We all have an inner belligerent teenager who resists, rebels, and feels misunderstood.

If you’re a coach, you might be familiar with scenarios where a client’s inner-teen surfaced.

Maybe it was when a client…

… trained even harder despite you cautioning them to take time to recover.

… complained of heartburn, but when you suggested an acid-taming meal plan, they responded by going on a three-night spicy wings bender.

… said they wanted to get better sleep, but gave you a hundred reasons why they couldn’t put their phone away before 1 am.

Before you consider using reverse psychology (“Never stretch, and drink eight ounces of Sriracha before bed every night…”), what if we told you there’s a framework that can dissolve these kinds of coaching tensions?

One that will help you understand:

• Why clients’ actions sometimes contradict their intentions
• Why people often rebel against good advice 
• How to help clients clarify the changes they’re actually willing to make, and talk themselves into action 
• How to collaborate better with clients, getting them better results and making your job easier and more enjoyable

This framework exists!

It’s called Motivational Interviewing—and once you get it, your client results can be mind-blowing.

What is Motivational Interviewing?

Developed by clinical psychologists William Miller, PhD, and Stephen Rollnick, PhD, Motivational Interviewing is a communication style that helps people:

Explore goals

Strengthen their own motivation and commitment

Adopt new habits

Quit unproductive habits

Successfully change for the better

Motivational Interviewing: Benefits for the coach

Coaches who use Motivational Interviewing function kind of like tour guides for someone exploring a new country.

(In this case, that country is the Land of Fitness and Nutrition.)

Like a personal tour guide, you have expertise, insider’s knowledge, and ideas on the best things to do, but you don’t have a programmed route that you’ll force clients to stick to.

You might share some of your insights, but ultimately, your clients will decide where to go.

A good Motivational Interviewing coach will also be genuinely curious, respectful, and non-judgemental about a client’s preferences.

(“Oh, you’d rather spend the day picnicking on the Seine instead of visiting the Eiffel Tower? I totally get that.”)

You respect your client’s autonomy, and interact with them as an equal partner.

You often say, “What would you like to do next? I have some ideas, but I’d love to hear what you’re thinking first.”

As a result, even when they’re in foreign territory, clients end up feeling supported, but also free.

Motivational Interviewing: Benefits for the client

Motivational Interviewing works especially well when a person is:

• Highly ambivalent, stuck between wanting to change, and wanting to stay the same (“I want to go to bed earlier, but I don’t want to give up my free time at night.”)
• Not very confident about their ability to change (“I’ve never been athletic. I just don’t know if I’m the exercising ‘type.’”)
• Uncertain about whether they even want to make a change (“Do I really want to eat more kale? Sounds gross.”)
• Not convinced about the benefits of change (“Will meditating really lower my blood pressure?”)

Uhh.. that’s most clients, isn’t it?

Exactly.

How Motivational Interviewing works

The main purpose of Motivational Interviewing is to resolve ambivalence, or “stuckness” in a client.

This is achieved through empathy, rapport-building, and freedom to explore change options—including not changing at all.

Wait—not changing?!

When most coaches and practitioners hear this, they bristle. They feel it’s their job to help clients change and improve.

If a client isn’t progressing, many coaches will (naturally, understandably) try harder—convincing, encouraging, even lecturing a client about all the good, life-affirming reasons to change.

However…

“Helping harder” usually doesn’t work.

Sure, a few unicorn clients just need more prodding to make progress.

But many clients don’t respond to standard encouragement, rationalizing, and problem-solving. The harder you try to help them, the harder they push back, continuing their old habits.

Take this common coaching scenario:

A client comes to you because they want to eat healthier.

A former athlete, their weight has crept up because they replaced a busy training schedule with a desk job, and lots of snacking.

Their clothes no longer fit, and their doctor has warned them that they’re at high risk of developing prediabetes. They have two young kids, and their motivation is high to set a good example for them and be a healthy parent.

You’ve taught them about portions, protein, vegetables—all the nutrition basics.

And yet, a few sessions in, they haven’t changed a thing.

Of course, you ask them what’s up.

Can you see where this is going?

The coach is trying to help by suggesting solutions, and reminding the client of the importance of their choices.

The coach has a sincere desire to correct course when they see the client getting off track. (In Motivational Interviewing, this is called “the righting reflex.”)

Paradoxically, this causes the client to take the opposing position, to defend themself. 

Sadly, the coach ends up feeling frustrated because they don’t feel like they’re doing a good job helping. (Which is what they were hired to do… right?)

Meanwhile, the client feels misunderstood, and further invested in justifying their current habits.

You know your client wants to adopt better habits—they told you in your first session together.

But they also seem pulled to maintain their current comforts.

So how do you get this client to change? (Without making yourself the enemy?)

Follow these five steps and experience the magic of Motivational Interviewing.

Motivational Interviewing skills: 5 steps to better client conversations

When a client is 100 percent ready, able, and willing to take action RIGHT NOW, you won’t need much help.

(Heck, you might never meet a client like that. Why would they hire a coach?)

