Debbie Hatch | Family & F.I.T.
I have been in the classroom almost every day for the past six weeks. The classes have been relatively large and the people engaging but a couple of recurring issues have continually popped up.
1. No matter what we were talking about, I had people chime in, “But I’ve heard xyz” or, “So and so told me this.”
My response is always the same.
“They are giving you their opinion as if that is THE answer.
In fact, that may have been THEIR answer. That may have worked for them.
That is not, necessarily YOUR answer.
Do you see the difference? “
We’re all different.
We think differently.
We do things differently.
We approach issues differently.
I am not going to give you an opinion.
I am going to make you form your own.
I will give you information and say, “If you do A, here’s what you can expect. If you do B, here’s what will likely happen.” Some people will choose A, and others B. That’s absolutely okay!!
This answer is relevant to soooooo much of what we do, isn’t it?
It’s rampant in the health & fitness arena.
Your friend lost weight on:
Atkins
Weight Watchers
Paleo
IIFYM
Zone
Eating 6 Times a Day
Eating 3 Times a Day
Fasting
The Blood Type Diet
The Mediterranean Diet
Jenny Craig
As a Vegan / Vegetarian
By Cutting out Dairy…or Gluten….or Grains….or Anything White
By Doing Crossfit
By Doing Cardio for 2 Hours a Day
By Never Doing Cardio and Only Lifting Weights
….the list is seemingly endless.
The fact is that when you watch what you eat, or change your diet in some way (any way) that your body is not used to, you typically lose some weight.
Let’s be clear.
That does not mean you lost fat.
It does not mean the l
oss is sustainable over the long term.
It does not mean you’re more healthy!!
I’ve talked about this before.
I lost 15 pounds on a chocolate cake, coffee, and nicotine diet!!!!!
People think I was crazy and irresponsible.
Let me ask you this: what about the fat burners, squeems, lotions, potions, and diets you’ve been trying?
No judgment. Just a question…
2. Several times throughout each day, one person would start complaining. “This law isn’t fair.” “I don’t like that.” “I made a bad choice ten years ago.” And so on.
This always leads to other people jumping in to agree and things can go down hill very quickly.
We only have 8 hours for class so I refuse to entertain this negativity. We just don’t have the time for it!!!
My response is always the same and it, too, is relevant outside of class.
“Is there anything at all that you do anything about xyz? Could you make a change so that it’s better? Can you do anything about a decision you made ten years ago?”
Many times people don’t want to answer because they know where I’m going with my questions.
“If you can do something to fix the problem: do it! Let’s brainstorm about how you might do that.
If you can’t do anything about it, I am going to ask you to stop complaining.
It does nothing for you, and it detracts from productive things we could be doing. It provides absolutely zero value to our time today. In fact, it is a waste of time.”
