A FitPro PSA: Another Modest Proposal

Beloved Friends,

Please be gentle with your FitPro friends this Season of Fad Dieting and Extreme Exercise Promises. This is the time of the year we FitPros fall into a cycle of frustration, concern, guilt, desperation, desire, acceptance, abject fear, and sometimes... numbness.

Out of a primal need for acceptance of our years of education and experience by those we love (and a desire to see them actually achieve their physical and mental health goals), we either bite our tongues, delete lots of well crafted and peer-reviewed scientifically and experientially educated responses to our dearly loved friends and family, or end up binge snorting protein powder and electrolytes in between furious sets of weighted squats and burpees with periodic (and intentional) pauses to sob quietly against the Smith machine to bring our heart rates down.

If you don't know what a Smith machine is, don't worry. We do, but we're not going to explain it to you because we're afraid you won't believe us and will go ask your friend Becky who read every book by that Skinny B* Housewife, did a cruise with Dr. Oz, and eats only broccoli, kale, and Chardonnay without tannins... oh, and has been a practitioner of underwater basket-weaving pilates yoga shape-shifting for a whole month.

We will also survive when several months (or years) from now you give us a long, excited speech about how your NEW /real FitPro/ told you to do all the healthier things we tried to tell you about all that time ago, and how depressed you are that no one told you these things before.

But, don't worry - we know that change is hard and that you know us better than Becky. She's safe to listen and lie to - and she has great hair, a fantastic MLM wine subscription, and wears her single pair of Lululemon leggings to every damned mommy salad jar meet up. Plus, she's 29, is a stay at home mom to two amazingly adorable little babies, and replies to all your posts on Facebook with some upbeat gif and reminder that her wine sub is 50% off for new Wine Coaches.

We also know that it's more important for us to shut up and let you try things because any change is a better thing than no change. We love you so much that even though it kills us to scroll through yet another long 100+ response and like post about how you're going to eat only squash and compete in that Ragnar run in August, anything we say could piss you off, piss US off, or be just as unhelpful to either of us.

While our business is the art of helping people change mentally and physically - sometimes that business is more about just being there and listening, in silence, as people Fail Forward. Just like most of us have. We know we're not perfect either, and that change was hard for most (probably all - going out on a limb here) of us too, and that there have been coaches and teachers and trainers and ... maybe even you, we haven't listened to, either. Yet, we'll all get where we're supposed to be one way or another. And I have to admit - Becky's lip gloss is always on point.

My only request at the end of this little satirical letter to all my friends is to remember - whether you are at the beginning of your journey, somewhere in the middle, or have spent the time and money to pay it forward by becoming a FitPro yourself - we're all here because we want to get better, and I don't think there's a one of us who doesn't want to see us all succeed.

*Learning is hard, change is harder.
*Your FitPro friends spent a lot of time and money to learn what they do for a living.
*Your non-FitPro friends know they want change, but are lost in a sea of Beckys.

You are friends for a reason, and I'll bet you both care about each other. Let's make this a Season of Healthy Habits and LOVE!!!!

*Embrace change and learning will be fun.

*Your FitPro friends want support and referrals.

*Your non-FitPro friends want to feel like they can do the thing.

Love you all... even Becky. :)

~JonniKhat