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I remember Sunday night, Nov 1, when I got the call. Our mutual friend, Rachel, called me after dinner and said “I wanted you to hear this from me and not just see it on Facebook. I have some bad news to share. Terry Waye passed away today. He was with his son at the Browns game.”

I remember, in that moment, the shock.

I remember that kneejerk feeling: Terry, my friend, I completely failed you. I am so sorry I failed you.

I remember being able to keep my composure for the remainder of that phone call and talking to my wife about what happened. At a certain point, I just couldn’t keep my composure anymore.

I remember talking about your passing with clients the next morning, clients who sadly never met you.

I remember posting a video to my clients about losing one of our own, the tragic way that you left this world, and a very frustrating, emotional plea to my clients: please take a look at your health…

I remember, once I posted that video, I couldn’t stop crying: “What do you mean I don’t ever get to see you again?”

I remember the first time we met, nine years ago. I was still relatively new with my business. As memory serves, you were referred to me from another client I had at the time. You were 44 years old then, your mother had just passed away from a heart attack two years prior.

I remember you telling me that at that point, you had lost and regained over 100 pounds twice. That it was time to get focused and get the weight off again so that life didn’t go for you as it did for your mother. I could tell how devastated you were to have lost her.

I remember marveling all those years ago about how much love you had for all those around you: your wife, your boys, your friends, your siblings. I could tell that behind that teddy bear exterior, was a man who loved life as it came to him and just wanted to be healthy enough to enjoy it all.

I remember that even then, nine years ago, we were still trying to pinpoint the motivation to succeed. We were both loving fathers and hard workers, we both cried that day during your initial consultation. I knew then, that more than anything in this world, I wanted to help you. I wanted to be the coach that helped you win.

I remember you first becoming a client, then very quickly a friend.

I remember that, as it happens in my line of work, you got very busy and had to stop training with me for a while. We stayed in touch, as you got to see my business grow by leaps and bounds, we would have periodic conversations and you’d tell me: I need to get back in with you, I just have a lot going on right now…

I remember that, true to your word, you did come back to work with me again. That was after we expanded the business and moved from location one to location two. It seemed you were reinvigorated and motivated again to start the weight loss journey once more.

I remember you were in more pain then, more physical pain. Your joints were starting to ache more, you had more muscular pains, all things you were attributing to being sedentary and not being focused on your weight loss.

I remember, again, we were trying to peel back the layers of: What will keep you motivated to succeed this time? We would get close. We’d share lots of conversations about life, work, priorities, food, wine, family, and you and I had a deep love of music. I loved talking about music with you.

I remember thinking (and telling you): Terry, I think I want you to be more successful than even you want to be. You laughed and said: Yeah, I know. You might be right…

I remember your life getting busy again and you had to drop off the roster. I know work and some personal things in life were tying up a lot of your attention. You promised you’d get started with me again in the future and you kept that promise.

I remember expanding from location two to location three and you and I were still in touch. You would read my blogs, you would engage in my posts on Facebook and you kept telling me: “I’ll be back.”

I remember getting that email from you. The one where you said you wanted to take a different approach this time. You knew how busy we were getting at the studio and so you made a special request. You asked if we could meet once a week so you could have some accountability with your goals. You were going to focus on food and exercise on your own, but you needed a sounding board to talk through the thoughts in your head and get a new game plan. By this point, you had lost both of your parents and you had experienced a health scare of your own.

I remember thinking: This is it. Terry’s ready. We’re going to see him succeed once and for all this time.

I remember you saying: “I need you to be blunt with me, Jason. Call me out. Don’t sugarcoat things. I know I need to get out of my head with some of my behaviors. I just feel like we’re together for a reason and that’s why I keep coming back to you.” I agreed. There was a reason you and I worked so well together. I loved you, I respected you, and I wanted so badly for you to get the weight off that you desired to so you could live the longest, healthiest life you could.

I remember us being more successful this go-round. More successful than we had been at any other point. I remember us talking about this in our meetings and in our emails.

I remember you starting to get side-tracked again with life. Historically, there was always a “distraction”. That could have been the stress with work, a personal issue to solve unrelated to health, or a project you were excited to be working. I called you out at one point and suggested: Terry, YOU are the project. Work on you. That’s a good project. “Yeah, I know.” you said. And I could tell, that at least momentarily, you were letting your gears spin on that one.

I remember that your love for your friends and your time of relaxation at your lake house was something to be admired and respected. You loved doing for others (almost to a fault). In our conversations, it was a case of “When I get finished with XYZ event/circumstance/holiday, I can get focused on myself again.” I pushed back at you again and I said “Terry, you know what they say on airplanes during the safety precautions? That in the event of emergency, you put the oxygen mask on yourself first before you take care of others. I need you to put your mask on.” That might have been one of the most impactful things I ever said to you. That one, in particular, stopped you in your tracks.

I remember you coming in for one of your consultations, and unbeknownst to me, but much to my happiness, you brought your wife, Debbie and your youngest son, Ethan, with you. I thought “Ok, he’s getting really serious now. He’s brought almost all of his family with him to see more about the work we’re doing together.”

