I was asked this question by one of my students just recently. He attended an On The Edge BOSU conditioning workshop and was working with his friend practicing some of the exercises. His friend was standing on the BOSU while he did partner taps when a trainer ran over and told him that he should never do this exercise because of the instability it causes to the ankle. The student, who is not yet through his personal training certification, did not know what to say. He didn’t know who this trainer was, his experience or educational background.

After he told me what happened I remembered a similar incident I experienced when I first started personal training and I also didn’t know what to do. I felt very unsettled because I was following what I’d learned in my course and what my instructor taught me. There was no reason to doubt what I’d learned. However when that trainer came up to me and criticized me on an exercise I was teaching in front of my client I felt like I didn’t know anything and my confidence was seriously shaken.

At some point in your personal training career someone will offer their opinion on an exercise or perhaps critique how you explain something to a client. For whatever reason, some people feel compelled to share their knowledge in a manner that is “crisp” rather than helpful. Whether this has to do with their own ego or whether they sincerely believe they are just trying to “help you out” the manner, style and method of delivering feedback is important but unfortunately not always thought out.

I would like to offer some suggestions on what you can do if you should find yourself in a similar situation.

Suggestions

1) If a personal trainer approaches you while working with a client say, “Thank you for taking the time to come over and speak with me. I would like to hear what you have to say however this is not a good time because my client is paying for my time. Can we chat later and in private?” It’s important that feedback not be given in front of a client as this can undermine the trust between yourself and your client.

2) Listen respectfully, seek to understand their point of view and ask probing and thoughtful questions.

3) Ask for educational resources to back the information and if there are books, web references or published studies you can review. If they can provide you with that information then they most likely have furthered their knowledge in a way that you might be interested in learning more. If they fumble trying to give you those resources then chances are they heard it from someone else and aren’t really sure why themselves.

4) Do your own research around the topic. Talk to other industry professionals and perhaps even get back in touch with your instructor and ask them their thoughts on the topic.

Information in the fitness industry constantly changes. When you become a fitness professional you commit yourself to a process of life-long learning. You can’t just stop at the courses you’ve taken to become a personal trainer and never do anymore reading or continuing education. You must constantly be updating your knowledge because new research comes out regularly. Share what you learn with other trainers and be respectful of how you deliver this information so that it comes across as helpful and not threatening.

As a personal trainer you develop the ability to break down exercises, to analyze form and technique in order to ensure that clients move and lift properly. It’s an aptitude that all trainers need to develop. Knowing what an exercise looks like when done correctly and what to look for when it all goes wrong and be able to correct it is the job of a competent personal trainer. But that’s just the starting point. To take things further in your knowledge of movement analysis you need to understand the issues around common muscle imbalances and how they play a key role in muscle compensation. As well as learn the concepts behind myofascial and muscular chains, muscle slings and trigger points which can greatly assist you with your program design. You will gain much insight during taking your ability to analyze movement and exercise another step further.

If this sounds interesting and you want to learn more about these concepts come join me and Susana Abreu on Sunday, May 27^th at 9:00am, where we will cover these topics. We will take you through the analysis of three primal movement patterns and apply what you’ve learned during the session.

However, if you haven’t taken your course with us and you are struggling to find work then here are some tips to help you out.

1) Take a walk. Take a walk or drive through your community and locate all the fitness clubs or private personal training studios. Walk in and introduce yourself to a staff member. Have your resume handy and inquire if they are looking to hire. Not all jobs are posted so you never know if you might walk in at the right time when they are looking for a trainer.

2) Talk to people. Let people know that you are a personal trainer and that you are taking clients or looking for a job. People are a great resource and someone within your circle of influence might know of a job or people looking to hire a trainer. Even if something doesn’t happen right away, give it time and remind people of what you need.

3) Check the internet. There are so many job posting sites so check the internet often to see what’s been posted. Read the job posting carefully and check for qualifications. Don’t just send in your resume if you don’t meet the requirements. This sends a strong signal that you don’t pay attention to detail and will land your resume in the bin.

4) Be proactive in your search. Jobs won’t come to you if you aren’t proactively looking and talking to people about your search. Stay positive and it will make it easier for you to hunt for a job.