Motivational Interviewing is most needed—and effective—when you sense friction in your client sessions. Your client is expressing uncertainty, not following through on their intentions, or straight up resisting what you offer.

When that happens (and it will), follow these steps.

Motivational Interviewing Skill #1: Recognize that ambivalence is normal

Ever make a big decision?

Get married? Buy a house? Change careers?

Do you remember how part of you felt excited for the change, but another part of you felt grief or anxiety over the loss of your single life, your old (cheap) apartment, or your unstimulating-but-regular-paycheck job?

It’s the same way when clients contemplate lifestyle changes.

Part of them wants to be the type of person who eats salads every day, and the other part still wants to have a carefree attitude towards food, and yes, add fries to that.

This internal conflict between wanting to change and wanting to stay the same is called ambivalence.

And it’s totally normal.

Most clients won’t know how to name this tension either, and they certainly won’t assume it’s normal. They’ll probably just say: “I want to do this thing. But I’m not doing it. WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME??”

Ambivalence is such a normal part of change that both coach and client should bake it into their expectations.

(To bring awareness to—and sometimes even resolve—ambivalence, this exercise can be magic: 4 Crazy Questions Worksheet)

However, ambivalence is also a place where people can get stuck.

Usually, being stuck means maintaining the “old” way. Meaning: Your client isn’t getting any healthier.

In order to help a client move through these natural feelings of ambivalence, don’t push harder.

Instead…

Motivational Interviewing Skill #2: Assess your client’s readiness for change

Change is rarely a single event: You’re one way, then you’re suddenly “changed.”

Change is a process with multiple stages. And during some of those stages, it won’t “look” like anything’s happening.

The idea that change is a multi-step process with distinct phases is called the Transtheoretical Model of Change.

Clients can enter or exit at any stage of the above model.

However, assessing where your client is in that process can help you coach them better—a person will have different needs depending on which phase they’re in. It’ll also help you avoid getting ahead of them and inadvertently scaring them away from change.

The six stages of change

Most programs and coaches assume clients are in the “action” stage already.

For example, giving a client a meal plan or a workout program after your first session assumes they’re already in the action stage. Which isn’t always true.

By understanding and preparing for various stages of readiness, you’ll be able to connect with—and help—way more clients.

Motivational Interviewing Skill #3: Understand your client’s motivations

Whatever your client’s doing that’s holding them back from better health—staying up late, getting too wound up at work, or stress-eating expensive cheese—they have a good reason for doing it.  

To dig into that reason, Motivational Interviewing coaches use OARS:

Open questions

Affirmations

Reflections

Summarizing

OARS represents a set of communication skills that build understanding and trust between the client and the coach.

Let’s go into how (and when) to use those now.

Open Questions

Generally, an open question is one that prompts a client to think, and yield more than a “yes” or “no” answer.

Open questions give you insight into a client’s feelings, experience, and expectations.

Examples:

• What brings you in today?
• How are your current habits affecting you right now?
• What do you hope for yourself in the future?

Open questions are a great way to start off a session, or to explore a certain topic at any point in the session.

Good open questions also help the client realize why change matters, and how it might be possible.

Affirmations

Affirming means accentuating a client’s strengths, efforts, and past successes as a way to build hope and optimism.

Your affirmations can help clients see themselves differently: Perhaps as someone who’s wise and worthy of respect—and most importantly, someone who’s capable of change.

Affirming should be genuine; If you’re truly listening and understanding your client’s side of the story, you will see their positive aspects, such as their resilience or their creativity, and it’ll feel natural to call it out.

Affirmations sound like this:

• Wow, you’ve worked really hard on this issue! I really admire your persistence.
• It sounds like even though things didn’t turn out as you planned, your intention was good.
• I know you’re disappointed that you couldn’t practice your new habit perfectly, but I see huge progress from where you started.

Affirmations can be used to build momentum when a client is making progress, but they’re equally important when a client is feeling defeated and could use some help reframing themselves or their actions.

Reflections

Clients don’t always communicate perfectly: They try to describe an experience and don’t always convey their full meaning.

Sure, you could press them to be more clear or elaborate further, but that can make some clients just feel like they’re doing a bad job of communicating, or that you just don’t understand.

Reflections are a way of guessing at a client’s deeper meaning.

They help you confirm you’ve understood what the client is really saying, and also gives you the opportunity to build on what the client might be trying to get at, by weaving in some of your own insights.

When done properly, reflecting can help a client feel deeply cared for, understood, and also enhance their own understanding of themselves and their situation.

Here are some examples of reflections:

Believe it or not, it actually doesn’t matter so much if you occasionally get a client’s meaning wrong. Just take a guess, and your client will correct you if you’re wrong.

Check it out:

In correcting you, your client helps you understand what they mean anyway.

Getting it wrong can feel awkward, but it’s better than staying quiet and assuming you understand a client’s full meaning when they say something.

(Note: The above are all examples of complex reflections. If all that interpreting sounds risky, then try a simple reflection, where you just repeat or slightly rephrase what a client said. Although basic, even this strategy can help a client feel like you’re listening, and offers them a chance to elaborate.)