I remember COVID hitting this year. You were the first of my clients to be diagnosed with it. I remember how ill you were and how much it threw you for a loop. I remember you talking about how some of the lingering effects of it was how it was affecting your memory. So much so, that you completely forgot about a couple of our sessions. That wasn’t like you but I understood you were in uncharted territories with that virus.

I remember you losing a good chunk of weight during that illness and we made a joke that perhaps that was the silver lining to kickstart the weight loss again.

I remember that as you got to feeling better, you got busier again: more work, more stress, more projects and our communication, while still intact was getting interrupted with a bit more frequency.

I remember reaching out to you, just a couple of weeks ago to see how you were doing. I missed seeing your face, the emails only accomplish so much. You were still active as client, just not as active with our consults. You said: “You’ve been on my mind a lot. I know I need to get in to see you.” That session never got booked.

I remember that Sunday night, November 1…that phone call.

Terry, a world without you is not a better world. It’s an emptier world. A world without your smile, your laugh, your conversations and the love for every soul around you, is not a better world. I hope you come across my Dad up there. I hope you tell some good jokes together. He may not be the Browns fan that you were but I’m sure you could share some great stories about the impact you had on the lives of everyone who met you.

I fucking hate that you’re gone. I hate that you won’t ever come through these doors again. That I won’t get to hug you again, tell you how proud I am of you again or that we won’t get to see that next milestone of weight loss.

I know that losing weight is not a cure-all for everything but damn if I don’t think that it could have kept you in this world days, weeks, years longer.

I write this, with the blessing of your wife, who I asked if I could commit something like this to the world. If I can’t be who I so desperately wanted to be in your life, the coach who helped crack the code for you, perhaps I can fulfill that role to your family. We can laugh about you, we can cry about you, we can all take care of ourselves in better ways in tribute to you.

I know I’m not alone with this empty feeling of a world without Terry Waye. I know I was privy to sides of you no one else could see because weight loss was a very personal, private thing. Thank you for at least letting me help to some extent.

I love you, Terry. Your friendship and support will never, ever be forgotten. I’m really going to miss you, brother.

With the exception of trying to make the food we eat at restaurants/take-out fit into a fat loss plan, alcohol is one of the more difficult areas to navigate.

As it relates to food, what we purchase from most Mom & Pop restaurant establishments does not attach a caloric value to what you’re eating. Which means, you’re left to guess at how much you’re consuming whether you order an omelet and hash browns or a cheeseburger and fries. If you’re trying to track that food via your app of choice (MyFitnessPal, MyPlate, Lose It, etc.), you’re at the mercy of what other options have been submitted to the app which can have wildly varying totals.

Alcohol is a somewhat different monster altogether.

For one, it takes a certain person/personality who can stop at “just one drink”. That one drink can be sufficient and can fit into most anyone’s diet plan. For another person, one becomes two, becomes three, and so on.

In addition, there is the increase of food consumption that occurs when alcohol intake shifts up. We gravitate towards more snacking, second helpings of a meal, etc. to help absorb some of the alcohol. In the case of wine and some liquors, there is the concept of pairing certain foods to pull the notes out of a given drink. With wine, that can be high fat foods like cheese and cured meats and with liquor it might be chocolate and nuts. Not to mention, once this cycle occurs, any notion of tracking it all goes straight out the window. Most people just won’t go through the trouble.

For those who want to imbibe and can moderate (keyword) the intake, here’s a cheat sheet to help you fit in some degree of social drinking and not completely thwart your fat loss plans.

Please bear in mind that, above and beyond anything else, you must be in a caloric/energy deficit for this to work.

We’ll start with beer.

Traditional beer is sold in 12 oz containers (bottle or can). Depending on if you’re specifically going for a light beer (like Michelob Ultra) or something heavier like a lager (Guinesss), calories can range from approximately 100-200 calories. Due to the rise in craft beers (beers that have upwards of 10% alcohol), you can count on higher caloric intake for the same size, 200-300 calories per 12 oz. Hard ciders and seltzers would fall in a similar place. Lower alcohol content will generally be lower in calories (approximately 100 calories per serving) and higher content/higher sugar will push the calories up (closer to 200 calories per serving).

Assuming you can stick with just the 12 oz is a starting place. However, if you’re ordering from a bar, a pint of beer is 16 oz. With a 25% uptick in glass size, you’ve now raised your calories respectively across the board from 125 (Michelob Ultra) to nearly 400 calories (craft IPA).

What about wine?

The standard serving size of wine is 5 oz. Roughly 25 calories are in each ounce (125 calories per 5 oz). White wines typically have lower alcohol (not by much) and might be slightly lower in calories while certain reds (pinot noir and syrah) will be on the higher end.

One of the biggest challenges with wine is the fact that once you open a bottle, you’re more inclined to finish it in one to two evenings. An average bottle of wine could have well over 600 calories.

Last but not least, let’s cover liquor/spirits.

The standard serving size for hard liquor is approximately 1.5 ounces. Many jiggers will give you the options for a 1 or a 2 oz pour, although many will be marked for smaller measurements if you’re mixing or doing flight tastings.

When looking at many options in gin, tequila, vodka, scotch and Irish whisky, the proof is around 80. At the 1.5 oz measurement, you’re at approximately 100 calories. When you shift the proof up to say, 94, the calories shift up to approximately 120 per 1.5 oz.

