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*The title of this post was taken from the Jane’s Addiction song of the same name*

Note: I have intentionally changed the name of my client to Jane for privacy purposes.

Late last year, Jane came in to to talk about joining up at RevFit. She had some mutual friends who were already clients and they were happy with their results. It’s my understanding that Jane had some apprehension because she was somewhat self conscious about form and exercising in front of others.

When we sat down to discuss health history and goals, Jane said, somewhat in jest, that she would be a handful. She had a history of medications and behaviors that at least alluded to why her weight had steadily escalated. Fortunately, Jane’s husband was excited that she made the step to come see me.

Medications can be a strange obstacle. I tend to see a little bit of everything too. Medications for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, anti-anxiety, poor sleep, attention deficit disorder, birth control, thyroid dysfunction and more. Sometimes, the medication itself may not be the issue but the combination of one medication with another can make weight loss difficult. Not only that, but some medications have been known to affect hunger signals.

Imagine for a moment being overweight and depressed with high blood pressure (with a potential link between the three.) Your blood pressure medicine seems to be doing the trick but your anti-depressant medication leaves you in a state of never feeling hungry so you continue to raid the fridge. Next thing you know, your weight continues to go up which fuels the depression and the high blood pressure. Now, your doctor is tempted to raise your dosages on both of your medications to help control the emotions and keep your blood pressure down. Notice a cycle?

There was a similar thing happening with Jane. Because I am nowhere near a doctor or a pharmacologist, I will normally suggest to a client that perhaps their weight gain (or struggle to lose weight) is affected by their medication(s). Typically a follow-up with the doctor can unveil things that may not have been immediately apparent.

So, the medications were one obstacle. The other was Jane’s social life. You see, Jane has a bit of a stressful job and she and her husband have a large circle of friends they often hang out with. When she gets done with work, and definitely on the weekends, she and her husband will generally cut loose and go nuts. So Jane and I talked about what other things she could change in her diet so that she didn’t have to restrict too much on the weekends.

Over the next couple of months, Jane would tell me about all of the baby steps she was taking to get her diet in order. Each time we would step on the scale, the weight kept creeping up. We would chat about what more could be done but I could tell that mentally, she just wasn’t there yet.

One evening during one of her sessions, I asked Jane if she would mind that I reach out to her husband. I really wanted to see what more could be done to keep her on track and get her focused on her goals. Since her husband had expressed his excitement when she started, I was hoping he would be able to help me help her.

Jane was okay with it so I connected with her husband to express some of my concerns. Fortunately, he was on board but he also knew that the weekends were when things appeared to get out of hand the most.

When Jane came back in, she mentioned that she had a doctor’s appointment coming up and asked if there was anything that she should talk to her doctor about regarding medication. I told her some of my concerns and we agreed that maybe solving some of the dosage questions could bridge the gap with weight loss.

The next morning, I drafted a letter for Jane to give to her doctor. She never asked me to do it, I just wanted to write something simply from my perspective in efforts to get the doctor on the same page and to hopefully open up some doors of communication so that Jane could start seeing the results she was paying for.

I sent the letter to Jane and said “You don’t have to take this to your doctor if you don’t want. I wrote it because I genuinely care that you get to where you want to be. If this letter helps, I’m happy to have written it.”

Jane did take the letter to her doctor and he did mention some places where medication could have been taking her down the wrong road. He referenced a diet that he thought Jane might want to consider and gave her the option of either following his food plan or following the one she and I had discussed.

Jane and I discussed both options and while she wasn’t sure she could restrict to the level of her doctor’s food plan she still wasn’t quite ready to change her lifestyle either.

Until last week.

Jane came in for one of her sessions and she said “I’m going to try a week.”

“A week of what?” I asked.

“A week of not drinking. I would try for a month but I think that would be too hard for me. So, I’m going to try and not drink for a week.”

“Ok!” I said, “Give it a try and let’s see what happens. Worst case, if you happen to drink before the week is up, try and minimize the damage. If one night gets crazy, get back on track the next day and try again. Just don’t beat yourself up and let one night turn into two or three on the same path.”

The good news? Jane made it almost one full week without drinking.

The better news? When she did drink, she kept it to a minimum and called it a night.

The best news? For the first time since she started, Jane’s effort over that one week showed on the scale. She finally lost weight.

