http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

For many women, menopause can introduce new health challenges. In addition to the symptoms that perturb basic quality of life like hot flashes, headaches, night sweats, and irritability, menopause is also associated with higher risk for serious health concerns like osteoporosis, cognitive decline, and metabolic syndrome. This has made the standard treatment for menopause—hormone replacement therapy, or HRT—a multi-billion dollar business.

A few weeks ago, I explored the benefits and risks of HRT. It has its merits certainly, but it’s not for everyone. Today’s post is for those people. Say you’ve waded through the morass of HRT research and would prefer a different route. Or maybe you’ve actually tried conventional or bioidentical HRT and found it just didn’t work for you. Whatever the reason, you’re probably interested in using “natural” products if you can swing it and if it’ll actually help.

Are there herbal alternatives to HRT that actually work?

As a matter of fact, there are.

Black Cohosh

A medicinal herb native to North America, black cohosh was traditionally used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including rheumatism and other arthritic conditions, colds, fevers, constipation, hives, fatigue, and backache. They used it to help babies get to sleep and soothe kidney troubles. In the mid 20th century, it gained popularity in Europe as a treatment for women’s hormonal issues. Modern clinical research bears out its relevance for menopause:

It’s effective against hot flashes, reducing both severity and frequency.

It improves objective markers of sleep quality (the reduction in hot flashes certainly can’t hurt).

It improves insulin sensitivity, which often degrades during menopause.

It improves early post-menopausal symptoms across the board, leading to a 12.9 point reduction in the Green climacteric score (a basic measure of menopause symptom severity).

In one study, black cohosh was comparable to conventional HRT for reducing most menopausal symptoms and better at reducing anxiety, vaginal bleeding, and breast tenderness.

Here’s a great black cohosh product.

Maca

In its native Peru, maca root was traditionally used as a root vegetable (like a turnip or radish), as well as for its pharmacological properties as an aphrodisiac and subtle stimulant. Incan warriors reportedly used it as a preworkout booster before battles. Today, we know it as an adaptogen—a substance that helps your endocrine system adapt to stress, rather than force it in one direction or another.

A 2011 review of the admittedly limited evidence found that maca shows efficacy against menopause. More recently, maca displayed the ability to lower depression and blood pressure in menopausal women. And earlier, maca helped perimenopausal women resist weight gain and menopausal women regain their sexual function and reduce depression and anxiety.

What’s going on here? According to a 2005 study, maca actually lowers follicle-stimulating hormone and increases luteinizing hormone in postmenopausal women, thereby increasing estrogen and progesterone production.

Make sure you buy gelatinized (cooked) maca, as that’s what the studies use.

Red Clover

The red clover blossom is a rich source of isoflavones, estrogen-like compounds that interact with receptors in our bodies and relieve many symptoms of menopause.

Twelve weeks of red clover cuts the Menopause rating score in half (a good thing!).

Twelve weeks greatly reduces the intensity and frequency of hot flashes and night sweats. Including some probiotics has a similar effect.

Red clover also improves vaginal cellular structure and function while (again) improving menopause symptoms and reducing triglycerides.

More exciting, there’s reason to believe that red clover may reduce the risk of breast cancer and improve bone mineral density in menopausal women.

Here’s a potent red clover supplement.

And then there are those herbs and plants with more limited scopes.

Ginseng

Ginseng has limited application in menopause. It improves sexual function, and Korean red ginseng appears to help libido and reduce the total hot flash score, but neither type of ginseng reduces oxidative stress, improves endometrial thickness, or reduces hot flash frequency.

Here’s some Korean red ginseng. Here’s some concentrated ginseng.

Evening Primrose

It’s good for hot flashes, and that tends to improve other things like socializing and sex, but that’s about it.

Here’s some cold-pressed primrose oil.

St. John’s Wort

You might remember St. John’s Wort as an herbal treatment for such conditions as depression and anxiety, but it’s also quite effective against certain symptoms of menopause.

In one study, 3 months of daily St. John’s Wort supplementation helped perimenopausal women go from three hot flashes to one hot flash a day, get better sleep, and have a better quality of life. In another, it took 8 weeks of St. John’s Wort for both perimenopausal and postmenopausal women to reduce the frequency and severity of their hot flashes. Researchers also combined it with black cohosh to successfully treat hot flash-related moodiness.

This is a pretty good product.

