Thursday, September 15, 2011

Training vs. Coaching

I had to speak to a group of people this week about Training (learning a whole new skill) vs. Coaching (reinforcing known skills or behaviors) . I also had my final nutrition class prior to surgery. Now, I understand these things are totally unreleased. Well, at least, at first glance they seem unrelated. However, after a glass of red wine, a hot bath and double dose of my muscle relaxers last night, things became a little clearer to me. People who know me well will totally get how drugs and alcohol can make me MORE coherent.

Part of my “lifestyle change” is asking myself, “Why am I fat?”  and giving myself an honest answer. I mean, I could argue passionately about genetics (I *AM* the daughter of a huge football player/coach) or environment (I have to feed two, huge, growing teenage boys, so I cook for us all) or really any other excuse (I had two pregnancies in a row that fucked up my hormones, thyroid, prostate, whatever…) What I learned last night is it is ALL choice.

As our lovely, skinny-bitch Dietician began to explain to me that high fructose corn syrup is really added sugar (no shit) and that complex carbs are better than simple carbs (REA-he-LLY?! (sic)) I thought, “But I *LIKE* simple carbs and corn syrup”.
My epiphany was just this simple: While I have not actively chosen to be fat, my choices had made me fat. I mean, unlike being gay, fat is NOT a choice (had to throw that out there for my HUGE Tea Party and Evangelical following).

This brings me back to the class I was teaching. I listened to the class complain about their employees are just not as nice as they could be and we should have some training around that issue. I don’t think I can train someone to smile or be nice. I assume their mother taught them that.  So, they KNOW how to smile. They know HOW to be polite. They are just not doing it and all of the training in the world will not solve that. They are CHOOSING their behavior. Just like me.

 I was rolling my eyes at this beautiful, ditsy, thin, Dietician and thinking, “I’m not a fucking idiot! I know HOW to read labels. I know HOW to calculate my MHR and what the difference between anaerobic and aerobic is. I am a MENSA member, damn it Why the HELL am I sitting in this class!”

So….I *AM* smart. I do know how to eat, how to exercise, what the capital of Iceland is and how to solve for X.  I guess I don’t need training. I need a behavior change. I need coaching. And more than that…I need to stop fucking complaining and making up excuses and just do what I know how to do!

13 days and counting, my friends! September 27th is quickly approaching!

1 comment:

  1. If I became your coach, could I yell at you until you cry? It's not really my style, but I'd like to know the option is there...

    ReplyDelete