Please Don't Waste My Time

This guy came into my morning exercise class on BlindCafe.net one morning and told me he really wanted to lose weight and could I please help him. I said of course I would and thanked him for coming to the class. I said I will hang after class and we can talk then. He thanked me and started asking me about diet. I again told him "after class." He again said OK but...and I told him that it wasn't fair to the others we would talk after class. I locked down my mic and began the class.

When it was over I spent about a half hour chatting with him about his previous exercise experience and eating habits etc. I asked him to keep a food journal for the next week including everything he ate and drank every day including the portions when he could.

He again started to ask me about diet and I told him we would discuss it all once I saw what his current eating habits were like. He then started to tell me what he ate that morning. I told him I didn't want to know. Write it down and we will talk next week. That was Monday. I teach the class Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and I didn't see him again for the rest of the week. I was a bit concerned as he seemed very serious so I sent him an email to see if he was OK. He responded that he had been off line and just got back on line that day. He also sent me his food journal...two days early and very incomplete. He gave me his word that he would be in class on Monday and asked if we could discuss the journal and his diet changes after class. To which I agreed. Guess what, he didn't show up and I haven't heard from him since!

..............I worked for a period of time in a travel agency and one of my coworkers was a lady who was overweight and in extremely poor condition. She was far more experienced in the industry than I and was a huge help to me so I jumped at the chance to repay her kindness when she asked me to help her with a diet and exercise program.

We went to the gym in her complex and I set her up on a simple program designed to maximize her results in the least time possible. I could tell she was not excited about having to spend time in the gym so I tried to make it as brief as I could and still give her the results she wanted. . She was very grateful and kept her food journal and even a workout journal which she presented to me at the end of each week. The first week everything looked good and she said she had already lost 5 pounds. The next week she told me she added the "pull down thingies and the other thingies where you lie down and raise your feet up" Of course I asked her why she made the changes and she didn't have an answer. I told her the new exercises were a waste of time and to stick with what I had outlined. The next week she told me she exercised in the pool for 2.5 hours and then went to a Bar-B-Q. Not a problem I said what did you eat? Her food choices weren't bad but the several glasses of wine and a couple margaritas...well that was a different matter.

The pattern kept going downhill a bit at a time but I kept answering her questions as I saw her on a nearly daily basis until finally one day I asked her, "why are you wasting my time?" She acted hurt and said she didn't understand. I answered, "you are a very smart person. I have given you the system. I have showed you how to adjust your eating if you go out I answer all your questions and make sure you understand everything, etc. etc. etc. yet you don't follow my instructions and then complain that you are actually gaining weight. You are wasting my time and yours!"

....

I recently was playing chess online with a man. In conversation the fact that I was a trainer came up and he asked me for some advice. He wanted to drop 40 pounds. I told him my standard, "send me a food journal in a week and we can go from there."

He did. It was one of the most detailed I have ever seen and one of the worst as well. I looked it over and told him he needed to eliminate several items. His answer was "my wife does all the cooking and besides I like those things" I just dropped the matter right there.

The point I am making should be obvious. I am here to help and if you are serious I will give as much of myself as I can but just please don't play games, don't make excuses and DON'T WASTE MY TIME!!!