My wife and I favor bourbon, ryes and whisky blends and when we venture into the barrel proof/cask strength options (114-130 proof), the calories jump to nearly 170 on the high end for 1.5 oz.

What about mixed drinks?

Cocktails can take on all sorts of variations (far too many to list) but when you consider that any of the liquor options mentioned above would be a starting place with somewhere between 1.5-2 oz for your liquor base, anything else you add will likely raise sugar and alcohol content and can easily double the amount you’re consuming. While you certainly could have mixed drinks fit into a fat loss plan, you could also be consuming a small meal’s worth of calories in just one drink not including anything else you might be eating in addition to the drink.

When I recently wrote about my wife’s weight loss progress, switching from wine and beer to bourbon was a gamechanger for her progress. She consumed less by default. While it’s not impossible to over do it with hard liquor, having the higher alcohol content seemed to reduce overall consumption and calories for her.

Final thoughts:

-If you can’t moderate your alcohol intake, you may need to consider some degree of abstinence while on a fat loss plan.

-Just like desserts or other hyper-palatable foods, alcohol can fit into the diet assuming that you have accounted appropriately for it and any food that may be used to complement the drink of choice.

-Many people use alcohol to “take the edge off”, cope with stress and to help them fall asleep at night. While it may assist in any of those things, it may be preventing you from having quality, restful sleep. That same lack of sleep can lead to poor eating choices the following day. If you’re having difficulty adhering to healthier eating patterns, try focusing on better sleep hygiene to see how it affects your fat loss results.

-If you’re not comfortable tracking alcohol intake on your own, a designated driver or comparably more sober friend/family member may be able to help. If you’re someone who can’t stop at just one, it can be enlightening to have someone else point out (lovingly) that in addition to the nachos you ate during the football game (let’s not go into how many calories were there) you also consumed 600-800 calories of craft IPA. The numbers alone may spark a slightly different approach to alcohol in the future.

-Do I think it’s easy to include alcohol in fat loss plan? No. Do I think it’s possible? 100%. Much of your success will come from adherence, accountability and honesty with what you’re actually consuming versus what you think you’re consuming.

-And of course, if you feel like you have an addiction which needs to be addressed, please consider a support group or counseling professional to give further guidance and assistance. We encourage responsible drinking.

“We Make Great People Greater”

Rog Law makes his triumphant return to the show for his third appearance this week (see Episodes #21 and #47). We catch up on what his life has been like in the nearly four years since he was last on the show. He’s a married guy now and he’s been working for Mark Fisher Fitness since we last spoke so we touch on that and how 2020 has been affecting his life. We dive into the mindfulness skills and strategies that have been working for both he and his clients. We also chat about some tips heading into the holidays based on the year we’ve all been experiencing. 

To learn more about Rog’s work: 

www.roglawfitness.com

www.facebook.com/roglaw

www.instagram.com/roglawfitness

To learn more about your host: 

www.jasonleenaarts.com

www.revfittherapy.com

www.facebook.com/jason.leenaarts

www.instagram.com/jasonleenaarts

You can also like our Facebook page at: 

www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou

To purchase my book, “A Revolution A Day”: 

www.amzn.to/2R9Larx

Apple Podcasts OR Stitcher OR iHeartRadio OR Amazon Podcasts

As the weather starts to change this time of year, it will become more and more difficult for people, not just my clients, to keep up any degree of moderate activity.

Around our area (northeast Ohio), there are hiking and biking trails galore and, pandemic notwithstanding, the opportunity for 5Ks, half marathons, and marathons for well over half the year.

I, myself, average over 15,000 steps a day during a normal workday at RevFit. While I have the build of a runner, I do not run. I hate running. And, to be quite fair, one thing I don’t really need to do is cardio for fat loss.

However, I am not the norm. Most of my clients don’t get 15,000 steps a day and, again due to that damn virus, many people have almost been forced to be more sedentary than normal.

Because I train a wide range of clientele (ages, genders, goals, and preferences), I know that some people not only love their cardio work, they never have an issue getting their mileage or time in.

This article is for the people who, at least in terms of preference, are like me: they don’t like cardio one bit. I’ll say that these strategies might not help you find a love for cardio, but…maybe you’ll hate it marginally less.

Let me get one major thing out of the way first: You do NOT need to do cardiovascular activity for fat loss. Can it help? Yes. Is it the most effective and efficient way to lose weight? No. That will come from your dietary intake.

That being said, if you are already not working with a large amount of calories for weight loss purposes (Hi, ladies, I’m talking to you) then you may need to have some more cardio in the mix to help.

Please don’t read what I’m not writing. We live in a nation that has little to no concept of moderation. Some cardio, good. Hours and hours of self-flagellation on a treadmill or HIIT class, not so good.

What I’ve found over the years is that many clients love to watch a good TV show. Now, with more options available than ever on regular television or your streaming platform of choice, you can kill two birds with one stone, in a sense.

I’ll use some of these examples, fresh from a conversation with one of my online clients, Tammy B.

Tammy records “General Hospital” and likes to watch the episode(s) when she has time around her work schedule. She has an exercise bike that affords her the convenience of equipment she can utilize in the comforts of her own home. Since the bike is somewhat portable, she can move it in the room where she watches her show of choice.

In Tammy’s case, the first obstacle has just been to actually get the time in. I gave her these three options to start and progress with.