The great thing about Jane’s story is not that there was some secret solution. The medication was a piece of the puzzle but not a silver bullet. Jane made a conscious decision of her own accord to change what she felt was the most damaging aspect of her diet.

In my mind, perhaps one week of sobriety was too challenging. In 12-step programs, the motto is “one day at a time.” However, I applaud Jane’s attempt to right the ship. I know what she is capable of when she puts her mind to it. I believe that when (not if) she fully commits to her progress, she’ll be able to find the perfect balance between the crazy weekends and the not-so-crazy weeks. Does she have to adhere to total sobriety to see the progress she wants? Not necessarily. But the fact that she was rewarded on the scale when she dedicated herself to the change for a handful of days is promising.

For you, maybe drinking isn’t the issue. Maybe it’s a food that you crave or over-consume. All that matters is that you can diagnose the issue and come up with a plan to solve it.

I know in Jane’s case, it was really awesome to see the glimmer when she saw the weight come down.

Now it’s a matter of stringing together a sustainable plan to keep seeing those numbers come down.

And if Jane says she can do it, I’ll believe her.

And just in case, you’re wondering, Jane’s not pictured below. These are just some of our awesome RevLadies after their workout. 🙂

 

Amy Vandeputte of “Fast Forward Amy” fame hops on this week’s episode with me. If you’ve not heard of her yet, you can say you got your initiation through this show! Amy is steadily booming in the fitness industry by tapping into not only her native Belgium but also branching out to America and beyond as well. In this episode, we discuss how Amy began her business and what is making her stand out from the crowd. To connect with Amy and see what she’s doing, check out http://www.fastforwardamy.com To learn more about your host, please visit http://www.jasonleenaarts.com and check out our new Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou Download, subscribe, share with your friends and please take a moment to leave us an iTunes review.

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*The title of this post was taken from the Guns N’ Roses song of the same name*

A fair amount of time elapsed from the time Chris first sat down in a consultation with me until he decided to sign up and get started. We had several mutual friends in common and I’m sure it helped that Chris saw those friends get good results here at the studio.

One of the hangups was that Chris wasn’t really interested in exercise. Nothing about it seemed particularly intriguing to him. So, even though he wanted to lose weight and get his body in a better place, the thought of exercise was not desirable.

We would stay in touch via social media over those months and little by little, Chris was teasing the thought of getting started. Even when it seemed like he would begin, he shared his hesitation by stating, “We’ll see if I can stick with this…”

Chris began and we had a very candid conversation about what needed to happen with his food plan. Like many people, I think Chris felt he would try to adhere to the plan making as few changes as possible. Typically, that bites clients in the ass. Calling it what it is, you either decide your in or your out. Calories don’t discriminate.

However, by replacing copious amounts of soft drinks with water and getting the food under control, Chris started dropping fat mass very quickly. Not only that, he barely plateaued. In the 2 months since he started, he’s lost just shy of 20lbs. That may or may not sound impressive to you, but I will tell you this: I generally don’t see people who have as little fat mass to lose as he does lose it so quickly.

Chris is literally just a few pounds away from his maintenance goal and he did it in the blink of an eye. No flashy supplements, no über-intense exercise regimen, literally no gimmicks.

I must say, Chris has had it “easy.”

Now, Chris himself may not say it’s been easy for him to do. I believe some days he really had to deal with the fact that a certain amount of hunger was going to be the new norm for a while. Some days were easier than others.

I will also mention that since Chris didn’t have a history of dieting, his body may have just been agreeable with his efforts to drop. Should he lose sight of his goals and regain everything he’s lost, Chris might find himself in the position many others do. That cycles of dieting have a potential of not yielding as promising of results with each successive try.

While the body will continue to fight for homeostasis, many people on their weight loss journey can find it significantly more difficult to lose the same weight that Chris has lost in the same amount of time.

But please don’t forget that detail I mentioned above: Chris committed to the plan and he saw almost immediate results. For someone who was not very motivated to exercise, Chris has had enough momentum to make him a believer.

Once he hits his weight loss goal, we’ll boost his calories back up and let him adjust to a maintenance phase for a while. After a couple of months, we’ll start strategically pushing the calories up so he can slowly build some muscle mass back onto his frame. That part, I’ve told him, will be a much slower process.