Wild Yam

The yam has been used for hundreds of years for menopause treatment. These days, we know it contains estrogen mimetics known as phytosterols with clinical efficacy in menopausal women.

Try this one.

Before you go fill your Amazon cart with supplements and start chowing down on powders and pills, however, make sure you’re making the right move.

Talk to your doctor about the herbal alternatives mentioned today. Discuss and research potential interactions with medications and even supplements you’re already taking. Be sure to cite the relevant references.

Minimize the variables. Don’t start taking everything from this article. Start with one and evaluate.

Don’t underestimate the power of plants. Just because something is “herbal” or “botanical” doesn’t mean it’s completely benign at all doses.

That’s it for today, folks. Take care, and be sure to write in down below.

Have you ever used any herbs or botanicals to treat menopause symptoms? If so, what worked? What didn’t?

References:

Mehrpooya M, Rabiee S, Larki-harchegani A, et al. A comparative study on the effect of “black cohosh” and “evening primrose oil” on menopausal hot flashes. J Educ Health Promot. 2018;7:36.

Jiang K, Jin Y, Huang L, et al. Black cohosh improves objective sleep in postmenopausal women with sleep disturbance. Climacteric. 2015;18(4):559-67.

Mohammad-alizadeh-charandabi S, Shahnazi M, Nahaee J, Bayatipayan S. Efficacy of black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa L.) in treating early symptoms of menopause: a randomized clinical trial. Chin Med. 2013;8(1):20.

Zheng TP, Sun AJ, Xue W, et al. Efficacy and safety of Cimicifuga foetida extract on menopausal syndrome in Chinese women. Chin Med J. 2013;126(11):2034-8.

Lee HW, Choi J, Lee Y, Kil KJ, Lee MS. Ginseng for managing menopausal woman’s health: A systematic review of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(38):e4914.

Lee MS, Shin BC, Yang EJ, Lim HJ, Ernst E. Maca (Lepidium meyenii) for treatment of menopausal symptoms: A systematic review. Maturitas. 2011;70(3):227-33.

Stojanovska L, Law C, Lai B, et al. Maca reduces blood pressure and depression, in a pilot study in postmenopausal women. Climacteric. 2015;18(1):69-78.

Brooks NA, Wilcox G, Walker KZ, Ashton JF, Cox MB, Stojanovska L. Beneficial effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on psychological symptoms and measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women are not related to estrogen or androgen content. Menopause. 2008;15(6):1157-62.

Shakeri F, Taavoni S, Goushegir A, Haghani H. Effectiveness of red clover in alleviating menopausal symptoms: a 12-week randomized, controlled trial. Climacteric. 2015;18(4):568-73.

Lipovac M, Chedraui P, Gruenhut C, et al. The effect of red clover isoflavone supplementation over vasomotor and menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2012;28(3):203-7.

Hidalgo LA, Chedraui PA, Morocho N, Ross S, San miguel G. The effect of red clover isoflavones on menopausal symptoms, lipids and vaginal cytology in menopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2005;21(5):257-64.

Lambert MNT, Thorup AC, Hansen ESS, Jeppesen PB. Combined Red Clover isoflavones and probiotics potently reduce menopausal vasomotor symptoms. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(6):e0176590.

Beck V, Rohr U, Jungbauer A. Phytoestrogens derived from red clover: an alternative to estrogen replacement therapy?. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2005;94(5):499-518.

Abdali K, Khajehei M, Tabatabaee HR. Effect of St John’s wort on severity, frequency, and duration of hot flashes in premenopausal, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Menopause. 2010;17(2):326-31.

Briese V, Stammwitz U, Friede M, Henneicke-von zepelin HH. Black cohosh with or without St. John’s wort for symptom-specific climacteric treatment–results of a large-scale, controlled, observational study. Maturitas. 2007;57(4):405-14.

The post 7 Herbal Alternatives to HRT appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

I am someone who needs color on her plate. So while I love the crowd-pleasers at Thanksgiving — the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, the turkey — all of that beige has me pining for vibrant green beans and orange-hued winter squash. This extra-colorful wild rice pilaf is the answer. It’s glowing with dried cranberries, fresh herbs, and cubes of roasted butternut squash. Not only is it a perfect addition to the usual slew of sides, but it’s also hearty enough to be a great main dish for the vegetarians at the table.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

The middle of the winter season calls for comforting casseroles that don’t skimp on flavor. This gluten-free, vegetarian casserole uses both smoked mozzarella cheese and smoky paprika to liven up sweet potatoes and black beans, and it’s hearty enough to serve as a main or side dish.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites.

