[Lisa] I did something this past January that caused a lot of people to call me the “F” word, I turned fifty.  As you know, they say it is harder to lose weight after you turn fifty.  While that may or may not be the case I decided to add it to the litany of reasons why I can’t shed the pounds.  I have been working out with Mike at Pure Physique for a few years.  I have lost some weight and I am down a size.  In addition, I am lifting, pulling and pushing much higher weights then when I started.  (Mike can fill you in on my “impressive” numbers, ha!)  But, I constantly bemoan my inability to make that darn scale register lower numbers.  Mike insists it is my diet.  My four basic food groups are: ice cream, pasta, bread and Starbucks.  I don’t see a problem.  Apparently Mr. Lipowski does.

I am, for the most part, a driven person.  However, I just can’t seem to find the motivation to make serious changes to my diet.   I am hoping “going public” will help.  Maybe it will help some of you as well.  I told Mike a few months ago, “I don’t want to compete in a body building contest.  I just want to look like I could”.  Is that even possible?

[Mike]  Lisa’s situation is not at all uncommon.  In fact I would go so far as to say that it’s pretty much falls in line with what I’ve seen from 75-80% of those I’ve trained over the past 13 years.  The story goes something like this (from the clients perspective):

I realize I’m out of shape and since I really don’t know what to do I’ll hire a trainer.  The trainer tells me how he can help, explaining that it will take a combination of proper    exercise and a healthy diet. Since I know I need someone to push me and help me be    accountable, I’m in.

I start my training and within one to months I’m feeling better and I’ve even lost a little bit of weight and my clothes are fitting better, and I really haven’t even changed my diet that much.  A few more months go by and DAMN am I getting strong.  I’m lifting weights in the gym that I never imagined being able to lift!  Unfortunately the weight on my scale doesn’t seem to be moving anymore.  I know I should be eating better but I love my (insert ice cream, pizza, burgers, alcohol, sweets, breads, etc).  Besides I have to have a life. …At least I have my trainer to complain to about this and he’ll come up with a workout to do the trick.

Lisa touched on good point before when she said she: “can’t seem to find the motivation to make serious changes…” The problem however is not just motivation it’s leverage.  You not only need a reason to be excited about getting in shape but you need a reason to be fearful if you don’t.  Taking her goal “public” is certainly a move in the right direction since there is now a consequence to not staying on track—everyone will know and I won’t hesitate to put it out there.  I also won’t hesitate to publicly congratulate her should she meet her objective of looking like she could compete.

No trainer or fitness instructor is capable of creating a workout to make up for a person’s overindulgence nor can we follow you around and make sure you’re adhering to the plan we set forth. If we could, believe me we would.  There’s certainly a wee bit of personal accountability necessary to get one’s self into “competition shape” and the real work takes place outside of the gym.