So, back to the title of the post. Weight loss isn’t easy. It is one of the hardest things the average individual could ask their body to do. For no other reason than, it takes a lot of consistent effort to get you where you want to be. The more fat mass you have to lose, the longer you would feasibly be on that journey. The rules may be simple in theory, the execution rarely is.

For people like Chris, he can thank his genetics, his adherence to the plan and maybe a little bit of beginner’s luck. I have to say, his results have been incredibly inspiring.

You’d have to ask Chris how much he imbibed on that drink he’s representing in the picture below. 🙂

 

 

She’s steadily conquering the world with better food options, sustainable planning, and the tips to make women succeed with their diets. I’m joined this week with Leslie Ann Quillen of Fat Loss Foodies to talk about why her program has been so successful. We discuss her online cooking program and why it works so well for the busy women who are trying to prepare meals that work for their families and for themselves. Balancing a realistic approach to cooking while also considering how hormones can affect the outcomes, Leslie Ann shares the concepts that have helped her help others succeed. To learn more about Leslie Ann and Fat Loss Foodies, check out http://www.fatlossfoodies.com or link up with Fat Loss Foodies on Instagram and Facebook. To learn more about your host, visit http://www.jasonleenaarts.com Download, subscribe, share with your friends and please take a moment to leave us an iTunes review.

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*The title of this post was taken from the Muddy Waters song of the same name*

Two years into my ten year addiction to drugs I was already in rehab.

It was something of a surreal experience.

I was on a co-ed floor of the hospital where the men were mostly recovering alcoholics and the women were mostly recovering crack addicts. The only thing we all had in common was the intent or execution of self harm.

Despite these facts, you could not convince me that I had a drug problem. I looked at the patients I shared the floor with and thought,

“YOU all have problems. I just need to get out of here.”

Denial is a funny thing.

It didn’t matter that they made us attend AA or NA meetings. I said the words, heard some stories, and felt sincere sympathy for other peoples struggles. There were people battling greater demons than I knew how to fathom at 22 years old.

The strangest thing about being a drug addict for all of those years was that I continued to see other people fall down a hole they didn’t know how to get out of. I just kept thinking I was invincible because I hadn’t overdosed or been arrested.

The fact of the matter was that I wasn’t invincible and I truly believe that ten years of shoveling every drug I could get my hands on into my system did damage I may not ever be able to undo.

All that aside, if you’re reading this now, you know that I came out of all this without a lot of scars.

How did I succeed at getting clean?

I was ready.

It didn’t matter to me that I was damaging relationships, my health and affecting my job performance. It didn’t matter that family and friends had suggested, implied or begged me to go clean. And for most of those ten years, it didn’t matter that I couldn’t pay all of my bills as long as I had money to support my habits.

I just finally had all I could take. So, I changed.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Maybe you’re someone who has allowed some patterns of addiction or a lack of appropriate coping skills to rule their lives. Maybe every time you felt sad, frustrated, unloved, unaccepted or stressed, you used food to comfort you (like I did with drugs.)

Granted, there are not many clients I’ve come across who have ever been drug addicts. But many people have let some self-destructive patterns dictate their well-being. Many of them come through our doors READY for change. So, we help them change.

And many come through are doors BELIEVING they are ready for change. But they’re not.

That’s not a bad or good thing. They’re just not ready yet.

Sometimes you can tweak a diet or get someone rolling with exercise. They lose some weight, start feeling better about themselves and ride that momentum as far as it will carry them.

Others have to sift a bit. They’re constantly dipping their toes in the proverbial water to decide “Am I jumping in or just splashing around?”

We’re happy to take any one on either end of the spectrum. We can’t change everyone but we’ve worked hard to build a community that has support coming from all angles.

Maybe you can take a cue from Mr. Slow-Learner over here.

Try not to take ten years to get your act together and start making yourself a priority again. Then again, maybe you’ve spent longer than ten years and you need to take a step back to ask yourself:

Am I ready?

Because if you are, then we’re ready for you.

Oh yeah…and this is Stephannie. She’s down 17lbs and counting. Suffice to say, she’s ready.

