Teddy’s Story of Online Personal Training—and Midlife Transformation
I was recently chatting with one of our online members who was discouraged that he hadn’t lost much weight. He’s been a part of our online personal training program for middle-aged fitness for about six months, but his efforts hadn’t done much to move the needle on his bathroom scale.
He’s a good sport and agreed to allow me to use his story to illustrate some of the complexities—and simplicities—of losing weight. For privacy's sake, let’s call this gentleman Teddy.
"Sure,” Teddy reported, “I feel much stronger and much more physically capable. But I’m stuck at 215 lbs. It’s kinda frustrating. It just doesn’t seem to budge even though I’m working out 2-3 times per week, consistently. What do you think, Paul? What should I do?”
Teddy’s dilemma is a common one, and I’ve had this conversation with no fewer than 253,461 people over the past five years. Obviously, I’m exaggerating, but seriously, Jules and I have discussions like this at least once a day with somebody.
Every functional fitness client we work with wants a midlife transformation.
About 90% of the world either wants to or needs to lose weight. That quest fuels billions of dollars every year in books and magazines, diets and supplements, gym memberships and personal training, you name it. Seems like a never-ending search for some method that might finally make us successful shedding unwanted body weight.
As with most things, the only truly proven method is both blindingly simple and maddeningly complex.
I’ll use my friend and online personal training client, Teddy, to illustrate what I mean.
Here’s a little more about him…
He lives in Charlotte, NC, with his wife and family. He’s 48 years old and stands at 5’10”. An avid golfer, he was a former multi-sport athlete in high school and still considers himself “athletic”. He plays golf 1-2 times a week but doesn’t walk the course anymore due to sore knees and some back pain. He works as a VP in an insurance firm and puts in long hours, most days 10+ hours. He’s got two teenagers at home who are active in school and sports.
Like everybody I know, Teddy is busy. His primary stated fitness objective is to feel stronger, less stressed, and “maybe lose a little weight.” He’d also like to get back to feeling capable of walking 18 holes carrying his golf bag. He feels like he’s about 20 lbs overweight and would love to get back to his “playing weight” of 195 lbs.
Sound like anybody you know? Yeah, a very familiar story. I'd say I personally know about 150 guys like Ted.
For Teddy—and 99% of midlifers—real transformation requires body work and nutrition coaching.
We developed a plan for Teddy to train three times per week for an hour each training session. When he was getting started we spoke about nutrition coaching, but he commented that he “already knows what he’s supposed to eat and not eat.” So, he opted out.
He’s been reasonably adherent to the plan. So, why stagnation with his weight loss?
Take a look at these two posts to learn more about Teddy’s situation—and to unpack all the factors influencing why he feels stalled out:
How we built chicken parm into Teddy’s nutrition plan.
Why Teddy traded PBR for “fat-free” vodka — and how alcohol impacts weight loss over 40.
Meanwhile, if Teddy’s story is familiar to you or someone you know, we’re here to help. Here’s a link to our MidStrong Training Application: www.midstrong.com/contact
MidStrong is for life.
A total midlife transformation is possible. It just takes the right combination of food, fitness, and function.
Explore our online personal training + nutrition coaching or learn more about our in-person training, right here in Westborough, MA. When you’re ready to make a change that sticks, let’s talk!