Summarizing

Summarizing is just stringing together reflections—and sometimes affirmations— based on several things a client has told you.

Like reflections, summaries help you confirm whether you’ve heard and interpreted a story correctly.

They also give clients a chance to reflect on everything they’ve told you so far, and possibly to see their story in a different way. Sometimes when we hear someone else tell our story back to us, it gives us new insights.

Here’s an example:

“So, you came here today because you’re worried about your health. You often feel sore and tired, and that worries you because you have young kids who need you to be healthy for a long time. You’ve had trouble sticking to nutrition programs in the past, so you don’t feel super confident that you can do it now. However, you’ve also continued to care about your health, and try to find solutions, which shows me how resilient you are.”

At the end of your summary, you can ask, “Did I miss anything?” or “Do you want to add anything else?”

Use summaries when you:

Wrap up a certain topic

Shift from one phase of a client session to the next

Reach the end of a session

With the whole picture freshly laid out, you and your client can better come up with the most appropriate next steps.

Motivational Interviewing Skill #4: Roll with any resistance that comes up

Resistance happens when the client appears to move away from change, and towards maintaining their old habits.

Resistance might sound like this:

“But I make all my meals at home! I don’t understand how my diet could be unhealthy!”

Or:

“I’m just not a gym person.”

Resistance isn’t about the client being “difficult.”

Resistance happens when the client feels some (normal) ambivalence about change, and the coach has moved too far ahead in the change process.

It’s often the coach who creates resistance. If a client’s pushing back, it means you’ve given them something to push against.

[Swallows jagged pill]

So when you experience resistance, you might ask yourself:

“What did I say to generate push-back?”

Maybe you—with totally good intentions—suggested the client change too much too fast. And they’re now feeling insecure, and overwhelmed.

This causes your client to dig in their heels, creating a feeling of friction if you continue to push forward.

A more effective way to deal with resistance is to step back, remind yourself that ambivalence and resistance are normal, and then use reflections to help understand and move through your client’s resistance.

Here’s what that might sound like:

Without trying to convince them of your position, you’ve just walked the client gently towards change.

Your client initially felt defensive and a little oppositional, but with some good reflections, they felt understood and free to explore their options.

Now, you’re in a much better position to ask the client if they’re okay with you sharing some things about how nutrition might improve their specific health issues.

And your client might actually feel ready to listen.

Motivational Interviewing Skill #5: Support your client’s ongoing ability to change

Many clients who come to you will have tried to change on their own—or even with the help of another practitioner—without success.

They might also be used to people telling them their habits are “bad” and pushing them to change.

In other words, many clients will come to you filled with self-doubt, mistrustful of their own instincts and wisdom.

This can negatively impact their long term progress.

Here’s what we know—from coaching over 100,000 clients—what does help people make meaningful and sustainable progress.

People are more successful when:

• They find their own motivation to change. People are more persuaded by what they themselves say than what someone else tells them to do.
• They see challenges as opportunities to get stronger, rather than give up. Affirmations that highlight a client’s efforts (rather than just results) can strengthen their belief in their ability to learn, grow, and adapt.
• They’re self-compassionate. When a client works with a coach who accepts them as they are, sees the best in them, and believes in their potential, it’s transformative. Clients who internalize this compassion and positive regard are more likely to adopt healthier habits, and have better mental health outcomes.

By adopting the spirit of Motivational Interviewing in your coaching, you’ll naturally promote all of these outcomes in your clients.

(Read more about how to talk to clients in a collaborative, compassionate way: Effective coach talk: What to say to clients and why it matters)

Don’t expect your coaching to change all at once, though.

This was just a little sample of what Motivational Interviewing has to offer.

Even so, you might be feeling both overwhelmed about everything we just covered.

Or maybe you’re super excited to put it into practice!

(Or maybe it’s both. Remember: Ambivalence is normal.)

Either way, know that Motivational Interviewing takes consistent practice on the part of the practitioner to really “get.”

Motivational Interviewing is a kind of language. And just like learning a new language, Motivational Interviewing takes time to master—and can feel REALLY awkward at first.

Just like you give your clients time and space to change, allow yourself to build your Motivational Interviewing proficiency over time.

(If you want to dig into it further, plus be mentored by one of our Super Coaches, check out the Precision Nutrition Level 2 Master Health Coaching Certification. Motivational Interviewing principles are built into our coaching methods—we call it “client-centered coaching.”)

When you get the hang of Motivational Interviewing, coaching will feel different.

Your clients will get better results because they feel more autonomous, respected, and appropriately supported. And that’s very rewarding to witness.

But you’ll also feel better: You’ll experience less frustration and conflict in client sessions, coaching will feel easier with less pressure to “produce results,” and you’ll feel more connected to the people you serve.

Motivational Interviewing is one of the most effective tools you can use to help your clients change for the better.

And it’ll change you too.

References

Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.

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The post Motivational Interviewing: The proven coaching method that helps people change—even when they’re feeling stuck appeared first on Precision Nutrition.

“How’s your health?”