What’s your favorite pasta shape? If you asked a group of people that question, you’d probably get a huge array of answers. Some people love the twisty, corkscrew shape of fusilli or the cute bow ties of farfalle. I’ve seen actual grown-ups get into loud fights over bucatini — the long, thick pasta that looks like a fat spaghetti noodle with a hole running down the middle of it, which can be oddly polarizing among pasta fans, who seem to either love it or hate it.

When called upon to name a favorite pasta, most people seem to forget ditalini, but if you put a plate of those short, tiny pasta tubes in front of them, chances are good people will say, “Oh, I love ditalini!”

READ MORE »

https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/

It was 2009. My husband and I were running our fitness boot camps and had just had our first child. I knew I didn’t want to travel anymore to speak with a new baby at home, and decided to focus on online training and coaching instead. I loved helping clients effect change in their lives and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to marry what I loved best, with the flexibility and schedule I was looking for. I added in clients who wanted a deeper dive in nutrition and behavior and was excited to get to work.

At first I loved it. Clients adopted the changes we discussed and were making progress and I felt like a rock star. It felt great to know that I was helping them reach their goals and creating a program that worked. They told friends. I took on more clients. And then I hit a road bump.

A client wasn’t following any of my nutrition strategies — despite planning around every barrier and talking about things she could try each week. I sent reminders. I followed up. When we would get on the phone to chat for her weekly session it felt like a confessional of what she wasn’t doing. I would think harder and offer new suggestions, tweaking and offering new meal and snack ideas and new strategies, only to no avail.

Eventually I remember telling her, “I can’t help you. I’ve given you every strategy and tool I can and at this point, you have to make the decision to put them into practice in your own life. Until you do that, you won’t be successful and you won’t make any progress.”

Oomph.

It hurts to recall this now. In hindsight I can see how much I failed that client and all the things I would do differently — but more on that in a minute. Because what I distinctly remember in that moment wasn’t that I had failed to coach her, but that I was just a failure. I wasn’t the rock star or the expert who had all the answers. None of my answers worked for her. And if I couldn’t help this client, then how could I call myself a coach?

Looking back on those days, I wasn’t really a coach. I was selling a program with a specific approach to nutrition and fitness behaviors that worked for many people, and that also worked for me. I was good at directing my clients on how to best use my principles. I had no idea how to guide my clients to find their own principles and answers. That wouldn’t come for a few years.

I continued coaching for a year or so, of course from time to time running into clients who didn’t mesh with my programs and my answers, and I’d feel defeated again. Eventually, I decided to stop individual coaching and go back to small group programs. I started speaking again.

A Question of Mindset

It wasn’t until I became familiar with Carol Dweck’s work on mindset that I began to see my first mistake in my online coaching days. I had a fixed mindset.

If you’re not familiar with Dweck’s work, she is a Stanford University psychologist who studies how we think about our talents and abilities and the impact it has on learning, performance, parenting, athletics, etc.

Essentially people fall into one of two categories: fixed mindset — those who believe that intelligence, skills, and abilities are fixed and their potential is set at birth — and growth mindset — those who believe that abilities can be developed, skills can be learned, and potential is essentially limitless with hard work and effort.

Individuals who have a fixed mindset focus on proving their worth and their value. If you are a coach with a fixed mindset, you expect that you have to be the smartest one in the room. When it comes to your relationships with your clients, you are the expert with the answers. And while in theory the reason you are coaching clients is about helping them succeed, ultimately your choices always comes back to proving your value as a coach.

I remember discovering this concept and feeling such relief! “You mean I don’t have to hold all of the answers? I can meet my client wherever they are?”

I realized my previous errors. By assuming I had to have all of the answers, I didn’t empower my clients to find what was possible for them. By telling my clients what to do, I took the change process out of their own hands. And by being so quick to offer alternatives and new strategies, I took the responsibility for their success.

The Consistency Struggle

If you’re in the behavior change business, it is inevitable that you will encounter clients who struggle with consistency. Whether it’s clients who say their goal is to reduce body fat but who are unwilling to monitor or change their eating habits, those who say they want to maintain progress when traveling and then skip workouts, or those who turn to quick fixes and magic bullets despite your steady reminders that those don’t work.

