Have you ever considered the impact of extreme dieting during menopause and the importance of focusing on sustainable weight loss goals? In today’s Episode of the Fitness Simplified podcast, Fitness & Nutrition Specialist Coach Brooke Davis uncovers the inspiring journey of the Fit for Life owner Joe Hoye.
Revealing the risks of extreme dieting during menopause and emphasizing the importance of overall well-being. Joe’s transformative story shows that quick fixes don’t work for sustainable weight loss, and it’s crucial to focus on long-term goals, engage muscles for weight maintenance, and avoid excessive exercise. He also provides practical tips for setting realistic fitness goals and maintaining a healthy lifestyle during perimenopause and menopause.
Transform your life with expert wellness insights—Together, let’s transform lives on Fit for Life! Tune in now!
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Contents
- Welcome to The Fitness Simplified Podcast
- Meet Joe Hoye: Your Guide to Sustainable Weight Loss
- Joe’s Personal Journey From Skeptic to Coach
- Overcoming Challenges and Finding My Path to Sustainable Weight Loss
- A Surprising Twist: How I Found My Ideal Audience
- Common Mistakes and Misconceptions: Navigating Perimenopause and Menopause
- The Importance of Body Composition: Beyond the Scale During Sustainable Weight Loss
- Doing All The Work During Sustainable Weight Loss
- What Is A Happy Sustainable Weight Loss
- Envisioning The Future You
- The Simple Process of Sustainable Weight Loss
- The Uphill Battle Of Sustainable Weight Loss For Women
- Over Exercising During Sustainable Weight Loss
- Misconceptions About Strength Training
- We All Have A Different Body
- Driving Factors For Sustainable Weight Loss
- Adding In A Protein Goal For Sustainable Weight Loss
- Listening To Your Body
- Confidence Is Key To Sustainable Weight Loss
- How Joe Has Foud Four Ways To Help During Sustainable Weight Loss
- Seeing The Scale Stop Can Hinder Sustainable Weight Loss
- Progress In The Gym During Sustainable Weight Loss
- Being Patient And Having A Great Perspective
- Getting To Your End Results For Sustainable Weight Loss
- Where To Find Joe
Welcome to The Fitness Simplified Podcast
Brooke:
Welcome to the Fitness Simplified Podcast. I’m Brooke Davis, Women’s Functional Nutritionist and Fitness Specialist with Elysian Women’s Wellness, and I’m here to simplify your fitness. In today’s episode, we’re sitting down with the owner of Fit for Life, Joe Hoye.
At the ripe age of 29, Joe has taken a bit of a bold leap, focusing his expertise on helping women entering in or past menopause say goodbye to diets, regain control over their midsection, and learn how to have control over their bodies forever. That’s the promise Joe brings to the table. We’ll be diving into Joe’s journey, exploring the philosophy that drives Fit for Life, and uncovering some of the game-changing insights for women’s wellness.
So, grab your favorite beverage, settle in, get ready to be motivated, informed, and hopefully crack a smile or two. But before we jump into the conversation, a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button if you haven’t already. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, why not share the love and leave us a review?
It helps even more fabulous individuals like yourself. Alright, let’s get to it.
Hey, Joe. Thank you so much for being on here. Can you start by just sharing a little about you, your hobbies, your life, etc.?
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely. So, welcome, everybody. My name is Joe, 29-year-old male from Southern Vermont.
And so I’ve been a full-time nutrition health wellness coach for about the last five years. And what do I like to do outside of work? Well, I like to work outside of work.
Brooke:
Tough question, I know.
Meet Joe Hoye: Your Guide to Sustainable Weight Loss
Joe:
It really is. So that’s my passion, right? My workday just started now for myself and for Hoye Fit.
But before that, I met a friend at a coffee shop for three hours, and I helped her build her business and just create the life that she wanted. So truly, I think that I would be considered a giver. I like providing to people.
It makes me feel good. And outside of that, I love the gym, as I should as a coach. I love the outdoors. I love nature and animals. And that’s it. I have a pretty simple life, but it’s one that I love.
Brooke:
Awesome. I love that. The thing that comes to mind whenever somebody asks what my hobbies are is that meme with the little girl that’s like, “I eat cake.”
