Body Transformation Client Spotlight
35 Pounds of Fat Lost in 28 Weeks...and He's Not Done.
Tony’s Story
Let’s rewind back to when Tony reached out to me for coaching. Here’s how I’d describe him then; meet Tony, he’s 45, works a desk job, is sick of being sedentary, tired of being overweight, and wants to feel like his old self again.
Comparing his past self to the present, the Tony I knew then is not the Tony I know now, I’ll tell you that much.
I say this over and over about each transformation I’m a part of, but one of my favorite changes in each client is their aura shift. Their before and after pictures never fail to show a change in inner confidence and pride. It’s consistently written all over their faces and Tony’s before and after comparison is no exception. Let’s take a look and pay special attention to his aura.
It’s so obvious that the Tony in the after picture feels proud of himself and is happy to show off his progress. He’s confident, proud of the changes he’s made, and excited for more. The Tony in the before picture is the opposite. To me, it looks like he’s almost trying to back away from what he’s seeing in the mirror. At the very least, he’s not thrilled with his reflection and his facial expression is saying so much.
The reality is that once Tony took his before picture he had two options:
He could be demotivated, tell himself it’s not worth it to put in all that work to change, and make the decision to give in to further physical decline (muscle loss and fat gain) by doing nothing.
He could slap himself in the face, admit to himself that he’s done feeling like crap, and decide it’s time to go to work for himself and his loved ones.
In a recent article I discussed the downsides of muscle loss and physical decline, I talked about the negative spiral that can come with a rough reflection in the mirror:
“When we look in the mirror, liking what we see gives us confidence. The reflection of a strong and muscularly capable person helps us feel good about the work we’ve done to achieve that look. It gives us the knowing that we’re capable of working to accomplish something, which feels great.
Of course, having a healthy athletic reflection brings feelings of positivity, where a reflection lacking in visual signs of strength and health just doesn’t generate those same feelings. It’s not a confidence-booster to look in the mirror and not like what you see. The troubling part is that you can easily fall into a downward spiral as a result.
One of the worst side-effects of an undesired reflection is how it can impact your willingness to step out of your comfort zone and into a gym, a group fitness class, or an outdoor activity.
Losing confidence leads to being afraid of what others will think, which leads to foregoing the steps to change, which leads to nowhere. Outside of a sudden renewal in personal willpower and determination, the reflection tends to worsen and the downward spiral continues.”
Remember the two paths I mentioned earlier? Tony took the second path, found that sudden renewal in willpower and determination, locked me in as his coach, and we went to work! I’m so proud of him for it, too.
My coaching service involves mandatory weekly check-ins where clients send in their data, notes, and questions. From there, I’ll review everything, respond, and make changes to their plan if necessary. Here’s a recent recap message I sent to him:
“I just looked at your numbers in a zoomed-out fashion and it's so impressive to see you're down 35lbs in 28 weeks. You managed to lose more than 1lb per week on average over that entire course. That's real dedication and it shows in your progress pics!
You have much more definition in your midsection, not to mention throughout your whole body. The change is drastic in your before and after pics, which is so good to see. I'm definitely going to do a client feature article on you. Everything about your progress is textbook quality and you made it happen.”
Speaking of progress, let’s check out his phenomenal weight loss and relatable calorie and protein intake charts.
The Charts
When I said ‘textbook progress,’ I wasn’t kidding. Tony’s weight loss chart looks exactly like it should. It’s consistently moving in the right direction with normal fluctuations along the way.
Charts tracking weight loss will never show a perfectly straight line, which is important for everyone to understand.
For a straight line to show up, you’d have to live in a cage, do exactly the same things at exactly the same times, and eat and drink exactly the same each day as well. Even then, you probably wouldn’t see straight line progress.
Above we have Tony’s total daily calorie and total daily protein intake charts.
I wanted to include these charts to illustrate a very specific and extremely important point; you can make killer progress without day-to-day nutritional perfection. You do not need to be a nutritional robot to be successful in your transformation.
People will argue that going out to eat, seriously missing macro targets, and consuming varying amounts of calories from one day to the next will stall weight loss progress. At first, you’d be likely to think they’re correct and agree with them. But there are underlying facets, that when kept in place, prove otherwise:
Average calorie intake over time is near their goal calorie intake. In this case, that goal intake was set to keep Tony in a conservative calorie deficit; a must for weight loss.
Average macronutrient intakes over time are sufficient to provide the body with the materials it needs to stay healthy, energetic, muscular, and strong. While Tony was certainly up and down with his daily protein (and other macronutrient) intake, his averages were on point.
The results? Tony crushed his fat loss goal while living his life like a normal person; eating out with his family and friends, not obsessing over unnecessary eating disorder-inducing nutritional rules, and saying ‘screw it’ to striving for perfection.
He saw such great progress because he had two things that are so important; a balanced effective approach from a relatable coach and a balanced outlook of his own.
What’s Next for Tony?
There’s something he’s wanted to do for a long time and now that he’s getting in better and better shape as the weeks pass, he’s finally at a position where he feels good about doing it.
The thing he’s wanted to do is start working with his own training clients in a local gym. The reason he’s now ready to become a trainer is because he’s looking the part and has confidence in building a clientele because of it.
His big news is that he’s studying for his National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) certification and taking action!
I wanted to mention this because it happens fairly often. People sign up for coaching with me, their lives change for the better, they feel great inside and out, and they want to spread those feelings to others. This is exactly why I do what I do and I love seeing others follow the same path. Lets all send Tony some good thoughts as he studies and pursues a dream of his.
Thank you for taking the time to read this client spotlight. I hope Tony’s hard work motivates you to take the step of reaching out for coaching so we can get started on your own success story.
For more client stories, check out the following spotlights:
