Heather Harrison, owner and one of the head coaches at ShiftOne, is with us today. She is also a faculty member at Durham College where she teaches Fitness and Health Promotion as well as Massage Therapy. Heather joins Mauro today to discuss internal control psychology and how it impacts weight management.
Heather has an extensive background in fitness, sports, and health sciences. In addition to being a certified personal trainer, Heather is a certified Volleyball coach, Exercise Physiologist, SPIN instructor and former university-level athlete. Now, she is teaching the foundational principles of fitness, health, and community services.
Sometimes we observe people’s behaviour and make assumptions about their internal reasonings. Heather wants to stress that you can’t assume you know why someone is doing something. This goes for all behaviours. No matter how destructive you may view someone’s behaviour, understand that it is benefiting them in some way.
Heather is trying to spearhead the language change surrounding good and bad behaviours. To her, it is about re-contextualising your behaviour and understanding the costs. How do you get what you want without sacrificing other needs or relationships?
When Mauro and Heather worked together, they found that their approach to fitness and coaching incorporated the psychological aspects more than some of their fellow coaches. While everyone knows about calories in versus calories out, there is still an obesity and fitness problem in the general population. You have to look at the whole picture to create effective strategies.
So, what is it about excess weight that could be benefiting an individual? Heather takes us through the different basic needs and our drive to meet them. To get to the bottom of why someone is doing something, you just have to address what need they are fulfilling with their behaviours. As a coach, once you can pinpoint that, you can help your client begin the work. Once someone sees that their behaviour no longer serves them, that’s when the change comes in. If you are a coach, you can help your clients by making space for them to get unstuck and realize what their true goal is.
There is also a trend that both Heather and Mauro see of people coming to them after putting off their health for years. Whether it’s because of work or raising a family, many people say it’s difficult to find the time. Heather wants people to look at approaching their health not as an “either or,” but as something you can do as well as everything else. Even if it’s just 10 minutes a day to do yoga, bank that time and celebrate it. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing – everyone has ebbs and flows in their life. Look at how you can get back on track instead of doing nothing.
As a trainer, look at how you can support your clients in getting what they want. It could be as simple as human connection. Check in with them; don’t assume that what they wanted yesterday is the same as today. Think about the language you are using so you don’t make your clients feel like you are disappointed in them or feel shamed by their behaviours. Make them feel empowered.
EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:
[01:40] Heather talks about school background
[04:47] Internal Psychology of bad habits.
[10:22] Calories In, Calories Out (C.I.C.O)
[11:05] Discussing the topic of diabetes and weight gain
[13:20] Self Determination Theory Model
[26:05] Feeling better and doing better
[30:58] Autoimmune Disorders where are they from?
[32:00] Breathing and being in tune with your body
[35:22] Diaphragmatic breathing
[29:33] Importance of Classic Cross – Country Skiing
[37:00] Support others to see the bindspots
[1:02:54] Final Thoughts and Recommendation
[1:04:00] Don’t Stop asking Questions
QUOTES:
“Metabolically a lot of things happen before we have to see weight loss.”
“Your body is so smart that if you don’t listen to it will find a way to get you to listen”
“If our body isn’t free to move then we are gonna create adaptive motor patterns that’s gonna shutdown other things”
“We’re creating some kind relationship with our clients that they don’t even wanna tell us the truth. So using those external forms of control they’re gonna sound extreme but we do it in a very subtle way- shame, blame, coercing, awards to control, complimenting to control all these are ways we are manipulating our clients to get them where they wanna go…”
LINKS AND BOOKS MENTIONED
The Upside Of Your darkside- Dr Robert Biswas-Diener
Kim Olver – Choice Theory