So, I would love to hear about your own personal fitness journey and what brought you into coaching.
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely. So I’ve been getting good at this story because I’m telling it a whole lot more. And so when people hear this, like I said, I’m 29, I’m a male, and people that we work with are generally ladies that are 40 plus who they’re entering in or past menopause.
Joe’s Personal Journey From Skeptic to Coach
And so at my age, and in my gender, I’m never going to experience either of those things. So it’s always pretty funny for people to hear. But when I tell this story, I think it comes full circle, and it’s kind of nice to hear.
So, when I was younger, I had two stepbrothers growing up. One weekend when I was about 13 years old, they were both at their other parents. And it was just me and my mom at the house. I told her, I was like, “Mom, I did all my homework. I’m done with school. I’m a little bit bored. I don’t know what to do.” She’s like, “I don’t know either, but I’m going to the gym. So you can stay home or you can come with me.”
And of course, I went with her.
Am I allowed to swear on this podcast?
Brooke:
Yeah.
Joe:
Okay, cool. So, I was a bit of a shithead. And when my mom brought me to the gym, she introduced an outlet to me that if I didn’t have, I don’t know where my life would have been.
And so that was it. Like the rest is history. I fell in love with the gym.
I fell in love with taking care of my body and removing stress from my life in the form of exercise. And I just want to pay it back to her and other moms, because I think that there are a lot of kids out there that can use a healthy outlet like that and really change the direction of their life. So that’s why I do that.
Growing up, I was always super skinny. Like I said, I had two older brothers. So of course, I got picked on.
Overcoming Challenges and Finding My Path to Sustainable Weight Loss
I was the slowest one, the least athletic one, the smallest one. And as a boy, you don’t want to be any of those things – probably as a woman too, right? So, it just bothered me to no end.
And so, all the way through high school, I was super skinny, I did everything I could to gain weight. I’ve been going to the gym since I was 13. I couldn’t do it.
So, I graduate high school, I start pursuing a career inside of surgery. So of course, I need to learn about nutrition, I need to learn about how our body works, and everything in between. And so then, I learned how to manipulate my body in the way that I wanted to.
I did such a good job at gaining weight that I gained too much. So I went from too skinny to too fat, still unhappy with my body, still getting picked on, not achieving the result I wanted. Then eventually, once I understood everything, once I had the reps under my belt, I went from overweight to where I am now, which is really confident in myself, really happy with myself, really healthy, really energetic.
And I lived in a small town. Everybody knew me as the skinny Joe, the fat Joe, and then the fit Joe. And people started asking, they’re like, “Joe, how did you do all of that? Like, I know you didn’t work with a coach. I’ve seen you for years, you just did it on your own.”
A Surprising Twist: How I Found My Ideal Audience
So, something clicked in me. I was like, I think I have something here. I want to help other people achieve the thing that I achieved and feel great inside their body. Transparently, I thought I wanted to help people like me; guys, get some muscle, get some abs and feel confident.
So I started running these group challenges, posting it all over the place in person and online. And for some reason, all of the marketing I did, all of the messaging I wrote, did not attract people like me. It attracted moms and ladies that are 40 plus.
And that was fine, because when they joined my challenges, I had a freaking blast with them. Like, it was so fun. We connected great, I got them results, they told their friends, like everybody was happy.
And so, I think that comes from just growing up mostly around my mom and her friends and learning how I communicate through them. So, I communicate well with that demographic. Then the last part, like I said, I was working in surgery.
Lessons Learned from an Unexpected Career Path
And on that surgical team, I was the only male, there was six or seven other ladies, they all did my job. And for some reason, that operating room thought it was a great idea to put the one male that worked there inside of the GYN and OB based rooms. So, there I was, I spent the last several years working with the female reproductive system, working with doctors that understood that better than anybody I’ve ever met in my life.
And I learned as much as I possibly could.
So, all three of those things came together in the perfect way. I want to pay back to moms to help kids like me.
I communicate really, really well with them. And I most of the time understand them better than they understand themselves. So that’s how I got to where I am now.
Brooke:
What a great story. And what an interesting journey to get you there. So many, it seems kind of dipitous and like it really all did fall into place for you to be where you’re at and doing what you’re doing.