–Ride the bike during the commercial breaks. This gives her just a couple of minutes of riding time and then she gets to sit down and recover during the actual showtime. If the show is an hour long, let’s assume she gets approximately 15 minutes of riding time in an hour span with approximately 45 minutes of recovery. We’re not aiming for speed, necessarily, we’re aiming for consistency.

–Ride the bike during showtime. This option is a progression once she feels she can tackle the commercial times and wants to ramp it up. Now, she can flip the cardio option around and only ride the bike while the show is on, using the commercial time as recovery. She may not be able to complete all of these intervals initially, but even if she gets halfway through, she’s already put in more time than she would have if she had stuck to the commercial breaks.

–Ride with 1:1 ratios. Tammy gets to be creative with this one. One way to do it, is to shoot for 10 minutes of riding time with 10 minutes of recovery time. If the show is an hour long, that’s 30 minutes of time with ample recovery in between. This can be a good variation to work with if she isn’t quite ready to be riding with the aforementioned intervals of showtime (which would put her at roughly 45 minutes of riding time). Using the same pattern, she could do 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off as well. Or, another option would be 5 minutes on and 5 minutes off.

In your case, if your conditioning isn’t a concern and you don’t find yourself challenged with the three options above, you can always just aim for a straight session of work equal to the length of the episode.

While I certainly don’t discourage anyone from watching a show they enjoy, it’s easy to get lost in 2-3 hours of sitting time and not find the motivation to start some activity. This way, you reward your cardio efforts with some entertainment and can still get the steps/strides in.

A caveat for the folks who aren’t training for a specific event is two-fold: it is painfully difficult to get an accurate amount of calories burned for your activity. While something is better than nothing, even the trackers available on the market can have wild variations of showing expenditure. In addition, many people find that an increase in cardiovascular work also significantly increases their hunger. This can be a real bear to deal with when you’re dieting for fat loss.

However, traditional cardio (elliptical, treadmill, rower, bike) is not the only option available to you. Prior to COVID, we would sometimes train clients with density workouts. These are strength based routines set to time. We would set a timer for 20 minutes and aim for as many rounds as possible within the time frame.

A sample workout might look something like this:

Bodyweight or Goblet Squats (10 reps)

Hip Thrusts (15 reps)

Push-Ups (10 reps)

Lateral Lunges (8 reps each side)

Dumbbell Push Press (10 reps)

Plank (30s)

Work the routine from top to bottom and then repeat. If you’re using weights, start light. It’s not uncommon to get through as many as 6-8 rounds within 20 minutes. That’s a considerable amount of volume.

These options are by no means exhaustive. You can find ways to spice up your routine with jumping jacks, kettlebell swings, high knees, battle ropes, etc. assuming that you have access to the equipment you might need.

The goal, as always, is just to get more exercise in than you might normally and to do it in as sane a way as possible. Intensity can only take you so far and none of us are getting younger (I’m certainly not), which can be that irritating reminder that our joints don’t necessarily like all the jumping and pounding we do on them.

As you’ll see below, even Coach Sebastian finds a way to get some extra steps in.

“We Make Great People Greater”

The “Mary Poppins of Menopause” has returned! Amanda Thebe has released a brand new book called “Menopacalypse: How I Learned To Thrive During Menopause And How You Can Too”. We had a great conversation back on Episode #166 and this time we dive even further into the pitfalls and solutions for women who are experiencing perimenopause and menopause. From fitness, to food, to alcohol, you’ll want to tune in. I can’t recommend this episode or her book enough. 

To learn more about Amanda’s work and to order her book: 

www.fitnchips.com 

www.instagram.com/amanda.thebe

www.facebook.com/fitnchips 

To learn more about your host: 

www.jasonleenaarts.com

www.revfittherapy.com

www.facebook.com/jason.leenaarts

www.instagram.com/jasonleenaarts

You can also like our Facebook page at: 

www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou

To purchase my book, “A Revolution A Day”: 

www.amzn.to/2R9Larx 

Apple Podcasts OR Stitcher OR Player FM OR Amazon Podcasts

To know how someone achieved a goal, it may be helpful to know where they’ve come from. When it comes to how my wife lost 35 pounds, I probably know more about the details than arguably anyone else.

When Marissa and I started dating back in December of 2009, she was still working full-time at Disney, dancing and singing over 30 hours a week. She was, at the time, 25 years of age and, whether she knew the term or not, ate a diet that would be considered flexitarian. For those not aware of the term, for her application, it was a diet predominantly of vegetables, some dairy (cheese, ice cream) and fish/seafood.

By comparison, I was the way I am now: an omnivore. I’ll consume damn near anything as long as onions aren’t a part of the plan. I will say to her credit, I didn’t eat as many vegetables then as I do now. Conversely, Marissa has transitioned to being an omnivore as well. She now eats almost all conventional animal products (no organ meats, etc.)

Throughout the time we’ve been together, she was at her lowest weight when we started dating. I’m going to come back to that point later as it will have more bearing. I won’t be referencing actual numbers 1) Because I don’t think they matter 2) I don’t have her permission to do so.

What I will talk about is some relative ranges and why I think the path she’s on now is arguably the “best” for her.

