Why I help clients do something i won’t do
Body measurements don’t feel right for me.
some of my clients love them.
Here’s how that works.
I do check-ins with my own coach every Sunday. Every Sunday, I leave the body measurement section blank. During our intake session last year, she mentioned weekly body measurements would, along with weight, steps, strength training videos, and progress pictures, be an expected part of my weekly check-in. I immediately wondered if I was about to be client fired before even starting. The idea of walking to the other room to get a measuring tape and wrap it around myself even once felt very, very not okay. Doing it weekly felt impossible. I spent hours trying to craft the perfect email to explain why it wasn’t a good or healthy choice for me. Her response, to paraphrase, was “say less.” She was immediately supportive and we never spoke of it again. That experience taught me how important it is to create space for clients to feel in control of the tools we use to record and monitor their progress.
Why we Created the “2 of 3” System
My clients have their own life experience, and several want to track body measurements. That’s why I developed the “2 of 3” method. Feminist Fitness clients choose two out of three options: body measurements, weight, and progress photos. Of course, we also track progress in more qualitative ways: weekly video check-ins, noting changes and shifts in our relationships with our bodies, and working toward broader fitness and life goals. These qualitative markers of change matter, but at the end of the day, I’m not a therapist or psychologist. People come to me because they have body goals.
How Tracking Can Be a Game-Changer
The other reason we track these things is because—if used correctly and with the right client—progress tracking can actually have a radically positive impact on our relationships with our bodies. Noticing that your weight hasn’t changed in three months but your shape has changed in ways you wanted it to will teach you a lesson about muscle growth and proper fueling that you simply can’t learn any other way.
One of the things we’re doing with progress trackers is reclaiming our right to appear. There is nothing quite like the first time you get excited about your numbers going up instead of down, or you hear yourself asking your coach how to grow something instead of shrink it. In the right coach-client pairing, this work can actually be healing.
Choose What Works for You
Enter: the “2 out of 3” tracking system. We want to be upfront with clients that not only are you allowed to choose progress markers that work for you—we expect you to. If you do choose measurements as one of your progress trackers, check out our next blog for practical tips from real-life clients I’ve worked with and coaches I trust on how to make it a painless experience. Because what’s not quite right for my fitness journey might be hella empowering for yours.