When most people hear that question, they immediately think about their blood work or maybe a nagging problem, like back pain or heartburn or migraines.

Others might focus on a fitness achievement:

“Just completed my third marathon this year. Never been healthier!”

Many people simply consider their weight or overall appearance:

[pinches stomach] “I’m still using the same belt hole I used in my twenties, so I must be healthy, right?”

What do these have in common?

They’re centered around a person’s physical health.

Which makes sense: It’s how we’ve been taught to think about our health since we were old enough to… think about our health.

But…

It doesn’t give you the full picture.

Not even close.

Good health is about way more than your LDL cholesterol, body composition, and fitness level.

Research shows it’s also about your mental and emotional well-being, feeling connected to others, and just enjoying life overall.^1,2

And that’s just for starters.

That’s why we created a novel health assessment to help you gauge how you’re really doing.

To do this, it analyzes your health in six crucial dimensions—instead of just one.

But besides helping you better understand the state of your health, it also shows where you can make the biggest positive impact on your health right now.

Result: You can start taking action—today.

We call it the Deep Health Assessment.

Use it to discover comprehensive insights into your overall health and well-being that you can’t get anywhere else.

Get your Deep Health Assessment

To begin your assessment, simply click “Get Started” below.

After completing your assessment, if you’re curious to learn more about Deep Health and how all the dimensions work together, keep reading.

What is deep health?

Deep Health is a state of thriving in ALL areas of your life—not just the physical.

We refer to these areas as “dimensions of Deep Health,” and there are six of them: physical, emotional, mental, social, environmental, and existential.

In the chart below, you can see what each dimension means. Notice how they all contribute equally to Deep Health.

If this is all looking pretty abstract, stick with us. We’ll show you how it works with some practical examples.

The best part: Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. 

And that can be life-changing.

(In fact, it’s designed to be life-changing.)

So let’s get started.

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What makes Deep Health special?

Deep Health isn’t just something you want to achieve.

It’s also a lens you can look through to see where you’re at. (Thus, our Deep Health Assessment above.)

Think of it this way: If you’re only looking at one dimension of your health—such as the physical—you’re assessing your health through a very narrow lens.

But, if you’re looking at all six dimensions, you’re assessing your health through a much broader lens—some call this a “holistic” view—which gives you greater insights into your health.

Additionally, understanding Deep Health can help you better determine what actions will make the most positive impact on your life. 

When considering a new habit, people often think about how it’ll affect their physical health—but not necessarily how it might impact their social, emotional, or other dimensions of health.

When you know about Deep Health, you can use your insights to help you choose actions that have widespread positive effects—not just on physical health, but other dimensions of health too.

Bonus: When an action benefits multiple dimensions, you’re more likely to sustain it.

How Deep Health works

We all know: Physical health is super important.

To optimize that dimension of your health, you need good nutrition, regular exercise, and quality sleep.

Hardly anyone would argue with that. (We’d say “no one,” but have you ever been on Twitter?)

The problem: You aren’t a robot that’s programmed to do each of those perfectly.

In fact, your ability to eat, move, and sleep well—especially in a way that’s sustainable—depends on the other five dimensions of Deep Health. 

How does it work in everyday life?

Let’s map it out, using sleep as an example.

Imagine you’re struggling to get a good night’s rest.

To examine this problem through a Deep Health lens, you’d not only consider how your sleep problem affects your physical health, but also how it impacts your emotional, environmental, mental, social, and existential health.

To illustrate this, the map below shows the EFFECTS poor shuteye might have on each dimension of Deep Health.

But we’re not done yet.

Now look at your dimensions of Deep Health and consider how each might be CONTRIBUTING to your disrupted sleep.

For example, if you’re not getting along with your partner, that might be causing some tension in your relationship—and it’s hard to fall asleep next to someone when you’re worrying, ‘Are they mad at me?’

As a result, your social health is messing with your shuteye.

You could apply this thinking across all six dimensions of Deep Health.

(Which we did. See the updated map.)

Finally, look for relationships BETWEEN the dimensions of Deep Health. After all, these dimensions don’t exist in a vacuum; they all affect and influence each other.

For example, in the updated map…

• Poor sleep is causing heightened work anxiety. The heightened work anxiety is causing late-night laptop work, which is then causing more poor sleep.
• Late meals are also playing a role in the energy struggles.
• The snapping at the partner is also a reason why the house is messy (because that person is feeling underappreciated and unwilling to clean).

As you can see…

The map can get pretty messy.

That’s okay.

It means there’s a lot of opportunity for improvement. But it might be that the easiest (and best) place to start, isn’t where you thought.

For instance, maybe the best route to getting a better night’s sleep begins with getting more organized at work and setting up some work/life boundaries, rather than trying to address sleep directly.

Understanding the way various aspects of life work together to create your complex human experience is where the real insights begin.

But let’s not leave you with this rather hopeless-looking mess.

You just saw how various aspects of health were affected by ONE issue (poor sleep).

Let’s see how various aspects of health can be affected by ONE solution.

The exponential power of a positive action

Sleep can be a tricky thing.

