Numbers, Schmumbers.

It's been that kind of week: super busy, kind of under the weather, and I'm beginning to worry that this falling behind on my 100 workouts in 100 days is a permanent state, because the coming week is no less busy.

 Let's see, where am I? This would be day 29...and I'm at 20 workouts. Meh, I can catch up- it's early.
All I need to do is kick out the germs that have been plaguing my system this week and then it's full speed ahead! Had a couple of workout fails this week, as well as some rather crappy news concerning my gimpy arm: the MRI was last Wednesday and I got a call from the doc the following Monday where they informed me that I need to come in and discuss the results...on March 5th. Did a bit of raging over this - another month? Really? Just to talk to the doctor? - then decided that enough is enough, I am NOT babying it anymore. I went straight out into the gym and started heaving around weights that would have been heavy before the injury...and wound up back in our staff room with the offending arm packed in ice. Bah.

Patience is not one of my virtues.

 I hereby pledge to take it easy while I build back up.

So. As usual, I have an axe to grind today. I almost feel like a traitor posting this, but here it is anyway...'cause who says everyone has to agree on everything?

 Today I feel the need to debunk the arguments of one of the most influential teachers in my fitness/nutrition/coaching career: Dr. John Berardi. Now, I have the utmost respect for the guy; my nutrition certification comes directly from his company, Precision Nutrition, and I spent two life-changing years in PN's coaching program, Lean Eating (which I'd recommend to just about anyone). But, Dr. Berardi keeps publishing these articles that just get under my skin and make me want jump up and down and yell and scream and punch him in the face. And if he's entitled to his opinion, then so am I!

 Dr. Berardi's latest offending article went up on PN's Facebook page today, and it's called "Top 10 Things Elite Coaches Do (and 6 Things They Read)". Check it out if you are so inclined. My biggest problem with the tone of the whole article is the obsession with numbers: tracking everything, before/after photos, logging changes in weight, measurements, appearance, pee color, etc. etc. I don't believe in getting obsessed with numbers; I think it's an unhealthy pursuit at the best of times and a dangerous hangup at the worst. I hate the 12-week weight-loss challenges that a lot of the big fitness companies put out there. HATE them. If you are looking to make a change, going into a gym and telling the trainer "I want to lose 20lbs in 12 weeks!" is just about the worst thing you can do. Why? It looks like a good goal. It's timely. It's specific. It's measurable. It's attainable (within the 1-2lbs/week that most weight-loss agencies advertise as healthy).

Blah, blah, blah. Baloney. Here's what I ask those people: what are you willing to change in order to see those results? What do you want to learn from this experience? How do you want the next 12 weeks (or whatever time frame has been set out) to affect your long term health? Are you interested in putting all that weight back on when you go back to "normal"?

'Cause here's the thing: lasting weight loss takes time. It takes work. It takes a willingness to ask yourself the hard questions about why you got to the point where you need help getting some weight off. And it might take some serious soul-searching. Can you dig deep into the archaeology of your psyche and figure out what those demons are and put them to rest, THEN worry about the weight loss, in 12 weeks? Hell no. Most of the time. Sure, any jackass can put you on a diet and tell you what to eat and when to eat it and how to work out. But what happens after it's done?

Dr. Berardi also advocates putting together a book of client testimonials and successes so that you can show it off to prospective clients, which on the surface seems like a good idea. But I don't like it, and here's why: I don't own any of my clients' successes. Any success my clients have is because THEY did the work. I can show them the path, I can guide along the way, and I can be an ear, or a shoulder to cry on when it gets hard or overwhelming. I can set out the plan, but I can't execute it. I also can't control what goes on outside the gym. And you know what else? If I own the success stories, then I own the failures too. And I don't want that.

 Here's the other side to that story: I want to introduce you to one of my clients (whose name has been changed). When 'Anna' first came to see me four years ago at 57 years old, she had recently gotten out of a long, emotionally abusive marriage. She had terrible posture, didn't like to look people in the eye, and carried a lot of extra weight around. She was in constant pain from a medical condition but afraid to deal with it. She would never speak up for herself.

Today, she is 14lbs lighter than she was then. If all I were concerned about were numbers, 14lbs is not much in 4 years. BUT today she walks tall. She isn't in pain. At 61, she's strong and fit and she knows it, and she enjoys life to the fullest. Yes, she is still carrying some extra weight around and she's still working on it. But the personal transformation through improved health and fitness that I've seen in her is much more rewarding than anything that could be summed up with a set of digits. And much more meaningful.