A Balancing Act
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>> Welcome back.
Let's continue exploring how you can help clients
move out of emotional eating cycles
by respecting the process of change.
Coaching habit change can seem simple in theory,
but feel far from it in reality.
For example, it's about setting smart goals.
Goals that are specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant, and time bound.
But it's more than that.
It's about asking what this particular client
wants to prioritize right now
and aligning the process with that.
But it's more than that.
It's about recognizing
that life is always changing and evolving.
Needs change, habits change, and goals change.
But it's more than that.
It's about understanding the power of the domino effect.
How taking action can build momentum
and create positive change in multiple areas of life.
But it's more than that.
It's all of these things combined, and it's far from easy.
Change requires trapezing from one point to the next,
which means that you have to let go
before you can move forward.
As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach,
you kind of serve as both a gentle nudge
that keeps clients moving
and the safety net when they fall, kind of
because ultimately clients can't rely on you.
You want to empower them.
How do you do this?
By using basic guideposts such as taking the long view,
keeping it positive, and mobilizing action.
Coaching change includes
promoting self-nourishment and self-empowerment,
honoring bio-individuality, honoring imperfection,
keeping it strengths-based, keeping it simple,
and focusing on mindsets and behaviors.
Today, we're going to briefly cover three areas of balance
when coaching emotional eating.
Systems versus intuition,
values versus goals,
and progress versus humanity.
Are you intrigued? Keep your journal handy.
Here we go.
Number one, balance systems with intuition,
this speaks to the bio- individuality of habit change.
All habit change is fueled by mindfulness
and self-connection.
It's also fueled by intrinsic motivation,
motivation that arises from inside the individual
because it's naturally satisfying
rather than motivation from external rewards.
However, these might look different depending on the client.
Some clients might have great success
with more concrete systems for behavior change,
while others might benefit from less structure.
Therefore, coaching requires using different lenses
and helping clients tune into habits differently
depending on bio-individuality.
In short, the process of habit change depends
on what resonates with each client
and what works on a sustainable level.
For example,
planning decreases the mental effort of decision-making.
So a client who struggles
to unstick compulsive eating habits
might benefit from using a food journal
and writing down everything they eat
in order to stay accountable.
That might ease the mental process
of deciding whether or not to eat
a specific food in the moment.
Systems-based clients might appreciate strategies
like tracking progress on a phone app,
weighing themselves regularly,
or having a clear rewards-based system
to motivate both outcome and behavior-based changes.
Clients who are not so systems-based
or who have struggled with restrictive
or other disordered eating habits in the past
might not enjoy or might not benefit as much
from such strategies.
They might prefer
checking in with an accountability partner twice a month
to share frustrations, successes
and how to manage obstacles,
monitoring weight progress by non-scale victories,
for example, like how they feel
or how their pants fit depending on the client,
or attending a workshop on mindful eating.
How else might you balance more systematic approaches
with more intuitive ones?
Spend a few minutes thinking about the course material
as well as your own experiences.
Pause the video now.
I'm willing to bet that you have tried
a variety of approaches yourself.
And that's a great place to start.
Both systems-based and intuitive-based approaches
have a place in the coaching process.
Number two, balance values with goals.
This is another way of paying attention differently
through different but related lenses.
In this case, it's important to strike this balance
with all clients
in order to help them prioritize
sustainable food relationships.
First, goals.
Goals are where clients hope to arrive.
Again, the process of getting there looks different
depending on the client.
One client might have a particular weight goal,
while another client might value having more energy
to chase after grandchildren.
Some clients might prefer to try quitting cold turkey
rather than starting with the mindset of more or less.
On the one hand,
you want to connect clients with their goals,
and you want to support them in making those goals realities
by communicating about health,
exploring alternative ideas,
and managing progress and accountability.
You want to encourage challenging actions
while keeping a comfortable pace.
You want to brainstorm detailed actions
that will lead to results
while encouraging immediate action.
Yet again, it's a balancing act.
It's important to clarify goals.
As we've discussed, clarity cements the why behind goals,
motivates commitment,
increases accountability,
and empowers.
Vaguer goals can perpetuate feelings
of powerlessness or stuckness
because clients aren't sure how to work toward them
and what constitutes success.
However, some clients might benefit
from focusing less on outcome goals
and more on behavioral goals,
while some clients might benefit
from setting either type of goal
when they have none to guide them.
Either way, you can support them in this.
It's not your job to set goals for them.
But it is your job to support them in the process.
Okay, so that's a brief overview of goals.
Let's move to values.
While goals are more focused on a result
or something that you check off the list,
values are more of an ongoing process.
They provide direction
and a sort of checks and balances for goals
because they help clients refocus on the bigger picture.
You might consider values the mindset piece
and goals the action piece.
Values reflect why and how clients show up
for the coaching process and for themselves,
as a coach, their one key aspect of coaching beyond food.
Connecting with personal values can curb eating patterns
that are based on self-worth.
And it prevents ignoring other areas of life
like primary food
because it refocuses clients to the larger
why behind their goals.
For example, I want to lose weight.
Why?
Because I want to feel more confident.
Why?
Because I want to date more and put myself out there.
Why?
Because I'm tired of feeling lonely
and using food for comfort.
Can you see the value in there?
It sounds like it might be connection
or a sense of belonging.
Values redirect clients beyond food,
in this case, to relationships.
Can you see how this is more powerful
than a vague emotional goal like happiness?
You can use values to view extreme eating approaches
from dieting and restriction,
to eating mindlessly and compulsively,
with curiosity by asking high-mileage questions like,
"How do you deprive your values by not changing?
And how do you deprive your values by changing?"
As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach,
it's important to balance values and goals
in order to help clients keep moving forward
while connecting with the bigger picture.
And the last point today,
number three,
balance progress with humanity.
This basically means gently nudging clients forward
while honoring the fact that, as humans, no one's perfect.
Perfectionism breeds disappointment.
And it can lead to that learned helplessness
we discussed earlier.
Giving up and staying stuck
because you can't bear the thought
of not succeeding one more time.
We'll discuss more strategies
for working with challenges later on.
But I want to introduce this idea now
so that you can start thinking about it.
Grab your journal one last time,
pause the video
and brainstorm how you might help clients
practice anti-perfectionism
in order to keep moving forward with positive change.
You probably came up with many ideas.
Here are some more examples.
Create healthy habits versus rules.
Hit the refresh button when mistakes happen
by analyzing, adjusting,
and trying again to reach the goal set.
Acknowledge achievements no matter how small.
Honor mistakes as learning opportunities and encourage them.
And ask high-mileage questions
to explore what is and isn't working.
As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach,
you might have specific approaches
that have worked with previous clients
but which might not apply for this specific client.
Most theories of habit change apply to many people,
and we included some additional resources
in your Skill Building Activities.
But coaching emotional eating is a balancing act.
And coaching habit change is also a balancing act.
It's not easy, but here are three ways
you can help simplify it and build hope for clients.
One, balanced systems with intuition.
Two, balance values with goals.
And three, balance progress with imperfect humanity.
You might be thinking,
"But wait, how do I help them deal with setbacks?
And what about self-sabotage?
What do I do with that?"
Stay tuned.
We'll explore that very soon.
In the meantime,
look at the handouts in your Learning Center
and keep connecting with your course mates
in the Facebook group.
Bye for now.