8. Why I started Foundations Health Coaching - My Health Journey
I always struggled with my weight and health. I was brought up in a low income household, where cheap food was generally unhealthy and food was used as a treat or reward. Add to that my poor impulse control, partly caused by my ADHD. Finally, using food and alcohol became a way of managing stress and disappointment. Put it all together and you had the perfect cocktail for weight gain and poor health.
I often tried losing weight or getting fit, just to find the change too much and ultimately putting more weight on. I’d go so hard and show so much dedication making unrealistic changes that it just wasn’t sustainable.
Gruelling workouts five times a week, restrictive diets, counting every calorie became the norm for 6-9 months each year, only for it to all come tumbling down at the back end of year.
At the time I was in school leadership, before progressing to coaching and training other leaders. Often I would be working 13 hour days and ordering food to arrive at my house as I got home.
It wasn’t until I realised I could apply my leadership coaching skills to trying to make a change. I had supported countless schools with successfully implementing ambitious projects, there had to be crossover with my own battles. This background, paired with developing health and nutrition knowledge allowed me to finally make sustainable and meaningful change.
Appropriate and Realistic Plan
First, I had to realise what was manageable and appropriate for me, or rather what was not! So often at the time, the majority of easily accessible health and fitness knowledge came from body building and professional sport. However, I was not a bodybuilder and neither did I have any intention of becoming one! I needed to focus on getting better, not chasing perfection!
Actions Over Goal
Next, I focussed on the next action, not the end outcome. With my leadership clients they often could see their aim or own goal, but not the tiny steps they needed to take to reach the desired result, this was often where I spent a lot of time working with them to break down these targets into manageable actions. I needed to do the same with myself. I wasn’t going to lose weight or get fitter by wanting it. I needed to complete small actions on a consistent basis, that would likely lead to my desired outcome.
Timeframe
To go along with these appropriate, small actions, I had to rethink the time frames I wanted to achieve my goals. Time and time again, I had tried losing xx lb by yy date and it rarely happened and certainly never stayed that way! I needed a far more realistic time frame - whenever I introduced a project, all the successes were about years of sustained, gradual impact; not quick wins. For my health goals, I decided to look two years ahead - and have milestones along the way to ensure I was on track.
Baseline
Following this, I had to establish a clear baseline consisting of more than one data point (i.e. not just concentrating on my weight). I knew at different points over time some data sets would show more or less progress. For instance, while I was prepping for a strongman contest earlier this year, I knew I didn’t expect or really want my weight to go down. However, I hoped I would feel more energetic and look leaner.
Data points I decided to track included:
> weight
> waist, chest and arm circumferences
> body fat % (although my scales ended up being useless for this so my data was not helpful)
> sleep quality
> progress photos
> strength and aerobic fitness
> mood/feelings
Why
The last area I looked at was understanding why I wanted to make a change. I knew when I implemented change or supported others to do so, the biggest correlation for long-term success was participants understanding why change was needed and believing the desired change was the right thing to do. For myself to be successful, I needed to explore my whys beyond superficial reasons or just feeling like I should be a bit healthier.
The following are my whys:
> live a long and capable life
> be a good and capable partner and parent in the future
> feel confident
> perform at CrossFit, strongman and running
> always be able to say yes to any challenge
> prevent disease
> be able to perform in work
My Progress
By no means am I the fittest or healthiest person in the world. But, I am in a substantially better position than I was two years ago. At present, my physical changes include having lost over 45lb and counting, increased my deadlift by 40kg to 240kg, reduced my 5k run time by 6 minutes to 35 minutes, lost 4+ inches from my waist. More importantly than that, I feel happier, have more energy, am ill less often and feel more confident.
A New Passion
As I changed, I became more passionate about helping others to transform their health. I have stepped away from teaching and continue to scale down my leadership consulting dramatically.
Along with this passion to help others improve their health, I have become more aware of the poor level of education for both adults and children regarding personal health. Likewise, I developed an understanding of the corruption in the health and food industries. Both of these have made me even more determined and enthused to help others turn their health around.
This also led to me setting up Foundations Health for Kids, where I work with children in schools and at clubs to learn about their health and how they can exercise from an early age.
The Future of Foundations Health Coaching
Moving forwards, I want to continue to expand the coaching reach of Foundations Health Coaching and Foundations Health for Kids. I want to produce free education material to help even more people start to take control of their health, as I believe everyone deserves to live long, healthy and happy lives.