In most cases, it’s not like you can snap your fingers and just decide to sleep better.

But let’s use the insights we gained from our Deep Health mapping above, and see how we might positively impact sleep.

Work anxiety and poor boundaries around working hours might be making it hard to “turn off” and get quality sleep at night.

So, say you start with a simple intervention: Setting some boundaries around your evening. No work emails after 6:30 p.m., and nothing but chill activities (like reading or watching a light-hearted show) after 9 p.m.

Because you understand Deep Health, you also hypothesize that this new routine will benefit not just sleep (your physical health) but may also improve other dimensions of health.

For example, not working evenings means you might spend more quality time with your spouse—bumping up social health—or even get a chance to do some light tidying up before bed—bumping up environmental health.

And hey! After a couple weeks, this gradual wind-down ritual does start helping you fall asleep sooner and get better quality sleep overall.

Your sleep may not be perfect, but darn it, it’s better than it was before.

Let’s map what happens.

Okay, so the center is now a positive trait, thanks to your new evening routine.

And, as mentioned, you’re sleeping better.

Now, let’s look at the EFFECTS of this improvement on each dimension of Deep Health.

Next, ask yourself what factors might be CONTRIBUTING to the improvement.

What might be helping you—from each dimension of Deep Health—to maintain your bedtime routine and sleep better?

Lastly, look for relationships BETWEEN the elements on your map.

In this hypothetical well-rested person…

• Better sleep is causing better focus and productivity during standard work hours. This frees up time outside of work, which helps you build up other aspects of your identity, and feel less defined by work.
• Meal planning and more regular healthy, home-cooked meals are also helping daytime mood balance. (Because, less hanger.)
• The energy you’ve gained from sleeping better is also helping you think in a bigger way about your life, and how you’d like to contribute to the world or your community in a meaningful way.

The map might look messy again.

But this time it’s a beautiful mess.

It’s now the map of a complex, yet elegant, harmonious, thriving life.

All the dimensions work together, building positive momentum and providing scaffolding for even more improvements.

Your health isn’t dependent on ONE single aspect, such as your physical health.

Therefore, improving your health shouldn’t be confined to working on ONE dimension—say, your body.

In reality, health is supported by a network of intersecting, interdependent factors.

And when that network is strong and working together, it creates a state of health that is richer, deeper, and more resilient than anything you’ve ever experienced.

If you haven’t already, try out your Deep Health Assessment below, and start building YOUR optimal health and well-being.

References

Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.

If you’re a coach, or you want to be…

You can help people build nutrition and lifestyle habits that improve their physical and mental health, bolster their immunity, help them better manage stress, and get sustainable results. We'll show you how.

If you’d like to learn more, consider the PN Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification.

The post The Deep Health Assessment: How’s your health… REALLY? appeared first on Precision Nutrition.

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SEX

If intersex or transitioning, choose the biological sex description that best fits current hormonal status for interpreting body fat ranges.

YMCA FORMULA

Originally used by the YMCA. It uses waist circumference, body weight, and sex.

NAVY FORMULA

Developed by the US Navy. It uses neck circumference and waist circumference for men; neck circumference, waist circumference, and hip circumference for women.

CUN BAE FORMULA

Developed at Navarra University in Spain. CUN BAE is an acronym for Clinica Universidad de Navarra (CUN) Body Adiposity Estimator (BAE). It uses body weight, height, age, and sex.

Standard

Metric

Sex:

Male

Female

Age:

Height:

ft

in

cm

Weight:

lb kg

Waist circumference:

in cm

Hip circumference:

in cm

Neck circumference:

in cm

Calculate

Reset

Your Results

Your estimated body fat percentage

%

Body weight:  lb kg
Fat mass:  lb kg
Lean mass:  lb kg

Not sure what to do with these numbers?

We’ve created a FREE report that analyzes your body fat results and shows you what to do next.

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Understand what your body fat level means for your health

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Adjust your nutrition and lifestyle to achieve your body fat goals

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Learn new strategies for making healthy changes that last

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How to use this body fat calculator

Whether you’re checking your own body fat percentage or doing the calculations for a client, here’s the information you’ll need:

• age
• sex
• height
• weight
• waist circumference
• hip circumference
• neck circumference

You’ll know the first few details off the top of your head. But what about your neck, waist, and hip circumference? Just grab a measuring tape and use the instructions below.

Who’s this body fat calculator for?

This body fat percentage calculator is for anyone who is curious about how much body fat they have and doesn’t have access to a more advanced method.

It’s also useful for health, fitness, and nutrition coaches who want to estimate their clients’ body fat percentages for goal setting, intake evaluations, and tracking progress. (Learn more about our #1 rated nutrition coaching certification program here.)

How does this body fat percentage calculator work?

Our body fat calculator takes the inputs listed above and enters them into three scientifically validated body fat percentage formulas (those used for the Navy body fat percentage calculator, the YMCA body fat percentage calculator, and the CUN BAE body fat percentage calculator).

Obviously, this online body fat percentage calculator can’t measure your body fat directly—so it doesn’t give you an exact body fat readout.

