#58 SSR: Supplements Are Not a Cure-All.

Reasons or

Results! 

Fitness Nutrition Training

Sovereign Michael Valentine

SPN, CFT, Eft, Yft, Cft, SSc, GFI, CMCht, CERT, Reiki Master

206.225.9647

email: sovereignmv@gmail.com

web: bnbbs.myshaklee.com

Special Report #58

Part of the

“I see you to succeeding"

series.

Supplements are not a cure-all.

If, as a seasoned personal trainer, I could instill one value, trait or attitudinal characteristic to help people get the fat loss results they want in a timely manner, it would be "consistent moderation".                                                  

As you know from my classes and writings, I certainly promote the idea that whole foods should be the foundation of your fitness / fat loss program followed by sensible, high quality supplementation and accompanied by scientific fat loss specific exercises.

When you teach classes and gain clients from those who attend your talks, you get a wide variety of levels of motivation among attendees.

As far as attendees go, some people show up to confirm their belief that they won't be successful.

Some people aren't sure but arrive open minded.

Some people intend to succeed and want confirmation and instruction of what they need to do to reach their goals.

So like any topic, some will succeed, some won't and some will but will have to realize how far 'off' their perceptions of what it would take before they can apply what definitely works.

As a trainer, you hope every person will reach their goals, but truthfully, clients' motivations for seeking professional training help are rarely as clear cut as, "I want to be fit and healthy, show me how!"

The most common, yet unconscious motivation is when potential clients really are motivated to make a change in their life or relationships, but instead of making the change itself, they seek professional training as a substitute for the action they really need to make in their personal life...this happens mostly outside their conscious awareness. 

You see, people tend to take the "easy" route, or what they perceive as easier in order to avoid doing the straightforward "change action" (self improvement). In reality, being overly fat is a symptom of inconsistent self improvement.

Personal training, beginning an exercise program, starting a diet, etc. often acts as a "catalyst" or "chaperon" for the true, underlying agenda or expression of the clients' motivation. 

One way we know this is that, as a reminder, the science of fat loss is simple, defined, clear and well known. Any  behavioral "deviation" from what is known to work by someone who insists they want the benefits of proven systems points to either spoken or unspoken motivations...things other than simply asking for help and then following through...just doing it!

Dietary supplements are no exception. Actually, no profession has exception...every professional who is an expert in their field will routinely be approached by people who insist they want the benefits of the expertise, even go so far as to hire or commission the expert and then 'poop out' when it comes to them doing their part. This phenomena is very common in the personal training world as well as the medical world...."Help me! Help me!... No not like that!"

In my personal and professional experiences, dietary supplements can make a huge difference (and are likely to), in how you feel and how fast as well as how sustainable your fitness and fat loss successes are. BUT, they aren't a panacea that makes up for poor choices in lifestyle. 

In my personal experience, by the time I found really high quality supplements I had already eliminated most junk food from my diet and had been relying on home cooked meals & fruit smoothies to fuel my body. 

Over the decades I've had clients who had dependence on alcohol, nicotine, pot and prescription drugs yet who insist those substances are not relevant to their success or failure...as though the consequences of those things on their physiology are separate from themselves! 

Supplements won't make up for an addictive lifestyle! I had one client who wanted to lose fat but was drinking two bottles of wine per night and couldn't "figure out" why his body fat was so stubborn! (addiction + denial)...he referred to it as a "little" wine.

The commonality with these substances is the people depending on them don't want to believe the substances are interfering with their progress...-The substance is being consumed for its "affect" but the consumer doesn't believe it's having an affect??!! Whaaaaaat?

Supplements won't make up for defendant consumption of substances especially ones which alter consciousness. I've seen people who refuse to stop consuming drugs, spend tons on supplements and then convince themselves that the supplements aren't helping them, unwilling to give up the actual substances that are actually interfering long enough to find the truth in the matter. 

Each part (whole foods + supplements + exercise) is mutually dependent on the other parts to be carried out without interference. 

As a trainer, you really do have to act as a sort of psychologist, especially if you're working with first time clients since they are often so twisted up in their habits, unconscious emotional patterns and motives (I want X but I'll only do Y) that a significant part of the time can be spent sitting out unconscious motives that are in referring in simply "doing it".

Remember, achieving the goal is as simple as doing what has already been done thousands of times! But where we get into trouble and complicate things is by trying to do what we've always done (what didn't work) to get what we today say we want! ...a neurotic chasing of the tail. 

The people who have the worst, most challenging and exhausting time are the people who come to class thinking the teacher is going to show them how to get the results they want (today) by doing what has never worked before!!

In order to get new results there's a level of surrendering to the process and dietary SUPPLEMENTS are no different...they are to SUPPLEMENT a healthy lifestyle not to make up for a sloppy, indulgent, chemically defendant, toxifying lifestyle. 

One of the ways experienced personal trainers can surmise that there's an agenda other than the states goal is when a prospective client appears, insists they want to be trained, then refuse to take supplements (or even more so, and insist they won't take supplements...that supplements are "extreme" or that only weirdos take supplements). 

I've had people who were 'posing' as prospective clients, begging for help...but then they go right into asking me to 'prove' why the supplements should work, wanting more proof, more proof and so on, but never simply applying the basics consistently enough to prove it to themselves.

People like this tend to want to keep living an unhealthy lifestyle, skip whole foods, and have autonomy as far a what supplements to take but then they constantly are asking for proof...its in the 'doing' not in the talking, intellectualizing nor mental masturbation! I've had clients who want to be told what to eat, then when they are told they say they don't want to eat that. And so on...

Today, after decades in the helping industry, whole foods, sensible supplementation and science based exercise is how I screen who I'll accept as a client and work with. Without these three things, a person is only kidding themselves about their  clarity of intent, level of motivation and honesty of agenda.

Without these three things, you won't reach or sustain your goals & accomplishments...and what drives success with these simple concepts is your desire to reach a goal, your decision to follow through and the quality of your attitude during the process. Without a healthy attitude no one will be able to help you.

Sov