There’s a common saying in the fitness industry that you just need to ‘trust the process.’ The idea seems reasonable–if you keep doing what you’re doing and stay consistent, you’ll eventually make progress. But there’s a fundamental flaw with this idea–what if your process is wrong?
That’s where Lauren found herself when she reached out for coaching.
“I had a hard time picking the right foods to keep me satiated and fueled for my workouts while being in a calorie deficit. I never focused on protein, carbs, or fiber, and just ate whatever to meet my calorie target. I was constantly hungry and tired, and struggled to stick to the deficit,” Lauren explained.
As for her workouts:
“I would overtrain like crazy. I never used RIR in my training. I would lift until failure every time and never changed up the workouts,” she said. “I also had a heavy focus on cardio, and it was hard to complete both without feeling horrible.”
On paper, Lauren was doing everything right. She was eating in a deficit and training hard. Yet she was miserable, constantly hungry, and dragging herself through workouts she could barely complete. By this point, she’d lost 10 pounds but was already questioning whether her goal was even possible if the process felt this brutal.
Putting herself first
Lauren applied for coaching in January 2024, and I’d already been coaching her husband, Mike, for about two months. Mike had been making steady progress, and Lauren could see this first-hand. But Lauren had the same thought most people have: “What if I can’t do it?”
“I hesitated with the fact that I wouldn’t be able to make this sustainable. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to fit it into my day-to-day life and was afraid I would give up.”
When I asked Lauren what made her go for it despite the doubt she was feeling, she said:
“This is something I really wanted for myself. I needed to get back to being healthy and continue this healthy lifestyle indefinitely. I wanted this for me, and I have never put myself first.”
Often, the impetus for change isn’t a health scare or hitting rock bottom—it’s the quiet realisation you deserve better than suffering through something that isn’t working and making you miserable.
Lauren’s plan
Nutrition
Lauren wanted to “be lean and toned overall”, and her long-term goal was to hit 150 lbs. She knew this would take time, but she was fully committed to the process. Alongside her weight goal, she wanted to improve her body composition by building muscle and increasing her strength.
Based on Lauren’s starting stats, her initial calories and macros were:
- Calories: ~1300-1500
- Protein: 110-130g (0.9-1g per pound of lean mass)
- Fiber: 20-30g
🍎 You can download the free diet generator that will help you set your own nutrition targets here.
Remember how Lauren’s previous dieting strategy was “eat whatever to hit calories”? That’s why she was always hungry. So, beyond the caloric intake, we focused on two key targets: protein and fiber.
Protein’s the obvious one—keeps you full, builds muscle, all that good stuff.
But the fiber target was equally important. Sure, fiber helps with satiety, but trying to hit 20-30 grams of fiber per day forces you to be intentional about your food choices, so you end up eating more vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains. All the types of foods that are great for your health.
Because yes, you can eat whatever you want and lose fat, but ensuring most of those calories are coming from whole, minimally processed foods increases the chances you’ll be able to stick to the deficit.
Training
Lauren wasn’t a complete beginner—she’d trained consistently from 2019 to 2021. But after a few years away from the weights, we needed to ease her back in.
Her initial program was deliberately simple. From there, I gradually increased training volume and intensity over time. The image below shows one of Lauren’s workouts from her first program (A), compared to her most recent one (B).
As Lauren’s strength and work capacity improved over the months, her program evolved with her. Now she’s able to handle more volume for each body part, perform higher reps, and train harder (per RIR).
The first adjustment
Within the first few weeks, it became clear that the initial calorie intake was too low. Lauren was losing over 2 pounds per week versus our target of 1.3 pounds per week.
While that might sound like a good problem to have, losing weight this rapidly could compromise body composition. Since preserving muscle was just as important as losing fat, I knew we had to increase her calorie targets.
Over the next few weeks, I gradually adjusted her intake upward until her rate of loss stabilised between 0.5-0.7% of her body weight per week. By this point, Lauren was averaging around 1,500 calories while continuing to make progress.
This highlights an important lesson: Don’t get too attached to your starting calorie numbers. Every TDEE formula out there is just a rough estimate. Once you’ve established your initial calorie targets, use changes in your body weight to make adjustments to your intake going forward.
This conservative weight loss approach paid off. Hunger remained manageable throughout the cut, and she even managed to gain some muscle while getting leaner. We didn’t do any body composition testing, but photos are worth a thousand words or something, so:
Lauren’s results
Over the course of 19 months, Lauren lost 68.5 pounds, dropping from 225.9 pounds to 157.4 pounds.
While she didn’t hit her 150 lb goal, that number was always somewhat arbitrary. What truly matters is how she looks and feels, not what the scale says.
Lauren herself recognised this:
“But also, I am happy with how my body is looking already, too. I have lost enough weight that I basically wear the smallest adult size clothes I can find right now. I NEVER thought I would be in this position.
“I am trying to keep in mind that 150lb was an arbitrary number that I picked, but the actual physical body is where I wanted to be. While it’s hard not to put a number on it (I always wanted to say that I weigh 150lbs), I’m realising now what I really wanted was to be in the size clothes I am in now, no matter the weight.”
Lauren’s realisation highlights something most people struggle with: We fixate on arbitrary numbers because they’re concrete and measurable, but they’re rarely what we actually want.
When Lauren chose 150 lbs, she had no way of knowing what her body would look like at different weights, how she’d feel, or what would actually make her happy.
But now, at around 157 lbs, she’s realised something important: despite being seven pounds over her goal weight, she’s already achieved everything she thought “150 lbs” would give her – confidence in her body, being strong and healthy, and fitting into any clothing she wants.
Alongside the weight loss, she also reduced her waist by 34.5 cm (~14”), and went from being able to barely do a bodyweight squat to squatting 240 pounds.
What Changed Beyond The Scale
Lauren’s physical progress is absolutely phenomenal, but it would be remiss of me not to highlight what mattered just as much: the mental shift.
“This is a lifestyle and not just a short-term change,” Lauren explained. “My mindset has completely changed. I’m more attuned to my body now. I know when I truly can’t complete a workout and need to take a rest day versus when I’m just not feeling like it.
“I feel so confident in myself (I have never had any confidence in how I looked). I feel fantastic. I feel healthy and strong. I feel like I can do anything,” Lauren said.
What’s next for Lauren?
As of the time of writing, Lauren is four weeks into her muscle-gaining phase. The plan is to spend the next few months helping Lauren gain more muscle and strength, and then we’ll see where we go from there.
Lauren’s problem was never a lack of work ethic—I’ve been coaching her for almost two years now, and she works hard. But hard work directed at the wrong things only leads to frustration and a lack of progress.
Once she found the right guidance, everything clicked into place. Now she’s stronger and leaner than she’s ever been, with a completely different relationship to food, training, and her body.
So, sure, trust the process, but make sure it’s the right one first.
Overall, I am almost down 80lbs from my highest weight. Before I started working with you, I attempted to lose weight the only way I knew how (the absolute worst way). I lost 10lbs but how I was going about it wasn’t sustainable. That’s when I came to you. Even though it’s ~70lb lost with you, it’s ~80lb lost for me. And honestly, I can’t believe it. I’m still shocked I’ve come this far.
I NEVER thought I’d be at this weight EVER. I didn’t think I could lose this much weight through diet and exercise alone. And I truly couldn’t do it without you.
Your guidance has taught me so much and has allowed me to achieve my goals. I have a hard time being proud of myself, but every once in a while I realize what I have accomplished, and it feels so good!
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