So that’s really cool. Thank you for sharing that.
Joe:
Yeah, you got it.
Common Mistakes and Misconceptions: Navigating Perimenopause and Menopause
Brooke:
So, you know, going into this demographic, there are a lot of, I would say, common things that most people but I would say women in general specifically make. And so, what are some of the most common mistakes that women make during perimenopause and menopause that you see that stop them from seeing the results that what they want, kind of just on a broad spectrum? And then I want to dive into some of those.
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely. So to keep it as general as possible, they over-diet and they overexercise. And so a lot of times they think that more stuff is going to create more results.
And a lot of times it’s the thought that less is more, right? So doing less exercise will stress your body less. Dieting less will stress your body less.
And when your body is less stressed and feels better, it will cooperate a whole lot better and you’ll feel better.
Brooke:
Yeah, absolutely. And like I said, you know, specifically is on perimenopausal menopausal women, but that does apply to the vast majority of people. So going into some of the specifics, you know, it’s a really common misconception that weight loss and fat loss are interchangeable terms.
Can you shed some light on the key differences between the two and why it’s so important for women specifically to understand this nuance in their wellness journey?
The Importance of Body Composition: Beyond the Scale During Sustainable Weight Loss
Joe:
Yeah, that’s huge. And gosh, I hope you talk about this a lot. I certainly do.
So, weight loss is a very broad term, right? There’s three types of weight that come to mind that we can gain or lose. And so that’s going to be body fat, muscle mass, or water, right?
Because we all hold a certain amount of water in our body. And so if I can make anybody lose five pounds in a week, fast, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be body fat, right? Generally going to be water, and you can gain it just as quickly as you lose it.
It’s not going to do a damn thing. So instead, I want people to focus on losing body fat, because at the end of the day, I don’t think that people are after a goal body weight. I think they’re after a goal body, right?
A certain look that a body has, and that body is always going to have more muscle and less fat, right? That’s going to serve these ladies well specifically, because as you age, as you go through perimenopause or menopause, you’re losing muscle mass every single year, you’re losing bone density every single year. And so the thing that you need to do in order to keep your muscle is strength train, that’s going to do two things, it’s going to build your bones stronger, keep them strong, it’s going to keep muscle on your body or add more. That’s going to allow you food freedoms and a high-quality life.
Doing All The Work During Sustainable Weight Loss
Brooke:
Yeah, the bone density thing is something that you know, most people don’t think about it until they get that diagnosis, osteopenia, osteoporosis, but women, especially like you said, are at an increased risk of that. And then I think it’s like 3% per year, or once you turn 30, for women specifically that they are losing muscle mass if you are not doing the right things to negate that, which is I heard that statistic and I was like, that’s depressing. Because I know how hard it is to actually put on.
So when you do all that work, like, oh, man, that’s, that’s rough.
Joe:
It’s hard work.
Brooke:
Yeah. So you know, like you said, most people, despite having this vision of what they want their body to look like, they’re so fixated on this number on the scale as the ultimate measure of their success in their weight loss journey. Can you dive into what are some drawbacks of solely focusing on the scale?
And how do you navigate that with your clients to shift their mindset away from that and approach it with a better perspective?
What Is A Happy Sustainable Weight Loss
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely. So the first thing I try to do, before they reach that point of reaching their goal weight and still being unhappy, is I like to paint a picture in their head. And so let’s say we have a lady that’s starting at 180 pounds, and she tells me she wants to get to 140.
I will ask her the question of: what do you want more in your life? Do you want to weigh 140 pounds? And if you get there, it doesn’t matter how, you’re going to be happy? Or are you okay? If you weighed 160 pounds, but when you went to the doctor, he said your markers are perfect. When you pulled out clothes from your closet, you didn’t have to pull out 10 pairs, but you pulled out one and instead of being okay with it, you felt sexy and confident in those clothes.
Instead of having to hide in the back of pictures or suck in your belly during pictures, you want to stand front and center with your family with the biggest smile, but you are 160 pounds, what would be more important? The answer is really obvious, right? Nobody tells me they want to weigh 140 pounds, and they don’t care about anything else.