5) If you do land an interview, go prepared. Knowing about the company you are applying for is easy. Check out their website and learn as much as you can about the organization. Drop-in and take a tour of the facility. If you know someone who works there ask them questions to gain a deeper understanding of the company, their vision and mission. Dress in business casual for the interview unless they ask you otherwise. Show up early and be ready and eager to sell your skills as a personal trainer. Humble arrogance is the way to go. Don’t oversell yourself but be confident in your abilities and humble in your approach. Nobody likes a show-off or know-it-all.

There are lots of jobs for personal trainers who have the right training, a great attitude and the ability to connect and engage people.

Over the past twenty years as a personal trainer I’ve trained in all kinds of places. I’ve trained in people their homes in the smallest of rooms. I’ve trained on the beach, at the park and in many make-shift basement gyms and offices. Being flexible, adaptable and creative as a personal trainer is just part of the job and also part of the fun.

When you are just starting out as a personal trainer, like anything new, it might feel very overwhelming to step out of the norm which in this case would be the gym. This is probably the case because as a new personal trainer your exercise repertoire is limited and you might not know how to work with all the personal training toys like the BOSU, TRX, extreme balance board and fitness balls which restricts your program design capabilities.

The best advice I can give you is to do these three things to expand your knowledge and versatility;

1) Attend workshops

• In the first two years of your new career you should be attending as many workshops as you can to learn more exercises, how to use small equipment, program design, special population and how to fix common exercise problems.

2) Practice and teach what you learn

• As soon as you learn a new exercise practice it yourself first and then quickly teach it to as many people as possible. In this way you guarantee that you remember the information you’ve learned.

3) Play and create your own exercises

• Don’t be afraid to pay and create new exercises. It’s so much fun to pick up a BOSU and a fitness ball and see what crazy exercises you can come up with. Obviously safety comes first and we don’t want our training sessions to turn into a circus act but don’t be afraid to try new things.

When you learn exercises that don’t require big and expensive pieces of equipment you will be able to train anywhere. Challenge yourself by creating one hour programs where you just use the ball, BOSU or band. See how many exercises you can come up with just using one piece of equipment. Once you’ve mastered that then add a new piece or combine two pieces of equipment. Before you know it you will have so many new exercises to give to your clients all of which can be down in a small space.

The key to being versatile and adaptable is to plan ahead and ask yourself what if I get a client that wants me to give them a session in their 100 square foot office and all they have is a fitness ball and a band? Would I turn the business away just because the space is too small and I don’t know how to use a band and ball or would l look at what room and learn what I need to do to make it work? I don’t know about you but I certainly would not turn business away just because I’m not sure what to do. Would you?

It dawned on me that after twenty years in the fitness industry I don’t think there has ever been a workshop or article that has addressed the topic of how to successfully attend a fitness workshop and I knew I just had to write one. But first before I share my tips on how to get the most out of your workshop experience let me recount the typical workshop experience for most of us.

We sign up for a workshop where the speaker goes through a series of exercises. They demonstrate exercises and then participants get all excited, get up and try it. They often don’t pay close attention to form or technique and if they are in partners might not correct, coach or cue their partners to perform the exercise properly. It’s all fun and games but what might be forgotten is that there is more we can do to maximize our learning experience.

I never thought about how we attend workshops and how we integrate and use the information we learn while we are learning it. Master classes are typically just that. Classes that are taught by a master trainer who shows the latest and greatest of what they have to offer. Most of the time workshops are so jammed packed with exercises that there is little to any time left to break down exercises and teach trainers how to actually teach them to their clients.

So how do you get the most out of your workshop experience? Here are a few suggestions you can use the next time you attend a workshop.

1) Ask questions. Most people don’t like to ask questions in a group mostly due to fear that they will show what they don’t know. Workshops are the perfect place to ask questions and participate. New concepts are constantly being introduced in the fitness industry and many are based in science so when you don’t understand something, put your hand up and ask a question. I guarantee someone else has the same question and is too afraid to stand out and ask.

2) Do less and watch more. It’s exciting to learn new exercises and as fitness professionals we love to move our bodies but sitting down and taking notes has tremendous value. You can do a few exercises then take some notes so you remember what you saw. You can also watch other participants and analyze their form and technique and think about what you would say and do to correct it. Even better walk over and lend a hand by pointing out alignment issues and step into your trainers shoes.

