The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.
— Bertrand Russell.

The more educated one is, the more one comes to realise and accept that things are not black and white. Things are grey – or rather rainbow coloured!
The wisest, educated and most learned people are not quick to judge and proclaim their judgements, for they see complexity where others tend to see simplicity.
Lets have an examination of personal training within the fitness industry…

If your personal trainer starts their service provision with you by immediately saying – “do this, and this, and that.” and literally has not even asked you what your aims are – is that particularly good personal training? Have they sized you up with a glance and decided they know enough (or everything) about yourself to thus be able to design and create a personal program for yourself?
The best coaches ask more questions than provide answers, I was told by more than one excellent coach.
At the start of a relationship for personal training, indeed in other industries also, Beneficial Authorities ask “What are your goals? Where are you now? How much work have you already been putting in? What worked in the past? What hasn’t worked? What name do you prefer to be called by? What are you utterly not going to do? Why, why not? What do you want to do? What is easy for you today? What do you think you cannot even do?” And so on.

Quality personal trainers will seek to grow their understanding of their clients and then tailor the program design to facilitate the client engaging with incremental improvements – that are aligned with the stated goals and aims of the client.

How would you feel if you arrived with a personal trainer 50kg overweight and expressed – “I want to loose 50 kg.” and the personal trainer said, “well the best way to do that is to go running every day, eat not much food and get good sleep.”
That is generic advise given, factually yes it will indeed work if the client can stick with the ideal. The ideal of losing weight generically is simply put as “move more, eat less.” But personally, running for overweight people actually causes knee pain, is genuinely TOO hard work, and is setting the client up for failure.

Many people start their personal training highly motivated and just take that kind of advice onboard. Yep, i’ll go running every morning, before work, I’ll limit my calories and fall into bed exhausted each night… and that works for the initial period during their high motivation. Some xyz weeks later, the clients’ knees are continually sore, they face hunger fatigue pretty much all the time, they get poor sleep due to the pain, and their motivation dwindles. And then along comes a plateau and the weight loss slows, stops and reverses.

Woops, off the wagon they fall, and they stop doing the things that are literally hurting them, and thus is facilitated the yo-yo diet/exercise cycle.

What is the solution?
Think OPTIMAL TRAINING. Avoid pain and suffering. Enjoy your exercise – take your time, look for 1% gains, the small improvements that are EASY to achieve and keep achieving. Enjoy your new food lifestyle, try new recipes.
Park the car at the other end of the carpark. Walk up the stairs. Change to a diet drink. Replace calorie dense quick foods with calorie diffuse slow foods. Cook your own food, grow food in your own garden.
Do you have what it takes to commit to losing that 50kg over three years, or 5 years? It took you a lifetime to get 50kg overweight, do you think you can loose it all in 3 months and not create some other kinds of detrimental effects in your life?
Are you over motivated and hurting those around you with a focus upon your own selfish desires?
Being somewhat selfish is healthy, being too selfish is harmful. Giving too much to community is harmful to self, giving too little is harmful to self.
Be optimal.

Examine the 1% stuff that you can change right now, this very minute. Can you get out of your chair and do 1 single minute of exercise and call that “enough”? Will you say “no” to one more sugared softdrink? What will you drink instead of a high sugar softdrink? How many calories are in your fruit juice? Is two sugars in your coffee better than four, for your weight loss?

Are you overtraining? What happens to peoples motivation state when they over train for too long?

What do you absolutely positively want to keep in your life and will not sacrifice?

What are you content to give up and sacrifice for your wellness journey?

Is that chocolate bar going to contribute or detract from your weight loss?

Is someone sabotaging your efforts, sabotaging your motivation, sabotaging your very lifestyle, not necessarily because they are malicious, but maybe just because they don’t know any better and are just oblivious to what the NEW you needs to be healthy and well?

It’s dark and cool, I’m underwater and holding my breath. I’m all alone, it’s just me and the ocean. I feel the pressure of survival, the calmness of purity and just being. I am rising towards the surface, swimming towards the life giving air. The sunlight is getting closer, my lungs are comfortable and I am calm. My mind knows it needs oxygen and air, I have enough right now, I am fine. I breath outwards, pushing the air from my lungs into bursting bubbles whilst i am still underwater. I breach the surface, I am a whale breaching. I am risen into the life giving fresh air, passed through the salt water of the ocean. I am free to breath. I am floating in the heavens. I breath deeply, my lungs cycle the fresh ionised salty air throughout my body, my cells absorb the airborne chemicals they need to function optimally. I look at the sunlight again, she is my longest lover, my best friend. I fill my lungs to comfortable capacity and turn my head downwards, aiming for the depths again. I dive homeward.