Right? So painting that picture is massive. And I’m sure all the ladies listening like, well, duh, I want the second option.
Envisioning The Future You
Brooke:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love that envisioning the future and more so how you feel, also how you look, but the shift of, again, how you’re feeling, how is this actually presenting itself in your life? Because if that number showed up on the scale today, and yet nothing had changed, would they really be happy?
So yeah, I love that perspective and that tool to shift that perspective. So, you know, sustainable fat loss, right? We know as coaches that most people who lose weight are going to gain it back, unfortunately.
And so we want to help them with that. So sustainable weight loss and fat loss is really what most people actually want by the action that are not helping them get there. But it comes with challenges, right?
It’s harder. Can you share some of your practical guidance on setting those goals and achieving sustainable fat loss?
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely. So, before anything, I like to tell the ladies that consider working with us that number one, we’re not the quick fix. We’re not going to get you to where you want to be overnight.
But if you trust us, we are going to be the fix, which means that not only are you going to lose the weight, but you’re going to keep it off forever. And I think that’s what everybody wants is maintenance. The way we do that is through massive amounts of education, right?
The Simple Process of Sustainable Weight Loss
Not only are we going to say, hey, I want you to go do x, y, z, we’re going to say this is why you’re doing x, y, z, because understanding something makes it a whole lot easier to apply for the rest of your life. So that’s massive. And then the other thing is like, before anybody gets mad at me, hear me out.
This whole process is really, really simple, right? Nothing needs to be hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Okay.
So that’s why I want you to hear me out. But we don’t need to do a whole ton of things. We don’t need endless supplements.
We don’t need endless cardio. Really, we just need to pay attention to our food, understand our food, and understand the cues that our body is giving us. So learn how to listen to our body and eat the right things, do the right types of exercise, and really just prioritize yourself, which should not be that complicated.
Brooke:
Yeah, I would say most people are overcomplicating, getting into the nuances, the nitpicking, getting into the weeds about specifics that don’t matter when the basics, the big building blocks are not in place as well. So yeah, that perspective in that. And I’m curious in terms of, I also have talked to, you know, a lot of perimenopausal women.
And I am curious if – what are some main differences between that demographic and that age, that time in life versus not being in perimenopausal menopausal women?
The Uphill Battle Of Sustainable Weight Loss For Women
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely. So these ladies are definitely fighting an uphill battle compared to, I would say just men or women that are younger than them. So their hormones are fighting back against them.
Really, even if they did everything right, their hormones are still going to change, they’re going to feel like a completely different person than they did one year ago, five years ago, 10 years ago. And that is a massive learning curve, right? Add in over-dieting for years, stressing your body, that’s going to make your hormones worse and your symptoms of menopause worse.
And it’s just it’s going to become much more difficult. So do I think that it’s harder for these ladies? Yeah, absolutely.
But I don’t think it’s impossible at all.
Brooke:
Yeah, absolutely. The hormonal shifts that are occurring are just something that, you know, one cannot be fixed necessarily, obviously, there’s hormone replacement therapy and stuff like that now. But even that for women who want to do it naturally, or, you know, even with hormone replacement therapy, that doesn’t necessarily fix everything there. So yeah, there’s some complexity there for sure.
Over Exercising During Sustainable Weight Loss
So, diving into the next topic, you mentioned that they’re over exercising, they are over cardio-ing. And, you know, in a world that often glorifies the ‘more is better’ mentality, especially when it comes to exercise, how do you address this misconception that pushing harder, doing more workouts, leads to better results? And how do you help them find that balance without overdoing it and also that shift in their brain about being able to do less and still get the result that they want?
Joe:
For sure. Yeah. So a lot of times, there’s not much I can say to make them fully believe me before they see it for themselves.
And so I’ll lay out a plan, I will beg them to trust the process. And after a really short couple of weeks, when they’re already feeling better, they get that buy-in. So I think that cardio is great.
I don’t think that cardio is great for fat loss. It’s good for your health. It’s good for your mental stress.
But it’s not going to help you lose fat as well as other exercises. So I like strength training for women and men. I like sticking to three, maybe four days a week of doing that and allowing your body adequate rest.