3) Review your notes and teach someone else right away. If you really want to remember what you’ve learned then after the workshop review your handout and notes. Then within twenty four hours of the workshop teach what you’ve learned to as many people as you can. Teaching is the highest form of learning because you have to repeat back what you’ve learned. If you can’t articulate what you’ve learned then you’ve only learned it at a superficial level and will have to go back and review.

I hope these tips help you enjoy your workshops and get the most out of them.

I learned quickly how to use the kettle bell drawing on my previous experience in Olympic lifting. Ropes were pretty easy to pick up, not much to them but Zumba, that was a different story. I did find some familiar patters from my group fitness days such as grapevine, mambo and pivot turn but the rest was completely foreign to my body. Although I was having fun it was a challenge keeping up to the fast beat of the music and the pace. The instructors did not verbally cue so you had to rely strictly on the visuals and watch their feet closely.

Within the first five minutes it was obvious that to get good at Zumba I would have to take more classes. One class was not going to make me a Zumba expert. If I wanted to learn how to shake my booty and shimmy my shoulders it was clearly going to take a lot of practice to master.

That’s when I began thinking about mastery and how long it takes to really get good at something. As a teacher, I am always telling my personal training students that learning how to become a personal trainer takes time. We can teach the theory and science behind exercise and provide practical experience through the course but the real mastery comes with practice and lots of it.

You may have heard that it takes ten thousand hours or ten years to become a master at anything. Think about how much practice takes place during that time. A basketball player doesn’t get good by throwing ten free throws. They throw thousands. Tiger Woods didn’t get good at golf overnight. He started young and practiced every day. Lance Armstrong didn’t just win the Tour de France he dominated the tour because he was out training in the worst weather when most other guys were sipping lattes.

To master anything takes time, patience and persistence. You do something every day to move yourself forward in your pursuit of mastery. You practice daily and become fanatic about it and before you know it you actually start to get good.

There is one thing about the pursuit of mastery you should probably know. You will never actually attain it. Like the pursuit of happiness, you will have moments of happiness but you will never truly be in a permanent state of happiness your whole life. It will always be something you will strive for but not something you will ever truly finish.

Mastery is the same. You will get better and better with time but will always continue to learn and thus mastery is a lifelong pursuit with a distinctive start but no end. As the old adage goes, “the more you know the more you don’t know” and this is the case with mastery.

I’ve been in the fitness industry for over twenty years and as the IDEA conference taught me, I will continue to learn new things. My learning over this twenty year period has never stopped. I seek opportunities daily to continue to grow my knowledge just one step further in the pursuit of mastery. I am patient with myself in that I am not attempting to be perfect or know it all. I don’t get upset with myself when I can’t remember things or have difficulty learning a new subject. I am patient with myself and I understand that daily learning is a gift I give to myself and one I share with others. I forgive myself for mistakes I make and find the lesson in everything.

Right now I’m reading a book called, Drive – The Surprising Trust About What Motivates Us written by Daniel H. Pink. I am fascinated by human behaviour and this book is about motivation which is a perfect topic for fitness. In his book Daniel shares his five steps to mastery and it’s those I wish to share with you as well.

Step one:
Remember that deliberate practice has one objective: to improve performance.

Step two:
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Repetition matters.

Step three:
Seek constant, critical feedback. If you don’t know how you’re doing, you won’t know what to improve.

Step four:
Focus ruthlessly on where you need help. While many of us work on what we’re already good at, those who get better work on their weaknesses.

Step five:
Prepare for the process to be mentally and physically exhausting. That’s why so few people commit to it, but that’s why it works.

Put these five steps somewhere you can see them every day. The steps will remind you what it takes to become a master and serve as a guide. Share the steps with your clients because many of them are on their own road to mastery and will find comfort in understanding that it is a life long journey with many ups and downs along the way.

I leave you with one final thought and a question to ponder. The answer may help you uncover your true passion in life and perhaps lead you down the road to a new level of mastery.

“If you didn’t have to work what would you do with your time?”

Feel free to share the answer to this question with me and I would be happy to respond with mine. academyofpersonaltrainers@gmail.com

But then disaster strikes. You get into a major car accident, you become very ill or you injure your back while spotting a client in the gym. It doesn’t matter what the cause of the disaster it’s the result of the incident that’s going to bring your perfect world to a crashing halt. Suddenly you can’t train your clients anymore. You start dipping into your savings but since you only just begun putting any money aside you find you only have two months of savings to carry you through. After that, the money is gone and you have no idea where your source of income will come from.

