A matter of perspective...

70lbs rack position kettlebell squat for no reason.

Today I had an interesting talk with a client and it reminded me of how important perspective is and how easily it can change. My clients and I do bi-weekly recording of skin-fold pinches with a medical grade caliper. We also do tape measurements and we use this information in determining macro and calorie counts, tracking and measuring progress and for me to decide if I'm happy with the training direction.


I was talking with one of my newer clients whom I have been training for about a month and we were talking about his week. My client mentioned he had a really rotten day and the week had not been great either. He had missed a few workouts and just didn't feel as pumped as the previous week. His update showed progress in the direction we wanted but not as much of a drop in bodyfat as I expected so our talks turned to the week's nutrition. He mentioned he had 2 Klondike bars and a light beer this week.

This made a bunch of bells and whistles go off and red lights flashed and my pulse raced a little. Klondike bars and beer! To me, this was definitely the reason that his update wasn't what I expected, in addition to the stress of the week and the missed gym sessions. He then said something that completely shut my internal alarm system up and hit the breaks on my thought process. He reminded me that a few short weeks ago he was eating candy and drinking soda and having Klondikes whenever he wanted and that this was definitely better.

Google Image Search for Perspective Shift. Fancy!

You're right man, you're doing a helluva lot better. Great job in fact! And thank you for reminding me that perspective is everything. When I first started my own lifestyle change I would have thought exactly the same way as he did. 2 Klondikes and a light beer is a hell of an improvement over the way I used to eat as well. And if I didn't spend so much time working on my own fitness and around other people on the same path I would still have that same perspective. Now I reserve sugary fatty treats like that for refeed days, and frankly I use my refeeds for pizza or burgers usually.

We did talk about this in more detail and I talked to him about refeed meals, and saving those times that he needs a Klondike bar or a light beer up and using them to his advantage the way a bodybuilding competitor would. I also found this great article  about competitor mindset and I shared this with my clients in the Facebook group for BSFFitness. I really enjoy working with clients and being reminded of how my perspective changes, and how it's ALL a matter of perspective. If you're working hard and making progress, even baby steps are working in the right direction. It's good to remind myself of this too.