WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN???

This is my 8th post since committing to weekly blog entries around my health coach journey. Woo hoo! I am quite proud of that. Lesson: give myself a topic and a deadline, and I can actually write :)

So, update on the coaching process...

I am dealing with self made barriers on a couple of different fronts. They are barriers I have constructed before so I am getting rather good at it. The first is just a failure of momentum. Or a triumph of inertia. The second is all about self doubt and imposter syndrome. But is it a syndrome if you are actually an imposter?

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN???

First – the momentum/inertia battle.

As I mentioned previously, I have been in this place before.

First , the momentum: 

I get interested in a topic – very interested. I research – a lot. And I think, this is the thing that I want to do with my time. Not just right now, but in general. As a job.

And then, the inertia:

As the first energy wears off (and the self doubt begins, see below…) suddenly all of the work required to get to the next step just looks like work. Not like fun and interesting pastime. Just work.

And, it turns out, I already have quite a bit of work to do. And I have always found it challenging to structure and follow through on work that is entirely my own. I don’t owe anyone copy at a given time, so it isn’t getting written. Inertia sets in, and I do what I have always done from day to day and the project stalls.

Second – the self doubt.

These thoughts inevitably reinforce the case for inertia and keeping all things the same. Why go to the effort of all of the work of trying to build something new? It would all be for naught, as I am not actually qualified to do anything.

The field I am venturing into is squishy. I am not a fan of squishy professions. There is no licensure for being a health and diet coach, but there is for dieticians & nutritionists. But I’m not that. And I don’t want to be that. So there is the task of making a squishy thing more solid. What is it that I want to do *exactly*. But the being a not-nutritionist is definitely an issue with the self doubt.

Since last we met, I took a trip to Chicago with 2 of my favorite
people, pictured here. I made one of them myself! 

I also recognize that the way I eat and manage my health is a little weird. Most people do not consider butter and bacon health foods. Most people do not incorporate intermittent and extended fasting into their diet routines. So, there is a part of me that wonders if people will see that as crazy extreme and not want to take advice from me.

And, biggest self doubt of all. I do NOT have my own shit together. I have only been doing keto this time for a couple of months. I am waiting on blood results (in a few months) to confirm that all of this bacon and butter are doing for me what it has done for thousands of other people.

My solution for all of these problems?

Just don’t think about it that much. I don’t need to solve my insecurity this week, I just need to do a bit more writing for my website. I need to start writing those little essays that will become blog posts for my coaching site(s) that I think of when I see a particular news item, etc. I need to develop the voice I use for instructional materials vs chatty blog things.

And, I need to start using the materials I have gathered about how to set up a coaching business. I don’t need to do all of it today. Just the next chapter.

One thing at a time.

Chicago wins best library architecture

I do need to work on the inertia thing. I need to make this work a priority somehow. I do currently have a lot of tasks on my list that aren’t coaching related. They keep building up, because there really isn’t enough time in the day. But I need to recognize that that will always be true. 

There will always be too much. 

And while I do need to moderate my ambition, I cannot do everything that I want professionally while still being the parent I want to be, if I don’t make space for it. Forcibly make space for it. It will never happen.

Never.

So I guess I'm a coach now?

I do love coffee...

I think I am a coach.

People (more than one!) have approached me, and I have offered helpful information and advice.

Check.

I am coaching. Ergo, I am a coach.

And I like it. And I feel like I have something useful to offer. Now to write up "packages" and plans in a way that people will be excited to pay for the useful services I offer...

Overwhelm alert!

Ok.

Next most important step:

Committing to writing a blog post about this journey every Thursday has been very helpful to me in focusing on this project and also in getting into the habit of writing every week.

So I am going to commit here to launching my health coach websites by October 1.

Yes, that is a long way off in some ways, but I think it's a realistic goal given how disruptive summer "vacation" can be.

So, I will work on it over the next few months of mostly summer, and then have a month of back to school to finish it all up.

I think the first pro blog entry will be about imposter syndrome. Who am I to tell you how to get your shit together, when my own shit is often in disarray?

It's been a long and tiring week, my optimism will return shortly...

Stressful week... one night's dinner was
butter toasted pecans and whiskey soda...

Content creation begins...

... and it turns out there is a lot!

avocado is keto's friend

So, I began in earnest to write content for my health coaching website. Specifically, it is information about low carb, ketogenic diets. So, I think this probably belongs on the low carb spectrum site. Just as it will be interesting to see which types of clients come to me via figuring shit out vs low carb spectrum - I will also be noticing how easily the content comes for each site.

Bacon wrapped avocado fries.... OMG. Good.

I am also deliberately starting to sort out tasks into 'things that I personally must do' (web content) and things that I could potentially hire someone else to do (web design). I, of course, can do anything. But can I? And still be sane and take care of my other 'business'? No. Of course not. So, starting out practicing what I will preach. In order to figure shit out, you have to give some of the shit to other people to take care of.

In the words of one of the most quoted Disney Princesses - Let it go!

I have started to get requests for information via text. I am coaching already! I am finding it very helpful, actually. I am getting an idea of what questions people ask early on, or before starting. This has given me a good start at what information to include in my 'Keto 101' pieces for the internet.




So, are you a friend who wants to help me get started in this process? Then start bugging me with questions! Message me on facebook, and ask me ANYTHING you want about diet, exercise, health, and especially if you have questions about how and why to go low carb!

a little less pretty in a picture, but totally delicious -
cabbage cooked in butter and garlic, with eggs fried
in adorable cabbage nests

What the &*%bleep%$^ am I doing exactly?

I am starting the process of homing in on what exactly I want to offer people in my health coach practice. In preparation for that I have purchased not one, but two shiny URLs. They are getyourshittogether.com and lowcarbspectrum.com.

Here is a llama that I met on my walk today.

The first, because, awesome. And because health coaching should naturally lead to life coaching – to get ALL your shit together. The second is more for folks who want some specific coaching on how to do various levels of low carb for health reasons. A way less fun title, so maybe I will eventually find a third iteration.

Why would health coaching naturally lead to life coaching you ask? Well, let me tell you. My goal with each of my clients is to help them find a place of ease with their food and activity levels. No one wants to count grams of macronutrients or calories until they die. I seek for myself and clients the creation of a relationship with food that is pretty low maintenance. You can learn how to do it, and then just do it. And then what will you do with all that time you used to spend eating and worrying about eating?

Though, there is a chicken-egg thing here too. Because many people have some shit they need to get together before they can even approach the idea of healthy eating nirvana. Anyone trying to lose weight now has lost weight before with every method under the sun. That leaves a mark. I think there is a big need for some folks to spend time in rehab from the impacts of previous diets.

I don't think any 'diet' will succeed if it doesn't address the biological AND the psychological. And health improvement always happens in the context of life in all it's messy chaos. 

Here is an unverified Benjamin Franklin quote.

I am likely to circle around to questioning my 'authority' to provide diet advice, and my 'qualification' to do this kind of work. But I really think that having a knowledgeable cheerleader in your corner helps with almost any endeavor. 

Am I setting out to be a diet doula? Perhaps...

In the spirit of perfect being the enemy of the good, I am going to leave it at that for this week.