I'm rather confused and a bit annoyed at the recent steady flow of bad food being brought into Hulk's by random visitors and new members. Today a new member brought in a disgustingly greasy pizza, deep fried chicken wings that were really more deep fry than chicken, and potato wedges you had to eat through about half an inch of baked on goo and salt to get to. When he went to go pay for his new membership, he asked me for a discount. I responded by telling him he's lucky I don't charge him more for bringing in such "food". I mean, I have my cheat meals, twice a week, but I would never wave around my cheat food at my club, a place where people are clearly trying to lose weight. Many of our members slaving over losing weight are in the position they are in because of bad food choices so I don't see how having a counter full of such foods as being encouraging or helpful in promoting healthy eating. It's a pure tease and just added temptation for members to deal with and it seems just so incredibly hypercritical. It's like a doctor who smokes, a hair dresser with a rat's nest of a hairdo or teacher who hates kids. Sure this is my job but it has never been "just a job" to me. Believe me, there are much, much, MUCH easier things for me to be doing if I was looking for just a paycheck. I believe in what I do and I love what I'm doing because I think it's right, it's healthy, and I am passionate about it.
"This is a treat for your members, after their training" this particular new member told me as to why he brought the pizza and chicken wings. "They're not dogs. They don't train for treats" I told him. Ok, so perhaps that was mean of me to say and rather too sarcastic but when did eating bad food become seen as an appropriate "reward" for hard training?! I have two cheat meals a week, one on Wednesday and the other on Sunday, but they are not rewards for my hard training. Instead, I eat these cheat meals to not only physically shock my system but also for that mental satisfaction of being "bad". I don't feel like I am missing out on foods I love because I love foods that build my body and make me stronger, and nothing tastes as good as feeling fit does. Moreover my taste buds have changed and I now understand the importance and purpose of food -- food fuels my body. Rewards like new runners or special imported coffee are my kind of awards, awards that further support my fitness success and don't sabotage it.
While Snickers stresses hard training and doesn't let members rest, I really try hard to get the point across about the importance of clean eating. For new members, Snickers starts their training off with stretching and then a four round ball-jumping/skipping warm-up that is surely quite the intense warm-up for many. The look on their faces says it all when he then tells them that this was just the warm-up.
Last week I had a male member faint on me, literally. One minute he was standing there and the next minute my arms were wrapped around him as I struggled to lower his 70+kg body to the floor. He hadn't eaten before training, hadn't eaten all day. This isn't the first person who has fainted at Hulk's, we've had a few.
Faint, puke, cry and scream. It's all happpened at Hulk's and the connection it has to their eating is incredible.
I always stress the juice bar and it's options when I give tours to visitors and new members. We have a huge assortment of protein shake options, protein bars, teas and juices, egg ding-dongs (egg snack), and we even have club made peanut butter that we use and sell. A shelf in the fridge is specifically designated and left for our members to use and I keep it stocked with juice, bananas and oranges for members to eat for free if they care to. You can train on an empty stomach and I'm increasingly concerned over the increase frequency of members complaining about being light headed or hanging around after training and skipping their vital post training meal. Only one of our members has helped himself to our free juice and bananas and it was only after he fainted and I insisted he do so.
I don't know what more I can do nor how else to get members to become more concerned about what they're eating and not eating. Instead of the usual "goodbye, great training", I now yell out "go home and eat!!!" and I often quiz them about what they'll be eating as their post-training meal. None of those at Hulk's looking to lose weight get away with me not reminding them to back up their hard training with some clean eating.
You can't out train a bad diet.
Smart advice that so many disregard and think they can somehow be the exception to.
What would you rather have, 80% of your paycheck or 20%? Common sense would tell you the 80% but you'd be surprised how hard many work for, settle on and focus just on the 20. The same holds true with eating and training.
80% is what you eat, 10% is how you train, and 10% is genetics.
So really, because genetics are a 10% and you can't really control or change them, you've only got 90% to control yet you're going going to focus on 10%?! A mere 10%?! That's just nonsense.
I've posted my daily food diary logs on to the back of the juice bar, making what used to be for only personal training clients now available to everyone and anyone at the club. Today I decided to take it a step further. I've added goal making and eating plan as a part of the consultation process for new members. This means that what once was a five minute process is now more like a fifteen minute one but it also means I get them right off at the start, thinking about the importance of what and when they eat.
Introduction Process for a New Member:1. Tour of the club and it's facilities.
2. Go over the consent and release form, making sure they read and sign it.
3. Assign them a designated spot at the front for their indoor shoes.
4. Take their picture for their personal profile page.
5. Weigh them in, recording their body fat and muscle weight also.
6. Measure them.
7. Goal-making discussion, calculating an appropriate goal weight and suitable time.
8. Discus and create a healthy eating plan for them to follow.
"You want to empower people, educate them", words of one of my university professors that have stuck with me. I love my job, I really do but it's incredibly frustrating when I constantly see members slaving over training and then self sabotaging their hard work by eating poorly. It was surely interesting to note who did and didn't indulge in the pizza and wings today. Today it was pizza and wings, the other day it was deep fried bean-filled bread, and last week it was doughnuts. In one week six boxes of random junk food has filed into Hulk's. I am flattered by the flow of gifts but I would absolutely love, love, LOVE it if such gifts were healthy ones. Hulk's could ALWAYS use more bananas and other fruits, and you can never go wrong with bringing us a box of sweet potatoes.
You want to indulge in such foods like pizza and doughnuts, no problem, but please don't bring it to the club. It'd be one thing if it were a special occasion or a once-in-awhile occurrence but it is not. If I wouldn't put it in my body then I'm not going to let my members do so. I see first hand their hard training and I refuse to play a role in sabotaging their efforts. They surely have enough pressure and ample opportunity outside of the club when it comes to food, the least I can do is provide a positive, healthy environment inside and that includes supporting them not only with their hard training but also with their clean eating.
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