s a hint: they don’t. They eat to fuel their bodies. And when their bodies are fueled, they stop. The don’t think about food until they get hungry again.
You do. For a reason. That’s why fad diets fail and weight loss coaching works for us.
Lesson #1: My struggles are not as unique as I thought they were. There are lots of “my people.”
I ballooned in medical school. And I truly thought I was the only one. What about an emotional eater who was pregnant in a foreign country her first semester of medical school would cause that? No way!
Although I may truly have been the only person to go through that experience, so many of my clients struggle with variations of that exact theme.
Life gets stressful, the weight goes up.
Fear of failure – the weight goes up more.
Nowhere to turn but food – yep, balloon-o-matic.
And I especially see it in a special kind of Mom – those Moms like me. The multi-tasking, emotional eating, passionate, perfectionist, people-pleasing Mom. Know any of those? Send them my way. They are my people.
What I thought was my unique problem, I started seeing in my patients years ago. I saw it over and over again. So many of these women were the caregivers, the sensitive ones, the ones who really stuck around for everyone else and then went home and ate their emotions. The emotions they did not feel they could ever express because they thought they weren’t good enough.
So they ate and then showed their lack of value by decreasing their “value” on the scale. The achieved in all areas of their life – trying to prove to others that they mattered and that they had worth. The problem is they never believed it themselves. They cared for others at their own expense and turned to food as their true pick-me-up.
If you are that woman, I know you.
I see you.
I am you.
That’s why I did this, after all, all of this extra training. I did it for all of those women.
To give them hope, to give them love, to help them see their own worth.
To support their value until they grow in the strength to value themselves.
To see their beauty until they look in the mirror and see beauty themselves.
To recognize their strength until they are strong enough to conquer this battle.
To believe in them even when they struggle to believe.
To build their dreams and watch them soar.
Because you can soar.
I did. You can. It’s SO worth it. If you can overcome this, nothing can hold you back.
I believe in you – do you believe in yourself?
Let me help you change this for life.
Interested in weight loss coaching? My next Weight Loss for Modern American Moms group starts soon. Schedule a consult here: https://emilyvinzantmd.as.me/schedule.php
Want to learn more about weight loss coaching? Check out https://doctormome.com/post/what-is-weight-loss-coaching/