Mind Over Muscle

Steal my tactics if you want some broccoli goblins of your own 😂👇🏼👇🏼

🔑 Tactic #1 - Give Options. Your options should lead to the same outcome. The outcome is veggies on the plate. Do you want to do it with these FUN tongs? Or shall I?

❌ I do NOT give food options (broccoli or carrots) because I want my kids to eat BOTH. Instead, they can pick this plate or that one, this fork or that one, etc.

💡This provides control/autonomy. I didn’t make the decision, you did!

🔑 Tactic #2 - Serve Small Portions. I discussed this at length yesterday. It works.

🔑 Tactic #3 - Serve Family Style. I usually provide shared meals and allow my kids to serve themselves with fun utensils.

💡 Gross and Fine Motor Learning. Every utensil has a different weight and method for proper use. This is great for motor development.

🔑 Tactic #4 - More opportunities for control/autonomy. They decide where things go.

💡 Independence

🔑 Tactic #5 - Opportunities for Problem Solving.

💡 Builds self confidence in their ability to solve their own problems.

✨ Not all kids and circumstances are the same. Some methods may work some days and not others. But the more of these strategies you stack, the more likely you develop self-confident, autonomous eaters. ✨

Good luck 🤝

Plot Twist: I did my whole workout and they didn’t even notice I was gone 😩

Picky eating stems from (1) lack of exposure to a variety of foods, including food textures, flavors, temperatures, and combinations (2) preference for highly palatable, familiar foods (3) desire for control/autonomy (to name a few).

Sooo if your kid is already picky, how can you help them get more exposure to foods they normally won’t try?

🔑 Offer a tiny portion. In this case, I offered a whole noodle which was brave 😅 you can start with literally a quarter of a noodle and this will probably work better.

💡Why this works: ⏫ Increases scarcity ⏬ decreases pressure. One noodle isn’t overwhelming. It’s manageable.

🔑 Describe the food but do NOT ❌ give your opinion.

💡 Why this works: Gives your kid familiarity with the food and allows them to map it in their brain. Your opinion adds pressure and judgment. Allow them to form their own!

🔑 WAIT!!! S**U.

💡 Why this works: Kids with behavioral issues or demand avoidance don’t want to be told what to do. Allow them to come to you. When it is THEIR idea, they are more likely to follow through with the action.

🔑 Do NOT praise. This one goes against what a lot of folks may teach; but I’m a big believer in NOT praising a behavior that is expected.

💡 Why this works: I do not want my kids to do things to please ME. I want them to do things because they have the habits and discipline in place.

Praising lights up the reward system in a kid’s brain.

From what we know about reward systems, once the reward is gone, the behavior stops. If there was never a reward to begin with, the behavior is more likely to continue.

This means they are more likely to do the desired behaviors (trying new foods) when I’m not in the picture, such as with friends or other trusted adults.

As a bonus— when your kid has more nutrition in their diet, their mood/behavior is more predictable, they are happier, and you’re happier too 😊

Should we name it?

A client asked, “What’s the difference between a trainer and a coach?” 👇🏼👇🏼

A trainer will take you through a workout routine or write you a plan to follow.

A coach develops you as an athlete. They inspire you to make positive, stepwise changes to your habits, lifestyle, and mindset. They approach you holistically, and create a synergistic map of how you should progress in all aspects of your body and mind to be the best possible version of yourself.

They teach you how to move, how to think, and how to focus. They inspire and motivate by building confidence and autonomy. They give you discipline— no, not punishment, but the ability to do something uncomfortable to gain a desired outcome.

Coaching is not about the plan. It’s about the person.

Who will you become?

www.teampowerlifting.com

I can’t be the only one 😩

My client came to me a couple of weeks ago asking to do another heavy training week instead of going into a recovery week. Before we switched things up, I looked at these 3 things in her program:

(1) Injury History: my #1 priority is safety— injuries will set you back more than slow progress ever will. Client complained of recurring knee pain, so jumping into another heavy week looked like a recipe for an injury.

(2) Training Progress: we look at *actual* progress instead of where you *think* you should be. Women tend to be highly critical of themselves. When we compared block to block numbers, yes, she was doing similar numbers, but for more reps, and they felt easier (and looked better!). This will translate to greater PRs.

(3) Accessory work: this is often overlooked, but we made a BIG push in her accessory work trying to find numbers that actually make sense instead of going through the motions. She increased the intensity of her working sets by over 65% — to paint a picture, that would be like going from a 225 # squat to a 370 # squat from one week to the next.

This means not only is she making insane progress, but also that once we rest and recover, she is going to blow her old numbers out of the water.

Come grow with our team 🤓💐

Don’t care what anyone says, pb+ banana sammich with a cold glass of milk is the GOAT pre workout meal.

Not that you *need* another reason to hire me. But if you did…