Diet Issues: Your Problem is NOT Just Metabolic As many of you may or may not know I deal with many clients who come to me with varying degrees of food, diet, or weight issues. Many have varying levels of disordered eating. Many have metabolic damage. Some fall in between. While it is a very sad thing to see and witness and deal with, it is also very rewarding work. The fitness industry is completely lacking in qualified coaches who deal with these issues. And more often than not, bad coaching is the cause of such issues. I have a client who suffers from a competition-diet-induced binge eating disorder. And she has been suffering for some time. I’m thankful our work together is showing signs of improvement for her. Even though the rate of improvement is never fast enough for those who suffer. Her previous coach’s reply to her was simply, “Disciplined people don’t cheat on their diets!” Really? That qualifies as coaching? What also amazes me is the level of denial that extreme contest-dieting had anything to do with the binge eating disorder. Well, if this person never had food issues before competing, and suddenly had them afterward, how can these two not be tied together? People see what they want to see. Qualified professionals examine what they need to see and know. Until you stop thinking of these issues as just metabolic and start accepting them as psychological, they will persist. Another diet is not going to solve them. And yes, an extreme diet can certainly start the problems, but then they become something else in the psychological realm. Blaming yourself for your suffering only increases the anxiety levels attached to the issue, thereby making the issue worse. Once these issues become self-esteem or stress-related behaviors, they are well beyond a diet-solution. The remedy must be found at the level of self-esteem or stress that leads to the behavior. The behavior is a symptom, or a sign. It is not so easy to just say “change your behavior and stick to your diet.” That is not coaching or useful advice. Those kinds of statements just show a level of ignorance of those who cannot understand the problem at all. If food or diet, or thinking about them, are the source of anxiety, and anxiety always seeks relief, Over eating or binge eating is often the result, because for a moment it stops the anxiety. Over-analyzing and over-stressing about what you are eating, or about dieting in general, is still the exact same psychological problem. Once someone has starved through a ridiculous extreme diet, food can often take on that power to change emotional states. In order to address the problem you need to be able to acknowledge the problem. It is not just a metabolic issue. Doing another diet does not deal with the problem. If you suffer with any level of food issues, then you need to clearly address that food has the power to change how you feel. Food/Eating/Diet issues take on a life of their own. The issues involved are not about nutrient timing, macro percentages, or anything like these. The issues are about understanding and knowing how to deal with how food and diet become emotional changing agents. So stop the expressions like “champions don’t cheat on their diets." Being a champion in life has nothing to do with this. Champions come in all forms. And lots of champions suffer all kinds of personal issues. And eating issues are simply that: personal emotional issues. If you have any kind of food/diet/weight issue, at any undesired level, you need to understand that THIS IS NOT JUST A METABOLIC ISSUE; IT IS AN AWARENESS ISSUE. And the only way to solve an awareness issue is by knowing how to coach someone toward what is called "a critical shift." And that takes a lot of time, energy, patience, and know-how. Real coaching must be personal, practical, proactive and when possible, empowering. A client sharing a personal issue like struggling with food issues, or diet burdens, should not pushed aside. It is a very big deal for people to confide such issues with others. To tell a person who is suffering a diet issue something as useless as “champions don’t cheat on their diets” is neither professional, nor is it practical, nor is it proactive. It is, in fact, incompetent
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 18:27:14 +0000
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