I have the great pleasure of sharing some time with Christian Finn from Muscle Evo this week. Knowing that he had so much information to share from decades in the fitness industry, we whittled it down to the questions he typically helps clients with regarding fat loss. This is an awesome episode and Christian has some great tips to share that will help anyone who might be struggling on their journey. To connect with Christian and learn more about his excellent products, check out http://www.muscleevo.net To learn more about your host, check out http://www.jasonleenaarts.com and like our new Facebook page for the podcast at http://www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou Download, subscribe, share with your friends and please take a moment to leave us an iTunes review.

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*The title of this post was taken from the Oasis song of the same name*

Perhaps you’ve heard the question: “If you were to die today, what would people say about you at your funeral?”

I’ve probably heard that question countless times throughout my life. Never did it have much of an effect on me until I was standing with my mother at my father’s calling hours. That was nearly six years ago.

You see, since he has passed, my mother and I have raised my Dad to nearly mythic proportions. I guess, because to us, he was such a prized part of our lives.

And as we greeted each friend and family member who came through the line to talk to us (we had services in both Ohio and Tennessee), we found that we weren’t alone.

People loved my Dad.

There were co-workers and friends who told these amazing stories about struggles they couldn’t have gone through without my father’s assistance, his kindness, his wisdom. Some stories just shared a love for my Dad that was simply unforgettable.

One story in particular I didn’t happen to hear until several years after my father passed, at the calling hours of my Oma (Dad’s mom.)

Jimmy and Dorothy Williams were long time friends of my parents. Dad and Dorothy were friends back in high school. I was speaking with Jimmy at Oma’s calling hours, relating a story that I knew he would appreciate hearing.

For a little bit of backstory, my father was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer) in July of 2010. It was his intention to break the news to my Oma in person as soon as he heard. However, some things got in the way of him being able to make the journey (we were in Ohio, she was in North Carolina) and that trip didn’t happen as soon as any of us would have liked.

By Christmas that year, Dad’s weight had dropped dramatically and I think he may have known that time was running out. He booked the trip down and called Dorothy and Jimmy to ask if they would pick him up from the airport and drop him off at his mom’s. They knew he was sick but I am certain they weren’t prepared for the sight they would see when they came to get him.

That flight was very hard on my Dad’s body. He was already experiencing severe pain in his hips and airplanes aren’t exactly known for their particular comforts. When the Williams picked Dad up, they took him to Oma’s.

The doorbell was rang and my Oma came to the door to greet her guests (she was unaware my Dad would be surprising her with a visit.) She perked up when she recognized the familiar faces of Jimmy and Dorothy on her doorstep but when she looked in my father’s direction she paused. Her initial reaction was not of pleasure in seeing her youngest child. It was a frank reminder of some of the people who shared in the horror of the holocaust with her. Dad was truly that emaciated.

When she realized who was looking back at her, it’s my understanding that she had some difficulty recovering from her shock. The fact that she did not recognize her son was something that would continually haunt her and come up in my conversations with her until she passed.

The four of them visited for a while until Dorothy and Jimmy felt it was best to give my Dad some time alone with his mother. They reminded my Dad,

“If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call.”

Well, that call came sooner that Jimmy probably anticipated. My father had sat down for a few minutes on the couch in my Oma’s living room and was unable to raise himself up. He called Jimmy and asked if he could come back over to assist him in getting up.

Jimmy came back and their conversation led to the discussion of food. Since my father had started chemo, he had been suffering from a loss of taste. Since nothing was tasting good to him, he was not getting sufficient nutrients in him. Jimmy reminded him, “Paul, you have to eat.”

To which Dad replied, “I know I do. I just get so busy with other things that I forget. Then, sometimes I just don’t have the energy to eat, so I don’t.”

These issues were contributing to my Dad’s rapid weight loss.

So, Jimmy made my father a promise.

“Paul, I’m going to set a reminder on my phone. Every morning when that reminder goes off. I’m going to call or email or text you and remind you to eat something.”

Sure enough, Jimmy kept his word. Every day his reminder went off and every day he contacted my Dad.

My father passed away on March 23, 2011. About 3 months after that conversation with Jimmy.

You see, I never knew that story until about 4 years later when my Oma passed and Jimmy shared it with me. And as he was telling me that story in 2015, he said “Jason, that reminder still goes off today. I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.”

To be honest, I was equally surprised and overjoyed to hear this story. I knew how much people loved my Dad. Stories like these never got old. This one was just exceptional because I know how those last few months were for my Dad.