Poor client consistency can be difficult at any stage in your career. It can be a source of frustration, leave you uncertain about your skills and abilities and can even lead to burnout. When dealing with consistency issues we have to remember it’s not necessarily the client’s fault. Too often we’re quick to think of what the client isn’t doing, instead of recognizing, like in my case, it may be the way we’re coaching the client in the first place.

When our clients aren’t consistent they are trying to tell us something. Maybe they’re saying:

• “This requires too much of me, it’s too challenging, too rigorous, etc.”
• “This isn’t something I believe I can do; I don’t think I have the energy or resources for this.”
• “I’m afraid of failure.”
• “I’m afraid of success”

And any other thing in between.

When we take a “comply or die” mentality with clients, we ignore their unique story, experience and underlying concerns.

Even worse, we may be taking someone who has little belief in themselves and validating all the fears and reasons why they think they can’t be successful in the first place. If you have clients who are struggling with consistency, help them own the change process. Use these steps to see if you can meet them along the way.

Start With You

First, check your mindset. Are you feeling responsible for having the answers for your client? Are you focused on your client reaching outcomes rather than on their experience?

It’s easy to fall into a routine with clients that “works.” Without even realizing it, you may be doing what feels best for you instead of what works best for your client. If this is the case, shift toward a person-focused approach.

Focus on Your Client

One of the best tools to help you turn the focus on the client is to use Motivational Interviewing (MI) and its related concepts in your coaching practice.

Motivational Interviewing as a practice is extensive, and further information on training can be found at MotivationalInterviewing.org. However, we can use some of the key concepts from MI to better understand our clients and improve client outcomes.

1. Develop Great Listening Skills

To take a person-focused approach, we have to be willing to get curious. Ask open-ended questions that start with what, how, why, or tell me about. Yes or no questions stop the flow of information between you and your client, but open ended questions may give you information you wouldn’t know or think to ask about. Consider:

Coach: “Ready to train?”
Client: “Never.”
Coach: “Haha! Let’s go.”

vs.

Coach: “How was your day?”
Client: “Exhausting.”
Coach: “Tell me about it. In what way?”
Client: “We had a flood in part of our office last night and I had to unpack and transfer 32 banker boxes of files to the other side of the building. I thought of it as a workout!”
Coach: “Sounds like it was. If you’re feeling overtired we could focus more on mobility and core training today.”

In the first example, you may get to the fact that the client is exhausted from work. Or you may not, and you may just wonder why her performance seems to be suffering, or she could end up feeling over fatigued and sore. The open ended question allows you to obtain more information than you would otherwise.

2. Use Reflective Listening to Seek Clarification

When you’re engaged in open-ended questions, it’s helpful to check for understanding by reflecting your client’s words back to them.

Client: “And after I get home from work, I just feel done and I never want to cook.”
Coach: “So you feel too tired to cook?”
Client: “No. I just hate cooking. It takes so much more energy to do the things I don’t want to do.”
Coach: “I know that feeling. What do you think you would be willing to do?”

3. Understand That Ambivalence Is a Normal Part of Behavior Change

Ambivalence refers to having mixed feelings about something. Most of us experience conflict over the choices we make each day. We know we’ll feel better from eating the salad with lean protein, but we also like the taste of a burger and fries. We know we should get more sleep, but the Netflix binge is too compelling.

When you’re working with your clients, help them to see that this conflict is natural and then help them work through it. To do this, help clients identify:

The benefits of staying the same — What’s good about not changing? By asking what’s good about keeping things as is, you can see what benefit the client sees in not changing.

The challenges of changing — Here you can better understand your clients underlying concerns and worries they have for making change.

The benefits of changing — What’s good about making the changes they desire for themselves?

The negatives of staying the same — What’s bad about not changing?

Hope and optimism for changing — What do they see as possible for themselves? This is a critical step, because ultimately your clients hold the answers.

How to visualize change — Ask your clients to imagine what change looks like for them. If they were able to change, what would that look and feel like?

Walking clients through these steps help them understand that there may be reasons why change feels difficult and why they may not be ready for it. It normalizes the change process and allows your clients to work through their ambivalence until they reach a place where the benefits of change outweigh the negatives of staying the same.

4. Identify Discrepancy

Clients may not see the difference between what they say they desire for themselves and where they are currently. For example, a client may say they really want to dial in their nutrition, but often allow their partner to talk them into making less than healthy food choices. By pointing out the discrepancy, you can explore the potential challenges and barriers to making that change a reality.