But research shows each of these body fat calculator methods are around 95 percent accurate when working with large populations.

That means it’s going to be pretty close for most people, but for some—especially those who 1) are very lean and muscular (think: bodybuilders, football players, gymnasts) or 2) have very high levels of body fat—it’s going to be less accurate.

What this body fat calculator can do (and what it can’t do)

This body fat calculator estimates the percentage of your body weight that is fat mass.

Fat mass is exactly what you think it is: All the fat on your body.

The body fat calculator also estimates your lean mass. Simply put, lean mass is anything that isn’t fat mass—muscle, bone, organs, connective tissue, water, and even stuff inside your GI tract.

These numbers will give you an idea about your potential health risks.

Even with an accurate measurement, though, your level of body fat doesn’t define your health status.

For instance, it’s possible to be very healthy at a higher body fat percentage. Or very unhealthy at a lower body fat percentage. (Get your free, personalized report to learn more about how your body fat percentage affects your health risk.)

Do you have a healthy body fat percentage?

Using the body fat percentage chart below, you can see where your body fat falls in terms of general categories.

This data is based on available research. If you’re an adult who falls outside these age ranges, it’s reasonable to use the body fat percentage category closest to your age. Also, the “Normal” category for body fat level is the label used by the scientists and guidelines we’ve cited, but it’s not our view that folks whose body fat falls below or above this range are “abnormal” or inherently unhealthy.

But remember: Your results won’t be 100 percent precise. They’re our best guess, based on the limitations of the measurement methods used here.

Additionally, the exact numbers aren’t what matter most.

The main benefit of this body fat percentage calculator is to help you assess where you currently are, compared to where you want to be. (If you’re interested in losing body fat, check out our free weight loss calculator.)

Recognize that this body fat percentage estimate doesn’t define you. It’s just one piece of the large puzzle that is your health—and which is influenced by many factors, including how you consistently eat, move, sleep, and deal with stress.

If you’d like to better understand what your grouping means, you’ll find that info—and more—in your FREE body fat percentage report. (Just put your details into the body fat percentage calculator.)

Body fat percentage: The bottom line

Most people don’t need to know their exact body fat percentage in order to make decisions about what comes next for them.

Because of that, the estimate from this body fat calculator will do the job nicely. (Plus, it’s fast, free, and user-friendly.)

Understanding which general body fat percentage range you’re in can help you:

• Make informed decisions about your health
• Decide what your body composition goals are (if any)
• Provide a starting point for tracking your body fat percentage over time

Beyond that, here’s our best advice:

Your body fat percentage is just one indicator of your physical health.

And your physical health is just one factor that determines your overall health.

In fact, it’s not publicized enough: Your emotional health, mental health, social connections, environment, and sense of purpose in life all play vital roles in your total well-being.

So remember: If your goal is to thrive, perform, and live as well as you can, your body fat percentage is just a snapshot—not the whole picture album.

References

Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.

The post Precision Nutrition’s Body Fat Calculator appeared first on Precision Nutrition.

New Year’s resolutions have become a bit of a joke.

Folks in the health and fitness industry get frustrated with clients desperate to shed holiday weight gain, only to ghost them in February.

Gym goers feel annoyed when their normal routine is interrupted by the January rush. (C’mon, line-ups for the squat rack?!)

And then there’s the media, reminding us every year that New Year’s resolutions are a one-way ticket to Failure Town.

But turns out, this isn’t necessarily true.

There’s something called the “fresh start effect,” and it’s real.

Research shows the fresh start effect can help clients:

• Take a chance to try again at something they’ve nearly given up on
• Renew their interest when they get bored
• Move forward with more confidence and motivation than before

In this article, we’ll show you why the fresh start effect works. Plus, we’ll provide five simple methods you can use with your clients any time of year.

Why New Year’s resolutions can be helpful

Imagine a client comes to see you. They’re wearing a backpack.

They tell you they want to eat better. “For real this time,” they say.

You notice their shoulders look tired. Their backpack appears heavy. So you take a peek inside to see what they’re carrying.

Inside the backpack is your client’s history with this habit. It’s full of their perceived failures and disappointments, their guilt and shame, their stories about why they haven’t succeeded before.

As a coach, you have two options:

You can tell your client to “just keep going” or “try harder,” and carry that backpack with them.

Or, you can invite them to take the backpack off.

A fresh start allows us to let go of our baggage, and start anew.

“Fresh starts are powerful because they serve as a belief disruptor,” says Karin Nordin, PhD, Behavior Change Expert and PN Certified Coach. “They allow us to believe new things about ourselves, which is especially important if we’ve failed in the past.”

Here’s how it works:

Suppose you set a New Year’s resolution to start running.

In your mind, your “old self” (the one glued to the couch) expires December 31. Your new self (the one who runs!) begins January 1.

Because your brain distinguishes between these two selves, it’s much easier to believe that your “new self” will succeed.

That might sound silly: After all, you won’t actually magically transform the moment the ball drops on New Year’s Eve or a new calendar day dawns.

