December 8, 2024 “Are you on the naughty list with your dirty little secrets?”
Tell the truth, expose the lie, break free so you can learn, grow and heal.
Let me share a few quick stories of some secrets that were exposed. I will start with a conversation I had on Friday.
A client completed his first bootcamp last month. He was very excited about his results and is now doing the mini holiday bootcamp. I asked reviewed his most recent lab work because in October his A1c was 11.8%, yes, he’s diabetic, which is one of the reasons he came to me. On Friday his results were 14.3%. Shocking, I know! How did it go up? During the last bootcamp he would write religiously in his meal plan booklet, getting smiley faces often. His wife would attest to the fact that he’s been eating great. I mean his calories, protein, and water game were tight. So, I was baffled as to why his levels had gone up. Well, he was holding onto a little secret. Every day, he would make a gallon of sweet tea at home and drink the entire gallon daily. He never wrote this in his meal plan booklet. I had advised him to avoid ALL “white foods”, and he completely overlooked the sugar that he used to make his sweet tea.
As I often say, just because you didn’t write it down doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but one thing for sure it will show up in your labs.
Another client I’ve known for years is a vegetarian. Her weight has fluctuated up and down. She often asks me what I think the problem is. So, as a nurse I’m thinking, if she’s eating amazing maybe it’s hormonal - she is menopausal - or something medically wrong. However, she shared with me, after being caught, that she eats the skin off fried chicken because she loves the texture, although she won’t eat the chicken meat. She additionally confessed; that she loves ice cream a little more than she should. These two little secrets were keeping her weight going up and down.
Another client has 4 children and when her husband passed away, they didn’t have life insurance, and his passing left a huge burden on her family. She came to me because when she applied for life insurance, she was denied because she is morbidly obese, has high blood pressure, is diabetic, and has high cholesterol. These are the same complications her husband died from. Going through our bootcamp she was disappointed that she wasn’t losing weight and labs weren’t coming down. I met a few of her kids, and you know kids tell it all. Her kids shared with me that their mother sneaked food. They find fast food bags in her bedroom garbage can or the trash can on the side of the house. She finally admitted that she eats in the car so the kids wouldn’t know. Although she was writing what she wanted me to see in her booklet, her little secret was keeping her from getting healthy, getting life insurance, and ultimately protecting her kids in the event something happened to her.
Another client shared with me that when she saw her child doing what she was doing she realized she needed a trainer’s professional help. She stated, “I thought it was my little secret. I didn’t know my daughter was watching me.” This client stated she watched her daughter grab not one but two plates and sit down and proceed to eat off both full plates. When she asked her why she was doing that, she said, “Mommy you always fix yourself two plates when you eat, and I want to be like you.” Her little secret was creating unhealthy generational traditions.
Lastly, a client had an ankle injury a year ago. It seems as if it’s never gotten better. I asked if she did physical therapy (PT) and followed all the doctor’s orders? She immediately responded yes. Come to find out she only went to one PT session and said all they were doing was giving me exercises to do. Secrets like this will have you still complaining about an injury that could have been completely healed if you had just followed through with the treatment plan and therapist’s suggestions.
The new year is just around the corner, the time when you all start making resolutions about your health and fitness. But before you can decide what you’re doing next year, you need to figure out what went wrong this year and stop keeping these little secrets that are harming your road to better health.
Are you ready to get off the NAUGHTY list and be NICE to your body? Before you say, “I am going to exercise more and I am going to eat right,” ask yourself, “What can I do to make sure I am being honest with myself and with Fit Nurse Tadda?” You are being naughty because you are keeping secrets and lies from me, your accountability partner. Make your first resolution be “I am going to stop keeping secrets about my eating habits, or my exercise habits, or my recovery habits”. Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed by these secrets, bring them out in the open, and then I can help you. Nice people are the truthful ones. So, stop telling tales that you know aren’t true about your health and fitness, and be NICE to your body! No Mess