You don’t have any insurance because you never thought about paying into a plan. You aren’t married so you don’t have the safety net of a partner to help you out. Your once viable business starts to crumble as clients look for another trainer to keep them going.  You ask yourself, “What happened? How did things get so bad so fast?” That’s a good question to be asking, it’s just too bad the question came too late when the tragedy has already happened. Now you’re scrambling to figure out what you are going to do next.

Hopefully this hasn’t happened to you yet which means there’s still time to plan and prevent this disaster from occurring in the first place. While I can’t guarantee you won’t get into a car accident, suffer a major illness or get injured on the job, what I can tell you is that you should start planning for any emergency from day one of your business.

Since you only make money when you work you need to keep working to make money. As soon as something prevents you from doing so, you may find yourself in financial distress very quickly. As a business coach I see this all the time with new and veteran trainers in the personal training industry. They live very much for today and do not plan for their future or prepare for issues that could arise. It’s like gambling with house insurance. Sure your house may never burn down but what if it does? Paying the premium necessary for insurance will allow you start over without the financial hardship. So with personal training you need to create your own safety net especially when you don’t have someone else to rely on in case of an emergency. And even if you have someone to lean on, it’s unfair to allow them bear your financial burden just because you didn’t do a better job of planning in case of an emergency.

As soon as you decide you are going to be an entrepreneur and run your own personal training business you need to start thinking about how to protect yourself against hard times. Most trainers operate as a sole proprietorship and work alone. They haven’t hired other trainers to help them out so they truly have created a job for themselves and not so much a business. I think it’s this mind-set that is the beginning of the issue as to why trainers don’t fortify themselves in case of hard times. We don’t like to think about the what-ifs of getting sick or injured. We keep ourselves healthy so not being able to train doesn’t really enter our reality until it becomes reality and all too often it’s too late.

So what can you do about it and how can you protect yourself? Good questions. Here are five things you should do the minute you decide to be your own boss.

1. 1.       Save 10% of your revenue right away
2. 2.       Pay into an insurance plan
3. 3.       Do not overspend
4. 4.       Pay off any credit card debt
5. 5.       Cash flow is king

Let me first start by saying, if your personal finances are a mess your business finances will be too. If this is the case then get some help right away. Hire an accountant to set-up your books and create a business and personal budget. Stick to your budgets like your life depends on it because it just might. I’m not kidding this is very important.

I learned this lesson the hard way and it took me three tries to get it right and cost me a lot of money because I didn’t follow these five steps. But once I did, my business was solid and I stopped worrying about slow months or if something should happen to me.

Save 10% of your revenue right away

Whenever a client pays you, take ten percent and put it into a savings account right away. Then forget about it. When the amount in your savings account gets up to $5000 then contact an investment advisor and start investing your money. You might be tempted to dip into this savings account when a nice pair of shoes catches your eye or a much needed vacation pops up. Don’t do it. Save and forget about it. This is your future and your safety net. Think long-term otherwise you will turn into the eighty year old personal trainer who has to train instead of wants to train.

Pay into an insurance plan

There are many insurance plans available for entrepreneurs to pay into which provides medical, dental and insurance against loss of work due to illness. Look into purchasing a plan right away. The premiums you pay will be worth it should anything happen.

Do not overspend

It’s easy to overspend especially if that’s your tendency. If you have a budget you will know where every dime you earn should go. If you aren’t particularly skilled in creating a budget then hire some help to get you started. If you aren’t particularly skilled in following a budget then grow up. You’re running a business and you need to get serious about ensuring you have enough cash flow to keep you afloat. Or if you prefer to worry about money all the time then please don’t follow a budget and by all means overspend.

Pay off any credit card debt

How many credit cards do you have? How many of those cards are at or near their limit? How much interest are you paying on those cards every month? Why did you get into debt with your credit cards in the first place? I do not have a great relationship with credit cards. I love to shop and spend money. At one point I had over $15,000 in credit card debt and paid that off using my home equity. Then I ran up the card again and once again had to dip into my home equity. I guess I was a slow learner because after the third time and a serious talking by my husband I had to face the fact that I had a spending problem.

