by David Minishian | Jan 19, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
What are the greatest accomplishments you can make in three weeks to target fat loss and tone up?
Mary is only three weeks into our Small Group Program, yet she’s piling up her non-scale victories. A non-scale victory is a success that isn’t focused on the scale changing. In Mary’s case, these victories are also process goals that supports her outcome goal of losing fat and toning up.
While it’s too soon for Mary’s first weigh-in and re-assessment, at this point her greatest accomplishment is building the foundational habits that will lead to her desired outcome goal.
Let’s review the 4 must do fat loss habits Mary is building:
Exercise – Consistency
Since joining Mary has been consistently exercising 4x a week. Her first 2 weeks were full of body aches and soreness, but by week 3 her body noticeably adapted to the workout and began recovering faster.
Exercise – Progression
During this last week, Mary tried increasing the weights with coach’s guidance. A chest press with 8lbs dumbbells became 10lbs and a front squat using 10lbs dumbbells became 12lbs. These small changes built up her confidence and strength. As she continues to track the weights that she uses for the core movement we write in red, she’ll see the gradually improvements over time.
Nutrition
Mary also mentioned that she made the nutritional changes we discussed in our nutrition coaching session: eating breakfast and keeping high protein snacks readily available. With these changes, she noticed that her cravings have decreased significantly, and on the days when lunch time gets pushed back, she’s been able to grab a protein bar from her desk to satisfy her hunger.
Only two changes were made, and she isn’t experiencing the “hormonal takeover” we discussed last week. **Hint** The increased protein intake is also helping reduce the soreness from her workouts.
Sleep – Consistency
Sleep is an overlooked habit. Most don’t get enough, and it cripples their results. Mary mentioned she experienced a sign of enough sleep – waking up before the alarm. It wasn’t her goal to sleep more, but when you exercise consistently it’s common to have deeper more restful sleep.
Mary is 3 weeks into the program and she’s crushing these non-scale victories. She has taken several steps in the right direction. She’s putting in the work and focusing on the process.
She is building her foundation.
In 3 weeks, there is no greater accomplishment than perfecting the process that leads to the outcome goal.
If you’re on a similar journey as Mary, build your foundation and perfect the process!
Next week is Mary’s first weigh-in and assessment since she started.
Let’s see what happens!
by David Minishian | Jan 15, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
Never buy a meal plan.
Mary’s nutrition coaching session last week will show you why.
Personalized Nutrition Coaching
At this first session, Mary handed me her half-completed packet hoping it was filled out enough. She had marked off the foods she liked eating and jotted down a few meals she enjoys. I told her it was a perfect starting point and that we could finish it together.
Based on Mary’s favorite foods and her sample meals, she had a decent understanding of what to eat. We reviewed the portions she needed for weight loss and how to nutritionally balance these servings to get the best results from her training.
As we reviewed the packet, I asked her, “What is the most difficult part about the nutrition for you?” Without hesitation she said “cravings” and explained that her cravings often happen during lunch time and late at night after dinner.
After exploring this further we discussed a few factors that were likely contributing to these cravings:
- A late lunch after skipping breakfast
- Undernourishment
- Being unprepared for the week
Skipping Breakfast
Mary had heard that intermittent fasting would help her lose weight, so she was skipping breakfast. This practice isn’t necessarily bad or good; however, the demands place on her at work often pushed her lunch break past 12pm. By that time, she was famished and would pick up food at any eatery that caught her eye which was usually not the best choice. But even when she did prepare a lunch from home, the meal didn’t satisfy her hunger and she would still find herself mindlessly snacking at work.
In Mary’s case, skipping breakfast was leaving her undernourished and susceptible to “hormonal take-over.” This is when all the major hormones like ghrelin, leptin, insulin, and CCK are working together, telling you to eat something…anything. When you reach this point, your hormones are screaming at you because you didn’t take their subtle suggestions to eat earlier, resulting in poorer nutritional decisions and regular overeating.
Now let me clarify…
There is nothing wrong with Mary’s hormones. Most anyone who wakes up at 6:30am and doesn’t eat a meal until 12:30pm will experience a strong hormonal response that drives their eating behaviors.