But human psychology is a funny thing, and this separation of self enables us to release ourselves from our past “failures,” and believe that a different way forward is possible.

That belief is critical for behavior change.

“When we believe we can get better at something, we develop self-efficacy,” says Dr. Nordin. “Self-efficacy leads to increased motivation, enabling us to tackle the challenges in front of us, which ultimately leads to behavior change.”

5 ways to make better resolutions

Fresh start method #1: Pick a temporal landmark

Temporal landmarks are moments that stand out in time.³ “Monday” is a temporal landmark. So is your birthday, New Year’s, and the summer solstice, to name a few.

Think of temporal landmarks like milestones or touchpoints. They help us put our life—where we’ve come from, and where we’re going—into context.

Temporal landmarks might seem arbitrary, but they play a valuable role in change psychology.

“Your brain likes to distinguish between versions of yourself,” says Dr. Nordin.

“Temporal landmarks allow us to separate our two identities—our ‘old’ self and our ‘new’ self. When we separate these two identities, it can become easier to believe that change is possible.”

A wide body of research on temporal landmarks exists. Consider this example from a large 2021 study by University of Pennsylvania researcher and esteemed change expert Katy Milkman, PhD.

Participants were given the opportunity to choose between increasing their contributions to a savings plan immediately—or at a meaningful future date (for example, the recipient’s birthday, or the first day of spring).

Those who chose a meaningful “fresh start” date contributed more to their savings than participants who started saving right away (without a significant date).⁴

A few ways to use this technique with your clients:

Give new clients a clearly defined start date.

Choose a concrete date and clearly communicate it to your client.

You can also share some advance messages to build anticipation, like, “Your first session is coming up! Change is about to start happening!”

Align new programs, challenges, or initiatives with a special occasion.

It doesn’t even matter what it is: the first day of spring, World Health Day, or National Cinnamon Bun Day (yep, it’s a thing).

Pick a day that matches your launch date and let clients know what it is.

If clients slip up, help them begin again with a new start date.

“Fell off the wagon? No big deal. We’ll start fresh in your session on Tuesday next week. Mark it in your calendar as your ‘Clean Slate’ day.”

Encourage clients to align goals with dates that are meaningful to them.

It doesn’t work for everyone, but if your clients get excited about birthdays, New Year’s resolutions, or other milestones—go with it.

Fresh start method #2: Do a “30 day trial”

Trying something new—especially within a contained time period, like 30 days—can give clients a fresh start anytime of the year.

As with temporal landmarks, a trial can make change feel possible, particularly since it has an expiration date. (It can feel a whole lot easier to do something for 30 days than, say, a lifetime.)

PN Master Coach Kate Solovieva, MA, likens this to “try before you buy.”

Like a “free trial,” this approach to habit change allows your client to try something new and see how it works for them, with no pressure to keep it.

Solovieva likes this method because the client doesn’t even have to stick with it in order to get value from the exercise. “You almost always improve, or at least learn something from the experiment,” she says.

A couple of examples:

Example #1: Your client wants to eat less meat.

One option could be to try vegetarianism for 30 days. There’s no pressure to become a lifelong vegetarian; just treat the diet as an experiment and see what happens.

At the end of the 30 days, maybe the client’s certain that #veggielife is NOT for them.

But perhaps now they’ve learned how to cook beans, or discovered they actually enjoy tofu. Maybe meat is reintroduced as a regular feature, but they’ve still moved along the continuum towards eating less meat overall.

Example #2: Your client wants to get more exercise.

Solovieva suggests doing a 30-day trial where they move their body in some way every single day. Make the baseline doable, such as a five-minute routine they can do at home, or a daily walk.

“Chances are, the person will be super impressed with themselves,” she says. “They go from thinking of themselves as someone who never moves to someone who exercises every day. That’s a big shift.”

Doing a habit, however small, for 30 days can provide a powerful boost in confidence. From there, you and your client can discuss how to build on the new baseline they’ve established.

(Another awesome 30-day challenge? Slow eating. Seriously: The 30-day eating challenge that can blow your mind—and transform your body)

Fresh start method #3: Look back before looking forward

If your client needs a fresh start, particularly if they’ve fallen off the wagon, a simple reflective exercise can help.

When we look back on our past efforts, and reset our focus on what’s coming, we naturally draw a mental line in the sand, distinguishing between “past” and “future”—thus giving us the feeling of a fresh start.

To make use of this, try a simple exercise called “Looking Back, Looking Forward.”

This handy set of prompts, courtesy of Precision Nutrition Co-Founder Dr. John Berardi, invites clients to reflect on their past efforts, release any disappointments, and celebrate their accomplishments—and then, recast their focus on the future.

Use this exercise when your client needs a “clean slate.”

You can also make it a regular part of your coaching practice. Dr. Berardi recommends revisiting it with clients every few weeks.

To try it, take your client through the following questions. (Or, download this free PDF: Looking Back, Looking Forward)

Part 1: Look back

Over the past weeks, what have you put the most effort into?

What are you most proud of?