So once we paid off all the cards for a third time I cancelled all but two of the cards. One card was for business and had a $1000 limit and the other card had a $7000 limit. I called the credit card company and asked them to reduce the limit to $2500. This keeps things in control and I pay my card off as soon as I use it. If I don’t have the money then I don’t buy. It’s that simple. Well now it’s that simple but it took me a while to learn this lesson.

So now I’m passing this lesson onto you. Pay off your credit card debt. If you can’t be responsible with your credit cards then I suggest you cut them up, lower your limit and only have one. It’s no laughing matter and certainly won’t help your business.

Cash flow is king

Just recently, I attended a conference where Kevin O’Leary from the Dragons’ Den was speaking. His statement, “Cash flow is king” hit me like a ton of bricks. He said, “Without cash flow your business is dead”. DEAD! I kept thinking, “Kevin is right”. If your business does not have adequate and consistent cash flow you are dead in the water.

The best way to ensure the cash flows like an endless river is to attract, retain and service your clients like they are royalty. Your clients are your life blood and without them you have no business so do whatever you can to show your appreciation and when they do reward you with their money become a miser and save it, hoard it and protect it because it’s the life of your business.

I really want you to start thinking about what you would do if something were to happen to you and you were not able to work. How would you survive financially and for how long? What are you doing right now to put a plan into action to protect yourself? Hey, if nothing happens then that’s great. You might just be able to someday afford that studio you’ve always wanted. And guess what? You’ll have the capital to invest because you’ve taken the time to save your money.

As Kevin says, “You’re in business for one reason and one reason only and that’s to make money”. Yes as trainers we want to help people but are you doing it for free? I didn’t think so. It’s not a bad thing to make money. It’s only bad when you squander it away without thinking about the consequences if something should happen.

After waiting another five minutes Steve finally arrives, coffee in-hand and chastises Doug for not starting his workout. Doug likes Steve so he ignores the comment. Steve gets Doug to do a circuit program stating that Doug doesn’t really need a full hour for circuit training because it’s high intensity and really thirty minutes is good enough. Doug wonders why he’s paying for an hour if thirty minutes is enough but he trusts Steve and doesn’t say anything.

Doug notes how popular Steve has become because his cell phone keeps ringing and from the conversations he’s having he seems to be booking a lot of new clients. Doug doesn’t mind Steve taking calls during his session. After all, he feels lucky that Steve is training him. After about twenty minutes into the circuit and three phone calls later, Steve tells Doug that he has to leave a few minutes early to get to an important client who has just bought a package of fifty. He comments that he doesn’t want to be late to their first session.  He tells Doug to finish the circuit and prances off to talk to the receptionist who is applying her lip gloss. He waves to Doug from the door and says, “See you next week” and heads out to meet his next client. This was their first session of the week and Doug wonders if they will have their second session that week because of his comment.

Demotivated and angry Doug makes an attempt to finish the circuit but calls it quits. Just as he’s heading for the change room he notices another trainer, Brenda working with his wife’s friend Tammy. They’re doing a medicine ball partner training exercise and Doug thinks to himself. “That looks like fun. I wonder why Steve doesn’t do that with me”. Then he overhears Brenda mention that she’s going to spend five minutes stretching Tammy to really get into her tight spots. Irritated Doug mumbles under his breath, “Maybe I should hire Brenda.” Doug considers asking for Brenda’s card but would feel bad about leaving Steve. Besides it would be awkward hiring Brenda while Steve still trained other clients there.

On his way home Doug starts to think that maybe he won’t renew his sessions with Steve and just take a break. He knows the routine because it hasn’t changed much since they started and he feels confident to be on his own. Maybe after some time has passed he can ask Brenda to train him. Maybe she trains somewhere else so he doesn’t have to run into Steve. 

So what do you think? Is this story real? I guess that depends how long you’ve been in the personal training industry and how much you’ve seen. It would seem incredible that a story like this would be true and it isn’t. Well not entirely anyway. But that doesn’t mean there’s no truth to the story. Let me ask you these questions.

1)      Have you ever seen a trainer coffee in-hand training a client?

2)      Have you ever seen a trainer taking calls or texting while with a client?