To prevent this outcome and keep her hunger under control, Mary decided to change her meal timing by having breakfast and pay attention to her body’s subtle hunger cues to address them earlier with a high protein snack or meal.
Once she has that down, she will be ready for her next session!
What about the late-night snacking?
It is best to handle one main concern at a time. Since nutrition is interconnected, fixing one problem often addresses others down the line.
Let me know your thoughts on how we handled Mary’s nutrition:
Do you think replacing her current diet with a rigid 6-week meal plan would have been a better solution for Mary? Or would trying to follow the rigid plan impede her ability to focus on addressing the fundamental problems she’s struggling with?
by David Minishian | Jan 8, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
Remember how sore you were after your first workout in a long time?
That’s how Mary felt after coming to 4 classes her first week in the Small Group Boot Camp. It was mentally tough to stay committed, but she absolutely crush her process goal of working out consistently!
At the end of her last workout, I asked Mary how she was feeling.
One word…”sore.”
She elaborated that she actually liked the even soreness throughout her whole body but was wondering how she could speed up the recovery.
Since the program is designed to work each muscle group in the body at least twice a week, I expected her to be a little sore everywhere. This unique detail, of exercising each muscle more frequently, is why clients get better results in our Small Group Boot Camp than doing random workouts where some muscle groups get missed.
But without proper recovery even the best training program won’t deliver results.
So this is what I told her to help speed up the recovery:
- Move daily and do light stretching
- Meet your daily protein goal
- Hydrate daily with at least 64 ounces of water
These three daily tips are a must do to optimize recovery, but Mary didn’t know what her protein goal should be so I told her to book a nutrition coaching session.
After working with over 350 clients, we’ve learned that those who review their nutrition with us and make a few small changes, reach their goal 2-3x faster. Just 1 nutrition coaching session could be the only difference between getting some results and AMAZING results.
A few days passed and I didn’t see Mary’s name on the nutrition appointment calendar, so I sent her a follow-up reminder text.
5 minutes later Mary booked her nutrition session 💪
Check out next week’s update to see what nutrition changes Mary needs to make to target fat loss and tone up.
by David Minishian | Jan 1, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
This is the story of Mary.
Mary embodies and represents what it is like to be a committed, hard working member of the Sculpt Fitness community.
Each week we will follow Mary’s journey and get an inside look at what it takes to lose weight and tone up by creating a sustainable exercise and nutrition lifestyle.
Her journey begins this January, a month of new beginnings. During a time when many like Mary are searching for a gym, Mary chose to join Sculpt Fitness!
Upon Mary’s program registration, we talked about her health and exercise history, previous experiences with other gyms, and her goals moving forward as well as foreseeable obstacles she will need to overcome to achieve those goals.
Some of the obstacles she mentioned were:
- Needing exercise and nutrition guidance
- A lack of accountability
- Anxiety in crowded spaces
- Intimidation at big box gyms
While talking through each point and showing Mary how the Sculpt Fitness Small Group Boot Camp will be the right choice for her, she reserved a free intro class, loved the experience, and decided to sign up after!
The unique way we address nutrition by making small gradual changes to her current diet peaked her interest, and having a team of coaches supporting her as an individual in and outside of the gym was the guidance Mary was seeking.
Unlike large group boot camps, our classes are less of an intense “push push push” feeling, but a place where you can learn the proper technique for each exercise, master them, and progressively build upon previous workouts.
But….In order to master anything you must practice, practice, practice!
In order to practice, you need to show up!
In order to show up, you need to hold yourself accountable!
During onboarding, Mary dedicated herself to training 4 days a week and making 1 or 2 nutrition changes that we will identify during her first nutrition coaching session. These process goals are the foundational commitments that will help her transform during 2023.
As she comes to class over the next 2 weeks, Mary will learn the 6 basic movements and become comfortable with them. After mastering these movements, our coaches will gradually push her and increase the weights lifted.
Although Mary is not an actual person, her story is based on the actual experiences of Sculpt Fitness Members. We hope her story sheds light on how you can create a sustainable lifestyle to achieve your goals and inspires you to take action.
Check out next week’s story to see how Mary does her first week at Sculpt Fitness 💪