Are You Guilty Of This Too?
Yesterday during my daily quarantine walk(/dash trying to avoid the downpour) I witnessed a couple getting their dog to swim in the sea.
One of them was at the shore and one was at the end of a small pier chucking things in the sea for the dog to swim out further.
I walked past and thought that poor dog.
Questions and answers starting flying through my head.
Why are they getting it to swim in the sea during this weather? The sea's rough, how inconsiderate.
Why not just wait until it's calmer? I've been here every day for 6 weeks and this is the first and worst I've seen the sea.
What are they going to do if it struggles? They look fairly old how are they going to rescue it in that current.
How stupid putting the dog at risk.
I started to slow down just to see if it did get in trouble I could rush down to try to help. (Modern-day hero right?)
It started to swim back into shore so I continued on my walk.
A few steps in I heard a cry for help!!
Just kidding.
A few steps in my mind paused as I realised what I just did.
I witnessed a trait that I'm not a fan of.
"What am I playing at?" I thought.
I didn't know anything about that couple, about that dog, and I concluded my own opinion on them and the situation. Judging them when I didn't know the story.
For all I know it may have been a rescue dog.
They could have been amazing swimmers that usually swim in the sea every day with their dog but it was a bit too cold for them today.
The dog could have been an athlete competing in the dog Olympics. (Don't believe me? Google dog Olympics Rio 2016, if you're a dog lover like me it might just make your day).
Anyway, my point being I had no right to judge that situation.
I didn't know them, the dog, what they do, or all their swimming abilities.
I saw a small clip of their life and made a biased analysis of the situation.
As I said, I'm not a fan of this.
I've worked with, helped, and seen so many people who have been judged by others for being overweight or not in shape.
All painted with the same brush.
'They're lazy and eat too much.'
'Don't they care about themselves?'
'How can they let themselves get like that?'
I'm sure there are some people out there who may fit these above comments. But just because you throw a dart and hit a bullseye once out of one hundred throws it doesn't mean it was a good shot.
None of the people I've helped have been lazy.
Sure, they do eat too much for the amount they move otherwise they wouldn't be overweight but everyone has a different reason why and it's my job to find that out.
My job isn't to just get everyone to move more and eat less because they're overweight.
It's to find out what's led them to be overweight.
It may be they're depressed and unhappy so food is their comfort.
It may be they reward themselves with food because that's how they were brought up.
It may be that their partner is a feeder and keeps buying them treats and they eat it because they don't want to hurt their partner's feelings.
Or it could be they've been a yo-yo dieter all their life they lose a lot of weight, crash, regain the weight and a bit more, jump on another diet lose some weight but put on more again when they crash until they become overweight or obese.
Do any of these situations sound like they're lazy and greedy?
I don't think so.
These are all situations I have come across and had to help people with.
Yes, they do all need to eat fewer calories and most cases need to move more but not all of them.
However, there are different reasons and approaches for every single person to lose weight.
I have to tailor every single approach to my clients and their needs.
I have to help some talk to their spouse about supporting and understanding their goals and to stop buying them food as gifts.
I have had to help some find other ways to improve their happiness that doesn't involve a tub of Ben & Jerry's or pizza.
My job isn't to simply teach you how to exercise and eat right because deep down you know the basics of what you need to be doing, especially if you've been following me for some time now.
My job is to find the route cause of why and how you are at the stage you're at now and how best to address it.
Teach you specifically what YOU need to know not what I or society thinks you need to know whilst being there for you every step of the way keeping you accountable and continually progressing.
If you're ready to unlock and address the real reason why you're currently unhappy, unconfident, and out of shape with my help getting you back on track then click the link below and we can talk about how I can help you fix it and achieve your goals.
Coach Louis