Frustrated and Scared? Good! You're Normal!

I recently corresponded with a new Leanness Lifestyle University student who, quite honestly, after 30 minutes of enrollment, wanted to quit. I think it’s important that I share why she wanted to quit though. I will quote her anonymously and then reply with what I told her.
I cannot stress how common it is that new students come to me frustrated after paying an in-person personal trainer a lot of money with no weight-loss results to show for it. Personal trainers can be great–as long as they are used for what they are best at–THE WORKOUT. Very very few personal trainers have the training, experience, tolerance and time to deal with lifestyle- and nutrition-management strategies. Those are the areas Leanness Lifestyle University especially excels with.
What Leanness Lifestyle University does not do is precisely what personal trainers are best at–IN PERSON WORKOUTS. They do what we don’t do. We do what they don’t do. It’s a match made in heaven if you can do both. But if you go to a personal trainer to lose weight you are not putting your money to maximal use.
FROM A NEW STUDENT
“It seems that there are a lot of steps involved and I’m afraid that it will be another failed attempt on my part. As of now, my esteem and faith is pretty low. I’ve been working with a trainer for the past 16 weeks and I have no results to show for it.
I KNOW that I am putting in the time and effort necessary and that this would work for the average person. I’m afraid that i’m not average. My body does not want to give up fat. Only in the past week has my trainer admitted to me that she’s not an expert in nutirtion and that she would need to consult a friend about my situation because I should be dropping the weight and I’m just not. It took her 16 weeks to think of this.
I was taking in 1300 cals and now i’m up to 1600. I’m 5’7″ and 185 pounds so I guess thats supposed to be the magic number for me. No luck yet. i’m working hard with no results.
Fear is stopping me at this point. Pure and simple. Let me know if you have any thoughts.
Thanks”
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My Reply:
Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.
I asked what you believe you need. The clearest answer you gave for that is “I don’t have a clear answer”
Next — I don’t blame you a BIT for being frustrated with NO results in 16 weeks. The bottom line is you got some good workouts in but not some good LIFESTYLE and NUTRITION workouts so you could figure out what to eat and how to make it work in your life. You also were not challenged to ask WHY you want to do this in the first place. I ask that and much more.
You are confused. Join the crowd of almost every new person who comes to me. I do what your trainer is scratching his/her head over. You are not confusing to me. The issue you are having is whether all this INTERNET STUFF is worth it and doable. It is. It’s an education. It’s like going to a local University and sitting in a classroom where you learn life-changing lessons that NO ONE can take away from you when you graduate.
You are special yet still quite average. You are unique yet exceptionally common. In NO way are you broken or some enigma that I can’t figure out. The fact your trainer couldn’t figure you out is, again, NOT a surprise. It’s not what they do. It’s what I do. They are with you an hour a day. LL University is the other 23 hours in a day.
Low faith? Again, join the crowd. Most come to me pretty broken down. How many failures must one endure to finally win? I’ll give you the answer — ONE MORE. You keep going until you win. I call this PWE(squared)
Pursue the worthy endeavor
Persist without exception
Never give up. Part of that, for you, is getting the education and putting in the time FOR YOU that is necessary to get the education (the REAL education) that you need to succeed.
Your body does NOT want to give up fat. You are 100% right! We can nudge your body into giving up fat — guaranteed.
We say “Feel the fear and do it anyway.” Being afraid is normal at first here. Giving up before you start? Not normal for my students and definitely not a pattern for someone who is eventually going to be successful.
I AM an expert in nutrition. Can you dedicate 1 hour per day for 1 week and then 45 minutes per day for 1 week and then 30 minutes per day for 1 week and then 15 minutes per day from then on (if you stay) to get an education that can change your life? If you can? Stay, commit to this investment of time with my educational program. You’ll be amazed what you learn and how your body responds to your newly applied knowledge.
Sincerely in health,
David Greenwalt B.Sc., CSCS – Founder
Leanness Lifestyle