Last week, I called Jimmy and asked him to tell me the story again. I told him I would be writing a post like this and I wanted to make sure I got most of the details right.

Jimmy, the kind man that he is, shared the story with me again. And as he finished he said, “Jason, I still have the reminder on my phone. It goes off every day. I just don’t want to let go of him. I loved your Dad. I’ve never met anyone else like him.”

“What it taught me was that I have to be present. And not to take anything for granted…”

And as I type these words out for you to read, my fingers are trembling a little bit. And I can’t stop my eyes from tearing up.

While nearly 6 years have passed since my Dad left this world, here is a very lengthy post to say to all of you readers a few things:

Take Jimmy’s advice and be present. Do not take anything for granted because you don’t know how long it will last. Cherish it.

And come back to the question I started this post with: If you were to die today, what would people say about you at your funeral?

Whatever you want people to remember about you, be that person. Right now. Don’t wait. Time is not on our side.

To my father, I love you. I miss you. Thank you for giving me every tool I would need to be more like you. I am trying. I promise.

And to Jimmy, I have to say: Thank you for being a perfect friend to my father. I know how much he loved you and Dorothy.

Rest in peace, Dad. 

 

 

She’s written one of the most essential books I can recommend to any woman (or man) who is allowing their self-image to affect their wellness goals. Erin Brown, the author of As Is, joins me this week and it is an amazing episode. We discuss the aforementioned book, Erin’s philosophies on changing some of these mindset obstacles and we touch on a little bit of parenting too. You do not want to miss this show. To learn more about Erin, please visit http://www.iamerinbrown.com To learn more about your host, check out http://www.jasonleenaarts.com and follow our new Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou Download, subscribe, share with your friends and please take a moment to leave us an iTunes review.

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*The title of this post was taken from the John Lee Hooker song of the same name*

I love what I learn from my clients when they feel like they’ve failed at something.

Please don’t confuse that with: I love to see my clients fail.

I don’t.

What I do love (if the opportunity arises), is the wisdom that comes from clients when they’re searching for answers.

I would love to offer all the right solutions to my clients.

Many times, I get so excited to answer that I verbally vomit solutions all over myself.

However, what we’re taught by behavioral psychology is that it generally isn’t the solutions we (as wellness professionals) offer that do the most good. It’s the solutions a client can come up with on their own.

Sometimes, it takes a little bit of probing, nudging, and perhaps leading to get headed in the right direction.

This past weekend, one of our clients had a moment like this. One of those moments that I truly love.

She was out at a restaurant that isn’t exactly known for catering to the health conscious. She ordered a serving of soup (180 cals) and something that seemed appropriate on the 500 calories and less menu.

She also confessed that she had breadsticks.

I asked “How many?”

To which she replied: “I’m embarrassed to tell you…4”

Calories were added up and those 4 breadsticks had more calories than her entree.

Total up all of the calories and this individual (for her particular weight loss goals) was only 140 calories away from filling up her day. Her restaurant meal was the only meal she had consumed so far that day and she still had dinner to look forward to.

Rather than shame her for the decision, I simply helped her look at all of the numbers and put them into perspective.

To my client’s credit, she ate appropriately and within goal to stay in line for the rest of the day. Many people would have just let the day go to pot since one meal went wrong. By being candid with herself about how much she had consumed, she stayed the course and didn’t let one meal wreck her.

Most importantly, I applauded her for just being honest.

Her response: “Part of my healing is to not deny/hide what I eat.”

THIS is what I love.

To me, I don’t care how you get honest with yourself. I just care that it happens.

You can write it down in a journal, share it with a friend, log it into a food app…anything.

Just get painfully, candidly honest and put all of the gory details out there.

And with us, there’s no shame, there’s no guilt. We just hash it all out and move forward.

And to our anonymous client: your “healing” is going to go a long way. I know how far you’ve come just to get here and I couldn’t be more proud of the new you that you’re discovering.

 

 

I’m back with another solo episode to cover a case scenario with a former client who embarked on a cheat meal after a week’s worth of good effort with her diet. This story got a lot of people talking in our closed community on Facebook. If this story describes you, you might find the details worth hearing about. To learn more about your host, check out http://www.jasonleenaarts.com and our new http://www.facebook.com/revolutionaryou site. Download, subscribe, share with your friends and please take a moment to leave us an iTunes review.

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