Over the span of years of us dating, being engaged, getting married, her weight shifted up roughly 10 pounds from when we first met. Also within that time, her contract ended with Disney so some of the weight gain likely came from a big decrease in daily/weekly activity.

In the winter of 2016, Marissa broke the news that we would be expecting our first child together. As it stands to occur, her weight continued to increase steadily over time until Sebastian was welcomed into this world in August of 2017.

Shortly after he was born, I started to cook more dinner for the family. I knew she had her hands full with the baby and I was enjoying learning a new skill of cooking. I found a series of high protein recipes that made it easy for me to learn from and provided enough variety that she and I were pleased with how dinner was turning out.

After her phase of breastfeeding Sebastian, Marissa’s weight dropped from it’s highest point down about 20 pounds (give or take). It was at that point that she came to me and asked for help getting her back to pre-baby weight.

Part of this was about more than just aesthetics. Marissa has a massive amount of clothing that she wanted to be able to fit back into. I’m not certain exactly when we started working together on a weight loss plan, but let’s say for simplicity’s sake, it happened at the beginning of 2018.

There was one attribute of Marissa’s eating patterns that I needed to bring her attention to. For one, she wasn’t exactly aware of the fact that she did this and, because it was such a natural pattern for her to fall into, I thought we could work it to her advantage.

Historically, Marissa would wake up in the morning, have some coffee (black) and get her day started. She would frequently skip breakfast and have a small lunch and a larger dinner. If this kind of pattern sounds familiar to you, it’s because she was essentially doing intermittent fasting (IF) without ever being cognizant of it.

Before my readers jump to any conclusions here, there is a reason I don’t automatically default to IF when I start working with clients. I see it fail more people than it helps. I’ll caveat that by saying that it can be a fantastic tool for some and absolutely terrible for others. However, I can say that about pretty much any diet, if I’m being honest…

Routinely, Marissa would ask me certain questions about what she was eating: How many calories should I be shooting for? Should I be paying attention to fiber/protein, etc.?

They were and remain reasonable questions to ask. Even though Marissa had used a food app at one point to track her calories several years ago, I knew it wouldn’t be the best use of her time, so I just gave her some small tips that made applying easier for her: focus on lean proteins, get some veggies, and if you have a larger breakfast/lunch than you anticipated, we’ll focus on a smaller dinner.

I didn’t hound her or pester her about her progress. There would be spans of weeks where she would tell me nothing about her scale weight. Then, she might make a small mention of “My weight is down.” I’d ask her for a number if she felt like sharing it and we might have a little bit of dialogue about how and why the scale might give a certain reading.

Like anyone else, Marissa would be frustrated with the very normal upticks in scale weight that might come from variances in sodium intake, wild variances in carb intake, changes in waste removal, lack of water, etc. I’d have to go through the checklist of: Did you have a high salt meal? Have you had a regular bowel movement? How much water have you been drinking? Yes, even my wife get the same questions a client would.

One thing that began to work to my wife’s benefit was the type of alcohol we began to consume. She was always someone who favored wine or beer over, say, hard liquor. My own tastes changed as well and I shifted into drinking exclusively bourbon/whiskey. Part of this was due to how it made me feel. Beer made me feel bloated and wine immediately made me want to take a nap. I could have a shot of bourbon, not feel the need to overdo it and suffer no side effects.

As a result, she also took to sharing the same drink with me, which as we figured, cut back the calories in alcohol consumption by about 50%.

There are some other factors to note.

While I have owned this business for longer than Marissa and I have been a couple, she was mostly inconsistent with her own exercise. I never gave an opinion on that either way. If she wanted to train she could, but I never made her feel like she was obligated to do so. As a result, she would go periods of months without conventional exercise, try to add it back in, get busy with life and parenting and then try again.

After the lockdowns occurred this year, she renewed her efforts and started coming to the gym 3x/week for strength training. To date, this is the most consistent she’s ever been with a workout plan. She does absolutely no cardio work. Her efforts have come from dietary adherence and 3 days a week of lifting weights for about 30 minutes.

Recently, she was doing her hair in the bathroom and when she lifted her arm up, she noticed a prominent line in her arm…to which she remarked, “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen muscles in my arms!”

Throughout her weight loss journey, she would from time to time tell me what her goal weight was. It was usually a number very similar to the weight she was when we first started dating. I would always try to say to her: “I’d prefer you healthy and strong over skinny.” I never wanted her to feel like the number mattered to me because it didn’t. I wanted her to focus on her strength increases in the gym so she could feel confidence in herself and her abilities (and also be strong enough to kick my ass if I ever got out of line…which, of course, NEVER happens…) *cough*

To date, Marissa has lost 35 pounds from when she first asked for my help. It hasn’t been fast, it hasn’t been aggressive, it’s just been a methodical drop to where she is today which is lower than she was when we got married and only slightly above her lowest weight since I’ve known her. I think she looks better now than ever.

Some other things to note: Once she started seeing progress in the gym and reigned in the focus on her food intake, she started carrying herself differently. She showed more confidence and more energy. Although her body changed after bringing a baby into the world, that’s not a bad thing. Yes, there was a recomposition, but nearly every mother goes through that and I believe that Marissa worked everything to her advantage.