5. Roll With Resistance

This last point may be the most important step. When a client is highly resistant to suggestions and ideas, avoid getting into a back and forth with them. Instead, let go of the need to steer them in one direction. They don’t have to change. Knowing that you have their back no matter what choices they make helps your client trust that you see them as a person first and that they are responsible for deciding what happens. It empowers them to stay with the status quo or to decide to move ahead and shows them they are not being pulled into that decision.

One Last Thought

You will encounter clients who, for whatever reason, are an energy drain. Maybe it’s not a good personality match, maybe the client needs additional support outside of your scope, or maybe they’re seeking training that is inconsistent with your approach.

If you find you and your client aren’t connecting and you’re left feeling drained after each training session, don’t be afraid to fire a client. Not everyone is a good match and if a person is leaving you in a negative mindset, or feeling as though you have less energy for other clients, yourself or your family, it’s time to say goodbye. If you take this approach, try to offer the client alternative options and of course, be as gentle and clear as you can be.

Consistency struggles are a normal part of the behavior change process.

By getting curious, normalizing the challenges and helping clients work through ambivalence, you can help your clients move closer to the goals they desire.

The GGS-1 Coaching Certification is the world’s first comprehensive, interdisciplinary, evidence-based, body-positive, women-specific certification for health and fitness professionals. This certification is NOT your “run-of-the-mill” online course. It’s the pinnacle of women’s coaching information and is guaranteed to help you stand out in your crowded field.

JOIN NOW

The post How to Help a Client Who Struggles With Consistency appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.

https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/

It was 2009. My husband and I were running our fitness boot camps and had just had our first child. I knew I didn’t want to travel anymore to speak with a new baby at home, and decided to focus on online training and coaching instead. I loved helping clients effect change in their lives and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to marry what I loved best, with the flexibility and schedule I was looking for. I added in clients who wanted a deeper dive in nutrition and behavior and was excited to get to work.

At first I loved it. Clients adopted the changes we discussed and were making progress and I felt like a rock star. It felt great to know that I was helping them reach their goals and creating a program that worked. They told friends. I took on more clients. And then I hit a road bump.

A client wasn’t following any of my nutrition strategies — despite planning around every barrier and talking about things she could try each week. I sent reminders. I followed up. When we would get on the phone to chat for her weekly session it felt like a confessional of what she wasn’t doing. I would think harder and offer new suggestions, tweaking and offering new meal and snack ideas and new strategies, only to no avail.

Eventually I remember telling her, “I can’t help you. I’ve given you every strategy and tool I can and at this point, you have to make the decision to put them into practice in your own life. Until you do that, you won’t be successful and you won’t make any progress.”

Oomph.

It hurts to recall this now. In hindsight I can see how much I failed that client and all the things I would do differently — but more on that in a minute. Because what I distinctly remember in that moment wasn’t that I had failed to coach her, but that I was just a failure. I wasn’t the rock star or the expert who had all the answers. None of my answers worked for her. And if I couldn’t help this client, then how could I call myself a coach?

Looking back on those days, I wasn’t really a coach. I was selling a program with a specific approach to nutrition and fitness behaviors that worked for many people, and that also worked for me. I was good at directing my clients on how to best use my principles. I had no idea how to guide my clients to find their own principles and answers. That wouldn’t come for a few years.

I continued coaching for a year or so, of course from time to time running into clients who didn’t mesh with my programs and my answers, and I’d feel defeated again. Eventually, I decided to stop individual coaching and go back to small group programs. I started speaking again.

A Question of Mindset

It wasn’t until I became familiar with Carol Dweck’s work on mindset that I began to see my first mistake in my online coaching days. I had a fixed mindset.

If you’re not familiar with Dweck’s work, she is a Stanford University psychologist who studies how we think about our talents and abilities and the impact it has on learning, performance, parenting, athletics, etc.

Essentially people fall into one of two categories: fixed mindset — those who believe that intelligence, skills, and abilities are fixed and their potential is set at birth — and growth mindset — those who believe that abilities can be developed, skills can be learned, and potential is essentially limitless with hard work and effort.

Individuals who have a fixed mindset focus on proving their worth and their value. If you are a coach with a fixed mindset, you expect that you have to be the smartest one in the room. When it comes to your relationships with your clients, you are the expert with the answers. And while in theory the reason you are coaching clients is about helping them succeed, ultimately your choices always comes back to proving your value as a coach.

