Have a client who weighed over 400 pounds, lose 50 pounds in 5 months. Now he put it all back on. Help!!

This would be the time to re set goals.
Sit down and have an eye to eye conversation with him.
Writing up a contract is a great motivational tool, tracking is another.
As personal trainers we can only do do much encouraging, educating, talking, nudging and guiding, ultimately it will be up to your client to succeed for himself.

No real way to deal with this- its a normal occurrence. As a personal trainer you're with someone 1-7 hours a week, and the rest of the time they're living their own life.

You need to show them the skills they need to make the best choices when you're not there to motivate them.

Shane, I am so happy to know that you are an ACE Certified Personal Trainer.

This might surprise, however, the answer to your question lies within the pages of your ACE Personal Training Manual. Hopefully, you have the most current edition.

I wholeheartedly encourage you to review chapter six of your manual. You will find plenty of information that will assist you in determining which stage of change your clients are in and thus be able to create effective goals and strategies that will equip them in reaching and maintaining their goals as well as overcoming obstacles when they occur.

From my perspective, it appears that there was no "I've fallen of the wagon" strategy in place to help arm your client.

Shane, as you likely are aware, changing a behavior, particularly a chronic behavior, is very difficult and it is important to explain that to your client. It is also important to explain to your client that success in a particular behavior is correlated to past successes in the new behavior.

It is apparent that your client did not have a solid history with the behavior he/she is trying to adopt. It's sort of like riding a bike...

If you were a bike rider when you were young, it is very likely that jumping back on your bike 5 years later will come easy. Your client is learning a new behavior and has "fallen on his/she bike for the first time." The good thing about this is that he/she has a positive experience with the desired behavior and can reflect on what worked well within the five months and what didn't work. It's important, though, to encourage your client to have the mindset of a toddler that is learning how to walk. It stumbles and fall plenty of time, however, the toddler never gives up.

Hope this is of help to you.

Hi Shane. In addition to what's already been said here by others, I would also add that as we always tell our clients, they don't GAIN all of their weight overnight. I bring this up not as a condemnation, but as a "lesson learned" in that assuming that you've been working with your client consistently throughout their weight LOSS, and now their weight GAIN, as we observe our client making progress and applauding them on that - we also need to observe our client regaining their weight and call them on that. Is this weight gain something that you began to notice, yet didn't ask your client about?

Again, this is not placing the BLAME on you, or any trainer, because in the end it's the client's responsibility. However, it is stating a simple principle of training, "just as we're there to celebrate our client's successes, we need to also be there to call them out on their failures, and hold them responsible throughout our entire training relationship with them.

I hope that this helps.

LaRue, CSCS
www.lecfitness.com
larue.cook@lecfitness.com

Hi Shane,
I can completely relate to what you're going through. I have also
Felt this frustration with some clients. What I have learned over the years as A trainer is that there are some things you can control and some things you Cannot control. Sometimes the client is suffering from emotional eating disorders, low self-esteem, Ect. Sometimes with these type of clients I will refer them to a mental health practitioner. The bottom line is that if the client wants to make the change it needs to be a (100% deep core desire). And they are willing to take the action to make that change.

I hope this helps.
Dave Gibson, NASM-CPT

I lost 150 pounds myself, and I still struggle with weight gain. Journaling is number one. Not only what you eat , but also how you are feeling when it happens. What is triggering the eating? What emotion are you trying to cover up? Are they watching TV when eating? TV is a big one, all those food commericals. Someone without an eating disorder maybe understand, you have already eaten 1000 calories before you realize what you ate infront of the TV. Until they gain some control, TV watching may have to be banned. What time of day are they overeating? Come into the gym at that time.

Mindful eating, help them to slow down when eating: Meditation, have the client get in touch with the feelings that they cover up with eating. Find a place that offers meditation, just for well being.

These are just a few suggestions. Good Luck

Clients like yours need to have a supportive environment around them or they will slip back to old habits. It takes a lot more that training and a diet plan for them to change lifestyle and make better choices. If they don't have their family and friends supporting them it's very hard to move on. Maybe a psychologist could be another option to consider for this client.