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Fat loss Preparation (Part II) -Dealing with Family, Friends and Co-workers

In my last article, I talked about preparing yourself for your fat loss journey before actually starting your program. It is essential that you prepare mentally as well as prepare for a major change in your lifestyle first, so the transition to fat loss success is a little easier to handle. No one ever said that it would be easy, so taking steps to prepare first is the best way to go.

Friends, Family, and Co-Workers

One of the biggest roadblocks that many of my clients have come across has been dealing with friends, family and co-workers. When you surround yourself with people that do not share your goals, or share similar ambitions, social support from these people can be non-existent and sometimes even counter productive. Let me give you an example; I have a client that has been working on losing her unwanted weight for about a year now. She is making incredible progress and is looking and feeling better than she has in years. Her major obstacle, however, is the lack of support from her family. She is constantly battling comments from her mother, and other family members with remarks like "You look better, but how come you haven’t lost more at this point?" "I don’t know why you even bother with this, you are only going to gain it all back when you stop!" "You need to eat more, that diet is never going to work!" Comments like these are damaging if not devastating to someone that is working hard and making major sacrifices and a commitment to change. It takes some major psychology and inner strength to overcome these remarks and keep battling through.

The other major hurdle that fat-loss clients have is lack of support from friends and co-workers. People that are trying hard to lose weight and look better get slammed from friends because they wont eat the same fatty foods that they used too…or eat what everyone else is. Some wonder why you are not socially drinking more, or upset because you are taking some time out of your life to get your workouts completed. Friends and co-workers can be your worst enemy if you let them.

So what can you do about friends, family and co-workers that seem to go out of their way to destroy your resolve and hard work? The answer is not much. As I talked about in the last installment, it will be a little easier if you let the people around you know ahead of time what you are doing, and why it is important to you. I cannot guarantee that it will stop the negativity, but it will at least prepare those that you spend time with for what you will be going through. The best thing you can do is prepare yourself mentally! Realize before you start that you will run into negative people that just do not understand what you are trying to do. Prepare for those that might obstruct your progress. Try to avoid situations that are uncomfortable or times that may tempt you away from your goals. This does not mean that you have to give up being with your family or friends, it just means taking a proactive approach to the problem ahead of time and being ready for it when it does happen. I have witnessed family and friends, as well as co-workers literally destroy someone’s hard work and commitment in just one conversation. Do not let that happen to you.

Key points to help you with your fat loss success:

• Talk to your family, friends, and co-workers before you start your journey. Explain to them what your goals are, what you will be doing and not doing during your journey, and thank them ahead of time for helping you and supporting you. When you do this, people have a harder time being negative to you and they might just even being a great support system.
• Avoid situations that will tempt you away from your mission. If going to happy hour every Friday is your achilles heel and takes you away from your overall goal, avoid going. At best, plan to stay for only a little while and then get out of there. There is no sense in making it harder on yourself.
• If you cannot avoid situations that tempt you into submission, then plan ahead to deal with your food, drinks and time. Plan to have one drink only. Pack a snack ahead of time and eat before you get there. If you are not hungry, you will be less tempted to eat the crap that most happy hours serve.
• If you are getting negativity from these people you spend time with and you already tried talking to them, it is best to try to avoid them for a while. Remember why you are doing what you are doing. To a small degree, this is mental abuse. You probably wouldn’t stand for it if people were abusing you physically, so don’t stand for this either.

Take some time to prepare the people around you and you will hopefully pick up some positive support that can only help you along. Look for Part III of Fat Loss Preparation soon.

This article was written by Keith Scott. Keith Scott M.S., A.T.C., C.S.C.S. is the Official Trainer of the Naked Nutrition Network. He has 18 years of experience as a trainer and specializes in the areas of fat loss, injury prevention, post surgical/injury rehabilitation, and strength and conditioning. Keith is also a regular contributor to Men's Fitness Magazine.

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