I remember discovering this concept and feeling such relief! “You mean I don’t have to hold all of the answers? I can meet my client wherever they are?”

I realized my previous errors. By assuming I had to have all of the answers, I didn’t empower my clients to find what was possible for them. By telling my clients what to do, I took the change process out of their own hands. And by being so quick to offer alternatives and new strategies, I took the responsibility for their success.

The Compliance Struggle

If you’re in the behavior change business, it is inevitable that you will encounter clients who struggle with compliance. Whether it’s clients who say their goal is to reduce body fat but who are unwilling to monitor or change their eating habits, those who say they want to maintain progress when traveling and then skip workouts, or those who turn to quick fixes and magic bullets despite your steady reminders that those don’t work.

Poor client compliance can be difficult at any stage in your career. It can be a source of frustration, leave you uncertain about your skills and abilities and can even lead to burnout. When dealing with compliance issues we have to remember it’s not necessarily the client’s fault. Too often we’re quick to think of what the client isn’t doing, instead of recognizing, like in my case, it may be the way we’re coaching the client in the first place.

When our clients aren’t compliant they are trying to tell us something. Maybe they’re saying:

• “This requires too much of me, it’s too challenging, too rigorous, etc.”
• “This isn’t something I believe I can do; I don’t think I have the energy or resources for this.”
• “I’m afraid of failure.”
• “I’m afraid of success”

And any other thing in between.

When we take a “comply or die” mentality with clients, we ignore their unique story, experience and underlying concerns.

Even worse, we may be taking someone who has little belief in themselves and validating all the fears and reasons why they think they can’t be successful in the first place. If you have clients who are struggling with compliance, help them own the change process. Use these steps to see if you can meet them along the way.

Start With You

First, check your mindset. Are you feeling responsible for having the answers for your client? Are you focused on your client reaching outcomes rather than on their experience?

It’s easy to fall into a routine with clients that “works.” Without even realizing it, you may be doing what feels best for you instead of what works best for your client. If this is the case, shift toward a person-focused approach.

Focus on Your Client

One of the best tools to help you turn the focus on the client is to use Motivational Interviewing (MI) and its related concepts in your coaching practice.

Motivational Interviewing as a practice is extensive, and further information on training can be found at MotivationalInterviewing.org. However, we can use some of the key concepts from MI to better understand our clients and improve client outcomes.

1. Develop Great Listening Skills

To take a person-focused approach, we have to be willing to get curious. Ask open-ended questions that start with what, how, why, or tell me about. Yes or no questions stop the flow of information between you and your client, but open ended questions may give you information you wouldn’t know or think to ask about. Consider:

Coach: “Ready to train?”
Client: “Never.”
Coach: “Haha! Let’s go.”

vs.

Coach: “How was your day?”
Client: “Exhausting.”
Coach: “Tell me about it. In what way?”
Client: “We had a flood in part of our office last night and I had to unpack and transfer 32 banker boxes of files to the other side of the building. I thought of it as a workout!”
Coach: “Sounds like it was. If you’re feeling overtired we could focus more on mobility and core training today.”

In the first example, you may get to the fact that the client is exhausted from work. Or you may not, and you may just wonder why her performance seems to be suffering, or she could end up feeling over fatigued and sore. The open ended question allows you to obtain more information than you would otherwise.

2. Use Reflective Listening to Seek Clarification

When you’re engaged in open-ended questions, it’s helpful to check for understanding by reflecting your client’s words back to them.

Client: “And after I get home from work, I just feel done and I never want to cook.”
Coach: “So you feel too tired to cook?”
Client: “No. I just hate cooking. It takes so much more energy to do the things I don’t want to do.”
Coach: “I know that feeling. What do you think you would be willing to do?”

3. Understand That Ambivalence Is a Normal Part of Behavior Change

Ambivalence refers to having mixed feelings about something. Most of us experience conflict over the choices we make each day. We know we’ll feel better from eating the salad with lean protein, but we also like the taste of a burger and fries. We know we should get more sleep, but the Netflix binge is too compelling.

When you’re working with your clients, help them to see that this conflict is natural and then help them work through it. To do this, help clients identify:

The benefits of staying the same — What’s good about not changing? By asking what’s good about keeping things as is, you can see what benefit the client sees in not changing.

The challenges of changing — Here you can better understand your clients underlying concerns and worries they have for making change.

