If you’re a fitness professional, know that you’re working with clients that have eating disorders.

If you are a fitness professional, know that you are working with clients that struggle with body image. Who may be looking to you to “fix,” the body that they are working with in your presence.

If you’re a fitness professional, know that some of your most committed, compliant, dedicated clients, are the ones who are most deeply entrenched in their eating disorders.

If you’re a fitness professional, know that your clients here are your words of encouragement and negative reinforcement while they are in your presence, and long after your session has ended. Know that your voice can become the voice of an eating disorder.

If you’re a fitness professional, know that some of your clients hear you when you say NO CHEAT DAYS.

The ones you congratulate for not cheating? The ones who you envy for having all of the will power? Those are also my clients.

If you’re a fitness professional, forget everything you believe about what an eating disorder looks like. The image that you have in your mind is the reason you can’t see the struggle in your client. The one right in front of you.

If you’re a fitness professional, know that when you post signage about dedication and “NO DAYS OFF,” the clients who win your attendance awards and signs their names on your wall for class attendance are not always there because it’s. So. Much. Fun.