By: Nikki Nies
Weight loss can be achieved with a combination of diet and exercise. Simple. However, with daily on the go, grueling schedules many face, unfortunately, our health is often put on the backburner. Logic would think, take care of oneself and better results. However, our society proves that theory wrong.
I’m currently taking a counseling class, where part of the class is to “counsel” someone, to gain experience and hear about other’s nutritional habits. Self-efficacy, which is the confidence in one’s self to partake a change is a critical trait and predictor of success. I met up with my client today and she mentioned that she knew the food was bad for her and she knew she was eating too large of portions (we had talked about this in earlier sessions), however, she still ate the oversized portions.
I’m curious as to what really motivates people to become healthier. I’ve provided my client tools that could help her, but she still finds herself not eating breakfast, even though I suggested on the go things she can grab when going out the door. I need help understanding what the “trigger” will be to get not only her to make this lifestyle change, but change her mindset.
She also mentioned in a previous email that she would eat healthy before meeting me, since she knew she was meeting me. I don’t want her to eat healthy because she knows she’s meeting me, I want her to want to eat healthy for her. Does that mean she wouldn’t have eaten healthy if she wasn’t meeting me ? Am I reading into this too much? I want to help her the best I can, but I’m having trouble figuring out what her motivation is to change.
I’m motivated by fear of failure. Fear of missed opportunities. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of unhappiness. Does that motivate others? What’s your motivation to work out, prepare meals ahead of time and check nutrition labels? What’s worked for you? How can I better help my client?
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