The benefits of changing — What’s good about making the changes they desire for themselves?

The negatives of staying the same — What’s bad about not changing?

Hope and optimism for changing — What do they see as possible for themselves? This is a critical step, because ultimately your clients hold the answers.

How to visualize change — Ask your clients to imagine what change looks like for them. If they were able to change, what would that look and feel like?

Walking clients through these steps help them understand that there may be reasons why change feels difficult and why they may not be ready for it. It normalizes the change process and allows your clients to work through their ambivalence until they reach a place where the benefits of change outweigh the negatives of staying the same.

4. Identify Discrepancy

Clients may not see the difference between what they say they desire for themselves and where they are currently. For example, a client may say they really want to dial in their nutrition, but often allow their partner to talk them into making less than healthy food choices. By pointing out the discrepancy, you can explore the potential challenges and barriers to making that change a reality.

5. Roll With Resistance

This last point may be the most important step. When a client is highly resistant to suggestions and ideas, avoid getting into a back and forth with them. Instead, let go of the need to steer them in one direction. They don’t have to change. Knowing that you have their back no matter what choices they make helps your client trust that you see them as a person first and that they are responsible for deciding what happens. It empowers them to stay with the status quo or to decide to move ahead and shows them they are not being pulled into that decision.

One Last Thought

You will encounter clients who, for whatever reason, are an energy drain. Maybe it’s not a good personality match, maybe the client needs additional support outside of your scope, or maybe they’re seeking training that is inconsistent with your approach.

If you find you and your client aren’t connecting and you’re left feeling drained after each training session, don’t be afraid to fire a client. Not everyone is a good match and if a person is leaving you in a negative mindset, or feeling as though you have less energy for other clients, yourself or your family, it’s time to say goodbye. If you take this approach, try to offer the client alternative options and of course, be as gentle and clear as you can be.

Compliance struggles are a normal part of the behavior change process.

By getting curious, normalizing the challenges and helping clients work through ambivalence, you can help your clients move closer to the goals they desire.

The GGS-1 Coaching Certification is the world’s first comprehensive, interdisciplinary, evidence-based, body-positive, women-specific certification for health and fitness professionals. This certification is NOT your “run-of-the-mill” online course. It’s the pinnacle of women’s coaching information and is guaranteed to help you stand out in your crowded field.

JOIN NOW

The post How to Help a Client Who Isn’t Compliant appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Around here, we enthusiastically celebrate any opportunity to save on All-Clad, one of our favorite high-end (and high price point) cookware brands. So we were thrilled to see that their popular VIP Factory Seconds Sale is ongoing through this Wednesday, November 7. Hosted by Home and Cooks Sales (you just need to provide your email address to view the sale), this promotion happens a few times a year and features a huge variety of All-Clad’s classic and specialty styles of cookware. All items are final sale, and while most are priced generously at 40 to 50 percent off, you can score discounts of up to 80 percent off on certain items.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

If you or anyone you know lives with celiac disease, then you know how difficult eating and cooking can be. Gluten is everywhere! It’s in your breads, cereals, pastas, cakes, cookies, pastries, beer — and it can be hard to avoid. You need to check all your food labels and, in extreme circumstances, make sure that your housemates don’t put gluten on kitchenware you regularly use.

That’s why it’s especially exciting to find out that there might be a vaccine that could effectively cure most sufferers of celiac disease. People reports that a vaccine called Nexvax2 can target the immune system to stop the inflammation that usually happens when a celiac sufferer has food with gluten in it.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

With Halloween over, it’s time to pack up the wigs and get started on planning for the big winter holidays. Now, before the party pressure begins, is the best time to get started; it’s still all about dreaming of amazing appetizers and planning the best bites, with endless scrolling through dreidel-shaped desserts and ombre popcorn strands.

And if you — like 62 million other people around the world — are using Pinterest to help plan, they’ve got a new board setup to help get you from imagining low-carb latkes to cooking keto stuffing.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Tomorrow is Election Day. Across the country, your fellow Americans will be voting for governors, state attorneys general, Senate representatives, even school board members. Voting is one of the most important actions you can take as a citizen; it’s a simple way to serve your community, and to actively participate in our government.

You shouldn’t need too much encouragement to head to your polling place, but just in case you do, restaurants and cafés across the country are offering extra incentives for voting. Here are the most exciting (and delicious).

READ MORE »