3)      Do you know any trainers that can’t seem to make it to their appointments on time or finish early?

4)      Have you ever seen a trainer idly standing by while their clients do the exercises?

5)      Have you ever seen a trainer leaning or sitting down while a client is exercising?

6)      Have you ever seen a trainer allow a client to execute an exercise and not correct their form or technique?

I could go on but if you answered yes to any of these questions then I have to ask, are personal trainers becoming glorified baby-sitters? Where they stand over clients dis-engaged, dis-interested and looking bored? I hope not but honestly I can’t say that this isn’t happening in our industry. Trainers who behave in this manner will have short lived careers and bring down the professionalism. Not to mention dangerously perpetuating the negative stereotypes associated with personal trainers.  

Perhaps you think since you don’t participate in any of these behaviours there’s no impact to you. Well, first let me say congratulations. I’m glad you have higher standards, but what about others who don’t? What message do you think this sends to the public looking to hire trainers? Do you realize how much harder it makes it for all of us to do our jobs? If the perception from the public starts to become that trainers are just overpaid baby-sitters then this will affect everyone in the industry. It will be more difficult to attract clients or get them to see the value in paying $60, $70 or $80 an hour.

What can we do about this? It’s not a fictitious problem. It’s real and must be addressed. Since it’s impossible to make anyone behave the way you want you must first start with yourself. If you do any of the things highlighted above make the commitment to stop right now. Show respect for your client, yourself as a fitness professional and the industry by eliminating bad training habits such as these. When you model good habits and behaviour your clients’ will notice. They will refer more people and other trainers will start to notice and wonder what you are doing differently.

If you already have great habits but you see other trainers acting in a less professional manner this can be tricky to deal with. First, do not approach a trainer during a session to chastise them about drinking coffee. This will only embarrass them, their client and leave a bad impression of you. Approaching the trainer after their session can be dicey if you don’t have a good relationship with that trainer. They may view your feedback as overly critical, none-of-your-business or worse, meddlesome.

If you work in an organization you can provide feedback to your supervisor or manager about some of the things you see going. Because you may feel like you are rating someone out, you can offer the feedback anonymously. The names are less important. The ability for the supervisor or manager to address the issue in a team meeting is more important than singling people out. Granted this is a tough situation because we want to do what’s best for the client and not point fingers at our colleagues. However, new trainers might think these behaviours are acceptable because they see veteran trainers modeling it. They may think, “Hey this must be normal so it’s okay.” Or if they have a client like Doug they may assume because he doesn’t say anything that he’s okay with it.

If we hold ourselves and each other accountable for upholding professional standards the value for hiring a personal trainer increases. Let’s not allow the perception of gloried baby-sitter to enter the conscious mind of consumers for if we do we may find ourselves out of a job.

I try and fly later in the morning so I have time to exercise before the flight. I pack plenty of snacks for travel day to avoid being tempted by all the goodies at the airport. (Right now I’m sitting at the airport and the biggest chocolate chunk brownie I’ve ever seen is staring at me as I write this.) I pack bars, nuts, homemade cookies and a salad or sandwich for the plane. I avoid eating airplane food. It gives me gas anyway, wonder why that is? If it’s a long trip I pre-order the kosher, vegetarian, low-sodium meal. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes, well it taste like sawdust. Once clearing security my first mission is to fill my stainless steel water bottle to stay hydrated. Mission two begins with a hunt for fresh fruit; there are always plenty of bananas, apples and freshly cut fruit to buy.

When I arrive at the hotel my first priority is to hit a supermarket where I can load up on fruit and vegetables. Then back at the hotel I cut everything up and place it in my small containers so I always have healthy snacks for a few days. I freeze some of the fruit for my protein shake in the morning. Or if there is no freezer then I use ice and fresh fruit.

For long trips it takes a lot of resolve to stay on track. Especially when it’s a business trip and I have to work all day. It’s easy to let the exercise go or the nutrition slide. Especially if lunches are brought into the meeting or there is dinner out afterwards.   This is all the more reason to eat healthy throughout the day then you can be a bit more flexible in the evening.