I had always told her that if she ever needed to lose weight, I’d hire a dietitian to help her. Part of that was because I didn’t want it on my shoulders if she hated her diet plan. In hindsight, I’m glad it worked out the way it did. We got to share more input together about what was working, what wasn’t, and make any necessary changes in short order.

If I were to share any direct tips with you that might help you with your own weight loss based on what worked for her, it would go something like this:

–Minimize the food you get from restaurants/take-out. It can be harder to control caloric intake if you’re not the one cooking the meal. While you can still overdo it with home cooked portions, you can also stack the deck in your favor by learning how to cook lower calorie meals.

–Learn your dietary triggers. Marissa wouldn’t say she’s an emotional eater but she did identify with being a boredom eater. Once she noticed it, she started only buying snacks that would work for Sebastian but would be less attractive to her. She also knew that certain foods like cheese needed to be purchased with less frequency because that was a food she could easily overdo. Desserts were limited as she and I both have a sweet tooth. Pizza was also another food that was easy for us to overdo so we kept it to a minimum as well.

–Earn your carbs. I affectionately swiped “earn your carbs” from my buddy, Mike Doehla of Stronger U. While chasing around a toddler is its own form of exercise, it’s nowhere near as active as she was when she was at Disney. If she had a high carb lunch/breakfast, we’d normally go lower carb at night. Nothing wrong with carbs, mind you, it was just an easy place to cut back to keep her on her plan. To that point, we would frequently sub in cauliflower rice for regular rice to 1) increase vegetable intake 2) drop calories in the meal.

–Be patient. To Marissa’s credit, she never got impatient with the process. She knew she needed her energy for parenting and getting through her day and never let the scale dictate unreasonable dietary decisions.

–Change your vice. As mentioned before, an easy way we cut back calories for her was to switch the choice of alcohol. Because I don’t have a tendency to overdo it with liquor, neither does she. When it was wine and beer, the calories were always higher. With bourbon/whiskey, the calories were dropped by default and I could always measure out the pour if need be.

–IF was the most logical tool for her. It was easy to get Marissa to follow even a loose interpretation of intermittent fasting because it was the way she had eaten for most of her life. I don’t recommend it for the vast majority of people because it just doesn’t work as well. While many of my clients have tried it because it’s seeing a resurgence in the diet world, the results are mixed at best. Perhaps because Marissa had me as a sounding board and someone to help with understanding meals/portions at home, it just worked better for her.

–Support matters. I can’t oversell this one. It would have been easy for me to frequently suggest takeout, desserts, etc. (especially in the midst of a pandemic) but I knew that it would be a short-term pleasure and then the frustration on the scale for her. While there were occasional splurges, it was less than once a week and more like every other week. It wasn’t anything we would argue over, it was just an unspoken understanding that if it wasn’t an option, there was less temptation.

I wish I could tell you there was some fancy magic going on to get her down to the weight she is today but it wasn’t. She was consistent (not perfect) with food and strength training, she ate enough protein, knew when to self-regulate and stayed the course. It wasn’t fast but it was effective.

Proud of you, Mrs. (Sebastian and Jackson are too).

“We Make Great People Greater”

I was recently sharing time with Nikki Naab-Levy on her IG live about responsible fitness marketing and the conversation was so fascinating, I asked her to come back onto this show so we could compare thoughts on how we approach marketing in our particular stratospheres in the industry. Nikki has been on fire lately with her own content and I highly recommend you keep an eye on her on social media. Also, please reference our 3 previous episodes together (#147, #164 and #251). Download, subscribe, share with your friends and please take a moment to leave us an Apple Podcasts review. 

To follow Nikki’s work: 

www.naablevy.com

www.facebook.com/naabers

www.instagram.com/naablevy 

To learn more about your host: 

www.jasonleenaarts.com

www.revfittherapy.com

www.facebook.com/jason.leenaarts

www.instagram.com/jasonleenaarts

You can also like our Facebook page at: 

www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou 

To buy my newest book, “A Revolution A Day”: 

www.amzn.to/2R9Larx 

Apple Podcasts OR Stitcher OR Player FM OR Amazon Podcasts

A couple of months ago, I had a sensitive conversation with a client (let’s call her Judy) which was hard to forget. Judy had been approached by someone close to her who insinuated that maybe she wasn’t taking her weight loss very seriously due to a plateau in results.

I take a lot of issue with statements like this.

For one, as the coach, I don’t strong arm my clients into better results. Some clients want more frequent touch points to stay on track and some need breathing room to try and sort things out on their own after initial guidance. These positions aren’t static, they’re flexible. A client can shift on either end of that spectrum depending on life stressors and their current priorities. So, as life ebbs and flows, scale weight may do the same. My clients don’t lose weight on my time schedule, they do so on theirs.

However, Judy was upset about being approached in this way and, to be honest, it got me sort of riled up too.

To that point, I pushed back and said: “Well, we have a new goal now. When you’re ready to focus on weight loss again, we do it to send a nice, big “f*ck you” to anyone who thinks you can’t succeed.”

Let’s come back to that.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with a family who was tremendously supportive of me. They may not have agreed with every move I made but I had guidance, I had support and I had love every step of the way. I know many others who did not grow up with the same foundation that I did. For that, I am immensely grateful.

