Coach Check In: 6 weeks of 12.

Coach Check In: 6 weeks of 12.

Kind of hard to believe that six weeks has already passed since I started this nutrition journey with my coach Josh and Stronger U! The picture above shows both my original starting picture, as well as the picture of me from last night.

On the left, I’m 225 pounds. I felt slow and heavy. My performance in the gym hadn’t gotten any better even though I had upped my training volume AND intensity. I wasn’t getting great sleep. I wasn’t as energetic. I still LOOKED fine… but I didn’t feel or perform fine at all.

Fast forward 6 weeks. I’m 205 pounds as of this morning (20 pounds down!). I’m feeling a lot lighter on my feet, feeling quick and agile. I feel a lot like an athlete again! At first (weeks 1-3), I couldn’t quite feel the difference in my performance, but I was already starting to see it in the workout data. I went for an easy 5K jog during week three, and PRd my 5K time by 2 minutes. The goal of that day was NOT to PR. The goal was just to run easy. Then, in week 5, I did a workout on a Saturday with the crew at Yellow Rose. The most pull ups I had ever done in one set was 13, and I did that when I was fresh. I cranked out 30 unbroken pull ups at the END of a workout and could have easily gone for more… but I had to get out on the finishing run!

Feels good to feel good again.

Performing better in the gym, getting compliments about leaning out, and actually seeing some abs when I’m not flexing them hard is cool and very rewarding, but I think that the coolest part about this whole journey has been the actual nutrition side and the things I’ve learned.

Let me explain.

In the past, I’ve been able to shed weight quickly. One time for a weightlifting meet I had to weigh in below 232 pounds in order to lift in my weight class. I weighed in at 245 on Monday. The meet was on Saturday. I didn’t really know what to do, so all I did was eat salads and chicken. I was miserable for the week… but I had to make weight. I weighed in at 231 on meet day, and couldn’t even hit 90% of my best lifts. It was a disappointing day for sure, and it made me really start to think that if I was any lighter, I wouldn’t be as strong.

The next day I ate normal again, and by Wednesday the next week, I was back to 245 pounds. Neat.

What coach Josh has me doing with Stronger U is pretty simple: hit the macros he has assigned to me within plus or minus 5 grams, and stay consistent with it every single day. He has never ONCE told me to cut anything out or tell me that certain foods should be avoided at all cost. Why? Because at the end of the day, the biggest factor in the success of a person losing body fat is the amount of food that they are eating. Yes, quality, nutrient dense foods are important. Nobody is trying to say that isn’t true. However, if my body requires 2500 calories to maintain my current levels, and I eat 3000 calories of bacon, grass-fed beef, kerrygold butter, and leafy greens, I’m still going to gain weight and not get where I want to be. Like what Mike Doehla said in our interview with him, “One of the biggest myths about nutrition is that you can eat as much as you want as long as it’s clean.” That’s simply not true. Amount matters. 

I’ve never been miserable during these six weeks either. I’m eating nutrient dense foods (because MOST foods are nutrient dense…) and eating “clean,” but I’m also able to polish off some of my days with a bit of delicious cereal or even some ice cream. Nothing crazy or catastrophic… I’m talking 2oz of Halo Top Ice Cream (which isn’t as good as Blue Bell, for the record). Having the flexibility is super important to me. It keeps me from wanting to ruin my progress by going on an epic cheat meal, or even worse, a cheat day/weekend. Those cheat days and weekends are really what mess us all up in the end. You can’t just diet Monday-Friday. Saturday and Sunday count too!

I’m excited to see where the next 6 weeks get me. I don’t think I’m realistically going to lose as much weight as I did the first six, but I’m not really sure I want to either! I’m just going to continue to stay consistent with my food intake and tracking, train hard, and drink a lot of water. Consistency is key, and something none of us should lose sight of.

If you want to get setup with Stronger U, shoot me an email! I’ll get it set up for you! [email protected]

-Clark Hibbs

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