”Because of nutrition coaching with Sandra, I am more aware of what I eat, how much I eat, and when I should eat to get the best benefit.
Matthew H.
Results:
•Down 20lbs (225lbs>>205lbs)
•BF%: ALMOST 10% LOSS! (29%>>20.9%)
•Gained .5lbs muscle (difficult to do on a calorie deficit).
I am a busy Husband and Father of 3. I work as an accountant at an energy infrastructure company. My life and house are busy (in the best way possible).
I started working with Sandra on nutrition because I recognized the health benefits of creating sustainable healthy nutrition habits. Even though I had been working out consistently, I realized you can’t out train a poor diet. I want to be active and involved with my family so building healthy lasting nutrition habits is important to me.
My goal when I started with Sandra was to lose 20lbs. I had dieted in the past and could lose weight but was unable to build sustainable habits to keep it off. I always gained weight back. This time it was important that I learn how to maintain long lasting nutrition habits.
I learned that I struggle with meal size. I don’t necessarily eat unhealthy food but my quantity was off. I take long breaks between meals and overeat. In working with Sandra I have learned how to eat appropriate portions and increase my protein intake. The increased protein has helped me build strength and feel satisfied with my meals.
Sandra has been a huge part of my success. She is a supportive and educational coach. She provides valuable ideas, research and tips. She is very supportive, encouraging and tough when she needs to be. She holds me accountable and we work on goals together. In this process, I have become more aware of what I eat, how much I eat and when I should eat it. I have established better habits that I can take with me anywhere.
My biggest piece of advice for someone contemplating nutrition is, “What gets measured gets done.” I previously didn’t put a lot of thought into my nutrition and thought it would take care of itself. I also thought if I worked out harder, nutrition wouldn’t matter. But if you want to achieve any goal, monitoring progress and setting targets is the most effective way to complete your goal. It is helpful to have someone hold you accountable and empower you to pursue your goals.
Coach Sandra: “Matt is a great example of getting it done with a busy lifestyle. He’s got a busy family life (with a newborn in the mix), as well as plenty of work related travel. He stayed on track with building healthy habits, and that kept him moving along swiftly through his weight loss week after week.
Matt was always one to trust the process. We talked about expectations and direction, he was on board for all of it. We worked on balancing out his meals, introducing other foods to his diet, and making sure he was eating enough protein. Then we started working on his weight loss journey.He is keeping the weight off and has learned how to make it work with a busy schedule/life.”
What is your life like outside of the gym?
I am blessed to be married to Lauren and I am a father of 3 girls, Charlotte (6), Meredith (4), and Gwenyth ( 9 months). So our house is very crazy in a good way. I work as an accountant at an energy infrastructure company. So I am both active at home but often more sedentary at work.
Why did you start nutrition?
I wanted to get healthier and even though I was working out consistently, you can’t outwork a poor diet.
Why was this important to you?
My health is important to me because I want to be active and involved with my family. I also want to build good habits that will last.
What were your starting goals?
Starting goal was to lose about 20lbs and learn more about how to maintain my diet after cutting weight. I had lost weight before, but it was hard to maintain because I didn’t have good habits in place.
What were your biggest struggles?
My biggest struggles tended to be the size of meals. I didn’t necessarily eat unhealthy but, the quantity was often too much because of long breaks between meals which resulted in over eating.
What have you learned?
I learned that not only was I eating too much, but I was not consuming enough protein. Sandra helped me identify ways to add more protein to my diet to help me maintain my strength and help me feel fuller longer. She also provided tips on when to eat for workouts and rest..
How has Sandra helped you?
Sandra has been so helpful whether it is providing research on how to lose weight and what supplements work best. She would often critique my eating and provide helpful tips or recipe ideas to achieve my goal. She was also very encouraging each week as we worked on this goal together with her check ins.
I could definitely not have achieved this goal on this timeline without Sandra’s coaching. She helped me by making me be accountable and she helped provide focus on the goals that I communicated with her.
How has this changed you?
Because of nutrition coaching with Sandra, I am more aware of what I eat, how much I eat, and when I should eat to get the best benefit. Sandra’s coaching helped me establish good habits that I can maintain anywhere I go.
What advice can you give someone else out there?
What gets measured gets done. I previously didn’t put a lot of thought into my nutrition and thought it would take care of itself. I also thought if I worked out harder then nutrition wouldn’t matter.
But if you want to achieve any goal, monitoring progress and setting targets is the most effective way to complete your goal. Coaching also is helpful in having someone hold you accountable and empower you to pursue your goals.