However, my biggest critic, the most negative voice in my life, was my own. That was/is the voice that screamed: “You can’t, you won’t, you don’t deserve it, you can’t succeed at it, etc.”

Maybe your current lack of results is because you spend too much time listening to the voice that I listened to.

Or, maybe you’re like Judy and some part of your intimate circle of friends/family is the voice that keeps you from moving forward.

Either way, the advice is the same.

Most of my clients (and most of my readers) know the answer to their weight loss struggles. They know about calories, they probably know about macronutrients, and they’ve likely taken a ride on more than a handful of dietary rodeos.

So, it’s not a lack of information, it’s a lack of faith. Faith in staying consistent to the plan and faith in themselves that they can get the job done.

When Judy and I came up with a game plan to get weight loss moving again, I had a hashtag for her that was only somewhat in jest: #operationmiddlefinger

Whoever you are, wherever you are, there’s probably someone (or even yourself) who needs to be put in their place. You don’t have to confront these people and you don’t have to fight them, you just have to prove them wrong.

I’ve personally found that some of my own successes came when I had something of a chip on my shoulder.

I know this crosses into territories that are more extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic motivation. Depending on who you are and what you’re struggling with, you may need more of one than another to get things moving in the direction you initially desired.

Ever since that conversation, Judy has been steadily moving the needle back the direction she wants it to go. She sends me sporadic updates about the food choices she’s making, she’s sticking post-it notes in places (pantry, dashboard and fridge) that serve as reminders that she has a goal she’s focusing on and she’s rallying the troops who she knows she can count on to keep her more aligned with her goals as opposed to the polar opposite.

Operation: Middle Finger isn’t about perfect lives, perfect people or perfect diets. It’s about lighting a fire up under your ass when things get weird (because they do) and putting the pieces back in place.

Shout out to Judy for making the “operation” work.

“We Make Great People Greater”

Darko Botic, of Macros Inc, returns to the show after a great chat back in February of 2018 (Episode #104). In this week’s episode, we talk about what the last two years have been like for him. His coaching has evolved since we last spoke and we touch on if he feels his own weight loss journey of losing 200 pounds gives him an inherent advantage over other coaches, the notion of addictive and triggering foods in the diet and how we’ve been helping clients navigate the ever changing madness of 2020. Download, subscribe, share with your friends and please take a moment to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. 

To learn more about Darko’s work: 

www.facebook.com/darkobotich

www.instagram.com/darko.botic

You can also learn more about Macros Inc at: 

www.macrosinc.net

To learn more about your host: 

www.jasonleenaarts.com

www.revfittherapy.com

www.facebook.com/jason.leenaarts

www.instagram.com/jasonleenaarts

You can also like our Facebook page at: 

www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou

To purchase my book, “A Revolution A Day”: 

www.amzn.to/2R9Larx

Apple Podcasts OR Stitcher OR Player FM OR Amazon Podcasts

Recently, I posted the weight loss success of three of our clients: Faith, Don and Cherie. While I’m not always as consistent with this visual/physical reminder, it’s cool to see the client hold up a 35 pound or 45 pound plate to show off the number and actually feel what used to be on their frame.

Because everyone loses weight at a different pace and everyone is inspired and motivated by different things, I asked all three clients 4 specific questions to get their take on what that’s been like.

Of course, my ultimate goal is to get all three of them on the podcast (and in Don’s case, to be joined by his wife, Amy who is also a client) so we can dig deeper and find out more about the process for each of them.

Aside from some very minor typos to fix, I kept all responses just as they were sent to me. I wanted everything unedited and to faithfully represent their personalities.

If you want to get some more insight on what’s helping these three succeed, you can start here.

Faith G. (down 45 pounds to date)

1. What was your original motivation to lose weight?

I always have had body image issues and have been pretty much always trying to lose weight, but I guess my original motivation to get really serious about losing weight and getting a personal trainer was due to my consistent failures to lose weight on my own. Additionally, I started to notice daily activities were getting harder for me, which made me realize if I don’t do something now, then I could possibly develop some health problems in the future.

I called you the day after Thanksgiving last year. I had taken a lot of pictures and saw a lot of people I hadn’t seen in awhile that week. I couldn’t even recognize myself in pictures anymore and was just embarrassed to see anyone I knew at that point. I could feel their judgement and disappointment. I hated how I felt. I knew that the hardest month of the year (December) was coming up and knew I would gain even more weight if I didn’t do something different.

2. Do you remember what the catalyst was after you started that made you feel confident you could reach your goal?

During the month of December, I lost 8 pounds. I knew if I could lose weight at pretty much the hardest time of the year to lose weight, I would be able to continue what I was doing. The best part about December looking back is I was still able to enjoy myself. I definitely was able to enjoy some sweets and also drink. I didn’t feel like I really missed out on anything, I just had to plan better.

3. What was the best advice I gave you?

When I came in for my initial consultation, you asked me to describe my eating habits and what I typically would eat every day. And even though what I was eating everyday was complete garbage, you didn’t judge me at all, which I really appreciate.

