How to handle a client who thinks they know more than you?
I recently aquired two new clients, both overweight, and spent over 2 hours assessing them, calculating their BMRs, and recommending a caloric range for both.
For one of them I recommended between 1500 and 1750 calories for an average weight loss of 1-2 lbs a week if she exercises. She changed her caloric intake to 1200 in the program, chose to eat 600 calories for a few days, then stopped logging her meals altogether. The other client was staying within his caloric range but ate very low ND foods such as white pasta, pancakes, and processed meats. I asked him to incorporate one fruit, vegetable, or side salad a day. He chose to ignore me for 3 weeks and then his calories jumped way above his recommended intake. I know you can’t win every battle, but I feel like I am losing these two and maybe it is not my battle to fight. How would you handle these two situations?
From my experience and personal opinion, there are two ways you can handle the situation.
1. Knowing that you have done all you can and do what your supposed to when you train them; you can document all that you have done and asked them to do, and hold them accountable for their results. As a personal trainer, we can do all that we can when they see us but they need to hold their self accountable for what they do outside of that 30-60 minute session. If they continue to come back, I would continue to offer the services as long as you know you’re doing all you can.
Or
2. You can stop offering your services to the clients. As bad as it may sound, it’s the right thing to do at times. As a personal trainer I hold myself to high standards and my students (clients) as well. If you as a trainer have done all you can and they continue to resist then they might have other problems that need to be resolved. It might take money out of your pocket but it will give you a piece of mind.