As I write this I am in Colorado Springs, Colorado for a business meeting. Last night I walked around for an hour trying to find a healthy restaurant for dinner but all I could find was Wendy’s, McDonalds, Taco Bell and KFC. I was eyeing up the all you can eat Chinese Buffet restaurant but decided I didn’t want the calories, fat and salt from the all you can troth. So I headed back to the grocery store and found some lovely salad fixings and had a perfectly satisfying meal.  

Looking around the grocery store it was obvious other people were not trying to make the same healthy choices. While standing at the deli counter trying to decide how old a shrivelled up baked chicken breast actually was, an older man with a significant amount of belly fat wobbled up to the counter. He ordered 24 double fried chicken wings. I guess frying them twice makes them extra crispy. I’m making a mental calculation on the amount of calories, fat and salt are probably in those wings and looked at his belly and just felt sad. When I looked around the grocery store I didn’t see anyone who was a healthy body weight. The store was full of processed, sugary, high fat foods and I think if I lived here I might have a hard time to stay on track.

Later that evening as I sat in my hotel room flipping through the boob tube I landed on the new Ophra Winfrey network. Since I don’t get the channel at home I decided to watch. The show was called The Heaviest Teens. I was transfixed. Billy was only 19 and he weighed 800 pounds! 800 pounds! What the @$#! 800 pounds. He doesn’t sleep in a bed but sleeps in a large reclining chair. His mother brings him junk food and hand feeds it to him.  I don’t understand why she would do that. Why would she continue to feed her son these bad foods which were killing him? I’m no psychologist and certainly no expert, but isn’t that child abuse? I watched in fascinated horror as Billy was admitted to a special weight loss clinic for treatment. His first surgery was to cut a large section of his abdominal fat in preparation for gastric by-pass surgery later down the road. They weighed this grotesque flap of skin and fat at just over 90 pounds. I weigh 120 pounds so they removed 75% of what I weigh just from his abdomen. Doctors’ report over 200,000 Americans are home-bound because they are too large to leave their houses. Plus the incidence of kids weighing over 200 pounds is on the rise. When they refer to kids they are talking about eight, nine and ten year olds.  In all likelihood, unless these children change their behaviour they will die before their parents from complications of their disease. I watched a double episode and my heart was so heavy by the end of it.

There are many choices you have to make when you choose to lead a healthy lifestyle especially away from home and it’s not easy. It would have been far easier if I didn’t care about what I ate or if I got any exercise. I could just eat whatever was at the airport, the food on the plane and at restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Perhaps if I could find healthier restaurants and be sure of how they are preparing their food, the caloric and nutritional content I would. But the sad fact of the matter is when it comes to eating out it’s a gamble and one I’m not willing to risk with my life.

It’s all a matter of choice. You can choose to eat an apple or have a doughnut. You can choose to go for a walk or sit on your butt in front of the TV. You can choose the foods you feed your children because you are the parents and in control. We all have the power to choose and if we want to stay on-track then we better make choices that allow us to do just that. The consequences of leading an off-track lifestyle can no longer be ignored.

I figure if I can make those choices while on the road then being home should be a piece of cake, rice cake that is.

That’s right when I take the time out of my day to stand in line to do a transaction with a teller the Royal Bank of Canada charges me for that priviledge. When the account representative told me about this fee I actually laughed and said, “you’re kidding, right?” She looked at me and it was obvious she wasn’t kidding. I turned to her and said, “does this make any sense to you as a human being that when you stand in line and wait to work with an actual person that we should pay for that?”  She was about to explain the banks’ policy and defend their decision to DING their customers for their time when I stopped her and said, “I know you didn’t makde up this policy but seriously this one makes no sense.”

I’m not thrilled about being DINGED by the bank for every transaction I do. Especially automated ones where no actual human being is doing the work. But to get charged for seeing a teller who is usually painfully slow, and to wait in line for long periods of time, just doesn’t make sense to me. You would think the bank would like their customers to come in and interact with the staff. To create a connection with people and be able to offer other services.

So what do you think. If I wait 30 minutes in line to speak with a teller should they charge me less because they wasted my time?Maybe the charge should work on a sliding scale. The faster they serve me the more they get. That certainly would make paying a fee worth my while.

I am seriously sad to see customer service eroding to such a level. I understand that businesses need to make money and fees and charges are part of that process. However, from a customer service stand-point sometimes businesses can just push too far and in this case I have to say that for me, this fee is pushing it. What do you think?