You asked me what my “must haves” were, which I was really shocked that you asked that. I love to drink Coke, so that was a must have. You were able to show me how I could work my must haves into my diet. Of course, the overall goal is to eat healthier foods, but iIthink you understood that most people aren’t able to just cut a bunch of food/drinks out of their diets at once. So in conclusion the best advice that you gave me was essentially the hashtag you always use, #itsnotmagicitsjustcalories

4. Is there any advice you would give to someone who is also trying to lose weight?

If there are foods/drinks you really love and must have, don’t feel like you have to cut them completely out. Labeling foods as “good” or “bad” and avoiding those “bad” foods when trying to lose weight is only going to make you miserable and want those foods more. Of course you can’t always eat whatever you want, but you can work certain things you want into your calories for the day/week.

I also think focusing more on what your body can do vs what the number on the scale is will keep you more motivated to continue trying to lose weight and developing healthier habits. I may not have lost any weight on a given week, but I may have gotten a new PR on squat, which is pretty fucking lit to me.

Don M. (down 45 pounds in the picture and 48 pounds to date)

1.) What was your original motivation to lose weight?

The motivation was my kids. I want to be around for them. I want to be able to throw the ball around with them and play on the floor and all the cool dad things. Things I never got with my dad. And of course, I was absolutely sick and tired of feeling like total hell all the time. Which I did. Everything hurt from my hair to my toenails. I still hurt, just in less painful ways.

2.) Do you remember what the catalyst was after you started that made you feel confident you could reach your goal?

I didn’t really set a goal for myself. It felt too ‘final’. I believe I said to you ‘if I lost 100 pounds, I’d still be a fat guy.’ So, the catalyst is different for me. 100 pounds seems like a good starting point, but let’s see what lies beyond that 100. If I can do that, I can do anything fucking thing I want.

3.) What was the best advice I gave you?

The thing that stuck out the most was the diet triangle, where we looked at what a typical day looked like for me. Zero breakfast, a little lunch, and HOLY SHIT YOU ATE ALL THAT FOR DINNER??? What hit home was taking the triangle shape that you eat and balancing it out. Make it parallel all day. The icing on the cake was the phrase ‘get comfortable being uncomfortable’. Once I figured that statement out, I knew how to work it.

4.) Is there any advice you would give to someone who is also trying to lose weight?

Advice? Me? Hahaha… seriously, I hate doing cardio. I hurt too damn bad for treadmills and elliptical. So if I didn’t have to do it, I didn’t want to. So I stuck with the diet plan- if that’s what you call it- less calories. I tried like hell the first week to stay around 1200 calories a day. Don’t know where that number came from. Just did it to ‘get comfortable with being uncomfortable.’ After that first week, it was easy. I found things I could eat that were less calories than the pizza and the pasta and the double cheeseburgers I was eating. Do I still want that stuff? Hell yes. Do I eat it? Hell yes! Just a lot less of it because I don’t want to erase the progress that I worked so hard for.

Cherie (down 35 pounds in the picture and 38 pounds to date)

1.) What was your original motivation to lose weight?

So August of 2016, my husband decides he wants to start planning my 40th birthday trip to Mexico in March 2017. I was excited but dreading it at the same time. I was tired of being heavy. People said I wasn’t heavy, but in my mind I knew I looked heavy. I had put 54 pounds on in 9 years. Mexico! My 40th! Time to celebrate! But I wasn’t excited for a bathing suit and pictures. I wanted to look beautiful, feel confident, not only for myself but for my husband, also be a role model to my young children who were athletes. So, one day this cool dude moves his gym into the plaza right next to my work. I saw he and his clients quite often in passing, saw what he was doing, and a girlfriend and her husband starting working out with him and singing his praises. I thought, he can help me! Once I went to talk to Jason Leenaarts, he became an instant friend and confidant, to me, my husband and then mother. Jason, you were a huge motivation/support for me!

2.) Do you remember what the catalyst was after you started that made you feel confident you could reach your goal?

There were a few things: A) interval training: I loved the 1 set reps, 30 sec cardio, rinse and repeat. B) because of the interval training I worked up a major sweat! That made me feel good about myself, accomplished C) you! You held me accountable for my actions. You were expecting me to be there when I said I would be and weighing in weekly. I didn’t want to disappoint you or myself.

3.) What was the best advice I gave you?

I hate cliches, they are the worst. You never said this exact quote to me, but in essence you referred to the fact, “slow and steady wins the race”! From the very beginning of me working with you, you explained that fast weight loss isn’t always the healthiest or most sustainable. Losing slowly, I was more apt to keep it off in the long run.

But it wasn’t only your advice you gave me, it was you encouragement, belief in me, and most importantly, your friendship… to not only me, but my family.

4.) Is there any advice you would give to someone who is also trying to lose weight?

I’m no expert in exercise and weight loss, heck, I even lack motivation most of the time! But my advice is to find a workout buddy! Someone to meet you there, hold you accountable, you can talk water consumption and calories with! You can bitch about your trainer together jk! I’ve had a few over the course of my 4 years and that’s what keeps me going, keeps me motivated, again holds me accountable. I’m a mother of 2 teenagers that are extremely busy, do I want to just want to give in some days and be lazy, yes I do, and sometimes I do! But more often that not, my friends are there waiting for me, so I go do my thing!

My sincerest thanks to Faith, Don and Cherie who have not only carved out their own individual paths to weight loss but knowingly and unknowingly inspire others as well. Thank you all for being an integral part of the RevFit family.

“We Make Great People Greater”