How I Coach, and How I Got Here

I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m here to show you how I think: what I believe, how I got there, and what I got wrong along the way.

How I got here

At my heaviest I weighed 420 pounds. I got down to 210, gained my way back up to 265, and later got down to 193 on a contest-prep style diet. That is a lot of weight lost more than once, which is a polite way of saying I have also failed at keeping it off more than once.

At 265, I realized I couldn’t just hope my way to leanness. My old methods, eating clean and using smart portion control, got outstripped by real life. Work stress, COVID shutdowns, a food environment that kept changing, easier snacks, more processed food, more stress, less sleep, more alcohol, and suddenly boba was everywhere. I’m human, just like you. I needed to get back to the way of living that worked for me: more control, more choices, more purpose.

I used to believe that if I just followed the plans of the people I looked up to, I would look like them. I was desperate to find the one simple trick, or the easy swap that “they” don’t want you to know about, that would secretly make me lose weight without changing anything. What I know now is that most people aren’t short on information. They’re short on a process that survives a real week.

That is what I coach. It’s also why I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m going to coach you through the methods I’ve arrived at, and together we will reach your goals through collaboration.

What I believe

The world we live in is set up to make us overweight and stressed. Food is cheap, loud and everywhere. Sleep is optional. Stress is the default setting. If you do nothing on purpose, that is where you end up.

Every choice is a choice, but most of ours get made on autopilot. Choosing on purpose means deciding ahead of time, when you’re not hungry, tired or frustrated, because willpower in the moment is a thin resource and it runs out first.

That is also why I’m not telling anyone they can’t have cake. The goal isn’t a ban. The goal is that a year from now, you don’t reach for it.

I believe the bodybuilding lifestyle is the best way to get to almost any health and fitness goal: habits, routines, a long-term process, seasons of getting lean and seasons of building, movement that fits you, cardio, bloodwork. It works if you want to compete. It works just as well if you only want to tighten up five pounds.

The research shapes how I work, and I read it as carefully as I can. But my own process is what decides. I sampled from a lot of people I respect, got plenty wrong, and built a system out of what held up.

The system, in order

The system has six stages, and they happen in a set order. Each one has a finish line we both agree on, so nobody moves on because the calendar says so.

1. Goals. Everything depends on the why. The goal has to be yours, not something you think you should want. We get clear on who you’re building toward, and the finish line is simple: the goal is yours and the reason is clear.

2. Routines and habits. One habit at a time, usually a morning one, because the morning sets up the whole day. You pick it from a short menu (meal prep, tidying up, gym clothes, steps and movement, sun on your face, hydration), because a goal that comes from you sticks better than one handed to you. Do it successfully once and we move on.

3. Food. I sort foods into categories instead of good and bad lists. Macro foods are almost entirely one macronutrient, like white rice, cod, chicken breast and olive oil. Micro foods bring more along with them, like fattier beef, peanut butter and quinoa. Some processed foods are built to help you hit your goals, like cream of rice and protein powder. Others make a plan easier to keep because they taste good and keep you full, like high-fiber tortillas or dessert-style yogurt. You pick foods you’ll actually enjoy from each category, which also lets you make your own swaps later.

4. Meals. Every meal has a job. The last one sets up sleep and recovery. The first sets the timing of your day. The pre-workout meal is about training without being hungry or bloated. The post-workout meal is recovery. The finish line is that you can look at any day and say what each meal is for. We start with breakfast, because it’s usually at home and fully in your control.

5. Sleep and stress. Hours of sleep aren’t something you fully control, so we work on what you do control: a wind-down routine, a similar bedtime, good sleep hygiene, and a simple way of tracking how rested you feel. Stress never goes away, so the bar is that you have ways to de-stress and you try them.

6. Training. This runs in the background from day one, as a simple program close to what you already do, so the other stages get the attention. Once you’re hitting the minimums, the training gets more specific: 150 to 300 minutes of moderate cardio a week, two strength sessions, and 7,000 steps a day.

Planning runs underneath all of it: tomorrow, this week, next month, down to the next meal. Good choices made ahead of time don’t rely on willpower.

Why we talk before you pay

I used to start people right away, and I paid for it in time, energy and results. Now we start with a short call before any money changes hands.

On that call I’ll tell you honestly what your goal takes. I’d rather tell you the real price of a goal than sell you a plan that quietly fails. We also talk about whether the goal is really yours and what you’re ready to change right now.

For example, if you want to lose body fat and also want to compete in pizza eating contests (that’s a real story from a real client), then I’ll need to explain the full reality of what that would take.

Sometimes the answer is that it isn’t the right time. That’s a fine outcome. A slower start can be the better plan.

The first two weeks

Before our intake call, you fill out a written questionnaire on your own, so you can take your time. Then we get on a call and talk through the parts that are better said out loud: your goal, what you’ve tried before, and anything I want to understand better. You leave knowing exactly what week one looks like.

Week one is data, not change. You log everything you eat and drink in Cronometer and keep your daily numbers there too: weigh-in, water, steps, bedtime and how rested you feel. You also send me a photo of everything you eat that week, so I can see how your log compares to what was really on the plate. After week one, photos are for when something is hard to log. We’re gathering data, so we remove variables. The one thing that changes is a morning habit we pick together.

Week two is a conversation. We talk through how the habit went, and you tell me about your future self: who you’re building toward and what a good ordinary day looks like a year from now. Your first plan arrives too, built in the background from your real data.

From week three, we take the stages one at a time, each with its finish line.

Who this is for

I coach fat loss, muscle building and body recomposition. If gimmicks have stopped working for you, or you know exactly what to do and still can’t seem to do it, I’m probably your guy.

If that sounds like you, slide up in my DMs or visit BuiltAnywayCoaching.com for transparent plans and pricing, and let’s talk through what your plan would look like.

Built with Courage. Built with Consistency. Built Anyway.