I hung out with a buddy of mine tonight and I thought of this thread... My buddy is a personal trainer and he said that there are two different types of clients that really challenge him: 1.) The "I can't do it" clients, and 2.) the "I can't see it" clients.

The "I can't do it" people resist the workouts. When he tells them they're ready to move up to a heavier weight or a faster speed, they tell him that they can't do it. They'll yell at him. Some people have cried real tears. And then, even after they do the harder workout and succeed, they still try to backtrack and work at lower weights or a slower speed during the next workout. Even succeeding doesn't prove to them that they *can* do it. My buddy doesn't think they're faking or being lazy. In his experience, he says, this type of person is really just afraid to try and then fail. They expect to fail, so success feels more like a lucky accident that can't be repeated than an earned accomplishment to them. So my buddy has to constantly remind this type of client of their successes and reassure them about their own strength and ability.

The "I can't see it" people don't seem to see the physical changes they're making. Other people in the gym will compliment them and comment on how much they've changed. Total strangers will ask them for diet and workout tips. But this type of person will still tell my buddy, their trainer, that they look "so flabby" or that they feel like they're "going backwards" or just generally lament how they're giving 100% and not seeing the results. My buddy thinks this type of client is afraid of actually becoming the person that they've worked so hard to become. Or that they're afraid that some outside force is going to intervene and take success away from them. Or that they're worried that they're going to do something to themselves that will cause them to lose all they've gained. My buddy says he thinks this type of client doesn't want to claim the changes and celebrate the accomplishment because, somewhere inside their head, they don't believe it will last. He says he tells these clients that they've earned success, that they deserve it because they've worked hard and sweat buckets for it, that nobody can take it away from them because they're too strong now to let that happen.

Anyways, my buddy and I were talking about my diet tonight and this topic came up. I remembered this thread and thought you folks might find it interesting.