What more would you have liked to accomplish?

How will you celebrate your progress (in a healthy way)?

Part 2: Look forward

What are you most looking forward to? (What goals, challenges, or projects are you excited about and ready to tackle?)

What advantages do you think you have that’ll make progress more likely? (Consider what unique abilities or superpowers you possess that could help you out.)

What things are likely to stand in your way? (Are there any obstacles you can anticipate in advance?)

How can you prepare, right now, to make sure those things don’t get in your way?

Fresh start method #4: Change up the environment

Quick: When you walk into your home, where do you put your keys?

Chances are, you put them in the same place you’ve been putting them since the day you moved in.

Our environment (the people, places, and things around us) plays an important role in habit formation, and habit change.⁵ When our environment stays the same, we’re less likely to change.

But mix things up, and something interesting happens.

“When we shift to a new environment, our habits are broken because they were tied to cues in our previous environment,” says Dr. Nordin. “If you want to feel like you’re making a fresh start, changing your environment intentionally in some way can initiate that effect.”

Some ideas to help your client mix up their environment to get a fresh start:

Conduct a kitchen makeover.

Help your client go through their pantry and fridge.

Toss (or, if appropriate, donate) any foods that don’t support their goals. Then, assist them in re-stocking it with foods that do.

Invite your client to do a social media audit or ‘detox.’

Social media can become an automatic habit that doesn’t always serve us.

This is especially true if your client struggles with self image or keeps getting distracted by the latest trends from influencers.

Encourage them to unfollow anything they find triggering or unhelpful, or take a break from social media altogether.

Suggest a closet clean-out.

This may be especially useful if your client is having trouble moving on from a past (younger and possibly leaner) version of themselves.

Get rid of clothes that no longer fit or feel good, and make room for clothes that fit the “new you.”

Set up an exercise space.

Simply putting out a yoga mat and a few exercise bands can make someone feel like they’re turning over a new leaf.

(Bonus: If that exercise equipment is visible and handy, you’re WAY more likely to use it.)

Help them design a “mobile gym.”

We might not think of it as our “environment” but many people spend a lot of time in their cars.

If your client is a commuter, invite them to do a car clean-out—especially if they have to kick their way through a pile of fast food wrappers to find the gas pedal—or even turn their car into a “mobile gym” by stocking it with a gym bag, pair of sneakers, and some protein bars.

Make any small environmental adjustment.

“Even just rearranging your furniture works,” says Dr. Nordin. Regardless of your client’s health goals, simply making their surroundings feel slightly new or different can trigger the fresh start effect.

(For more ideas on how to use your environment to support your goals, read: Train your environment and watch your habits follow)

Fresh start method #5: Choose a guiding word

“Many clients want a fresh start but struggle to explicitly define what that means,” says Solovieva.

“Maybe they want to be healthier, or feel better. I even had one client tell me they wanted to feel less hazy. What does that actually mean?”

In these cases, Solovieva recommends choosing a definitive word that provides more guidance, yet lots of flexibility.

This practice is popular at New Year’s.

Rather than making specific resolutions, some people choose a “Word of the Year.”

But you can do this any time of year, particularly if it represents a new phase of life—pregnancy, divorce, a move, or starting a new job.

Seasons work well, too: Your client might enjoy choosing a word for winter, or spring.

“You could choose a word to correspond with a client’s program,” says Solovieva.

“You might say, ‘We’ve committed to working together for the next three months. Why don’t we come up with a word that represents what you’d like this time to be about?’”

The word they choose can then act as a natural decision-making filter or North Star in your work together.

For example, if their word is “peace,” together you might strategize ways to make their eating habits, workouts, or environment more peaceful.

To help your client choose their word, Solovieva recommends asking them a few questions, such as:

• What do you want this period of time to feel like?
• Where do you want to put your focus?
• What’s important to you in this coming year?
• Which word would describe who you want to be this year?

A word can provide a sense of a fresh start because, much like resolutions, it gives us a feeling of a new identity, a new self, a new phase of life.

And, it allows us to change our behavior and take actions in favor of the change we’re trying to create.

But it also has the benefit of less rigidity. If your goal is to workout three times per week and you don’t do it, it’s easy to feel like a failure pretty quick.

On the other hand, if your word is “joy,” you could pretty easily find ways of moving joyfully regardless of whether or not you get to the gym on schedule.

Importantly, a guiding word (like any of these methods) can serve a purpose for a time and place.

But there’s no pressure to stick to it forever and ever.

With approximately 80,000 nouns in the English language, if your guiding word stops working for you, you can always pick a new one.

After all, that‘s the beauty of the fresh start.

No matter how many times we fall down, there’s always another chance to begin again.

References

Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.

If you’re a coach, or you want to be…

You can help people build nutrition and lifestyle habits that improve their physical and mental health, bolster their immunity, help them better manage stress, and get sustainable results. We'll show you how.

If you’d like to learn more, consider the PN Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification.

The post From New Year’s Resolutions to “I’ll start next Monday”: How to use the fresh start effect to make LASTING change appeared first on Precision Nutrition.