Because really, any sort of exercise is a stress to your body, right? We do not get better at exercising when we’re exercising, we get better at it when we’re resting. And so if you don’t give your body the amount of time it needs to rest and get better, all you’re doing is consistently breaking your body down more and more.
And that’s not going to get you anywhere you want to be.
Misconceptions About Strength Training
Brooke:
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, it’s not uncommon for women to have reservation misconceptions about strength training, most of the women I talked to, it is getting better. Thankfully, I think it is becoming more mainstream for women to be in the gym, which I love to see.
It’s amazing. But especially with that older demographic, which is going into perimenopause and menopause, so many of them still have the misconceptions of, you know, what strength training does to you making you bulky, and they have reservations about it. So can you share some of the insights on dispelling some of those myths?
And then how do you, again, navigate convincing them to start doing this?
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely. So it’s a little bit difficult for me, because all the ladies that are in my community and that I work with, know me, and they see that I have a decent amount of muscle mass. So, they’re like, “well, Joe, I know that you lift weights, and I do not want to look like you.”
Don’t worry, okay, I’ve been working out for 15 years consistently. And I do not look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. So I promise you, you won’t.
We All Have A Different Body
Number one, we have a different body, we have different hormones. My hormones help me build muscle way easier than yours. Number two, we have a different body structure, like you’re just not going to look like a man when you lift.
Right. Then the other thing I like to explain to ladies is that having muscle on our body is what allows us to eat a lot of really tasty food as much as we want. And so explaining that to them and saying, “Hey, did you like that cookout you went to last week?”
And when they look at me like I’m crazy and say, “Yes, of course I did.” I’m going to tell them you can’t go to that and be successful. If you don’t strength train, you lose all your muscle mass, because when you go, you’re going to gain weight.
But if you have a bit of muscle on your body, you’re going to feed that muscle. And it’s going to burn those calories. You’re not going to have to worry.
And so explaining to them that more muscle equals more food freedoms is a really good thing.
Driving Factors For Sustainable Weight Loss
Brooke:
Yeah, that’s a big driving factor. For sure. I use that one.
Definitely. Like you want to eat more? All right.
And then we’ve talked about to the keeping the weight upright in terms of a sustainable weight loss and navigating that forever. Muscle is going to be something that helps you do that. I think you were there at Alan Aragon, Bill Campbell’s presentation about hyperplasia and refeeding.
When you lose weight, it’s your body wanting to get your muscle mass back. It’s not just your weight. Like that was really blew my mind.
Like our bodies are just so fascinating. They just want us to be these, you know, working machines and live life the way that we’re supposed to live, right? So yeah, that was a really cool kind of tidbit there.
And then, you know, speaking of long-term goals, right? Setting realistic, achievable, long-term wellness goals is a cornerstone of that sustained success, keeping the weight off. How do you guide your clients at Fit for Life in establishing these goals that are with that more long-term visions that are attainable over the long haul and taking them away from that quick fix, instant results process?
Adding In A Protein Goal For Sustainable Weight Loss
Joe:
We try to look at the bigger picture, right? Like you and me talked about earlier, the number on the scale is a whole lot less important than how you feel, how you look, your health markers, things like that. I like to introduce things slowly as to not overwhelm people, right?
So we’ll look at calories first. When I see that people are hitting their calories, maybe we’ll start to add in a protein goal so that they can keep some muscle when they’re losing their fat. Then by the end of the program, because we add these habits in slowly, by the end of the program, they’re doing so many things on autopilot that they don’t even realize anymore that now they’ve just by accident created a lifestyle that works and that they enjoy.
And so the last phase of our program, we call the live it phase. And so it’s truly our graduation phase. Like I want to remove calorie counting.
Removing the food scale
I want to remove the food scale, the tracking apps, any of that, and show people that they can go on a dinner date with their husband or their partner or go grab ice cream with their kids. And at the end of the week, when they jump on the scale or they pull on their favorite jeans, the scale is still the same and their jeans still fit the same. And it’s because they can look at a plate and know what is what roughly how many calories are in there.
They can listen to their body and their stomach and know if I’m hungry, know if I’m thirsty, know if I’m full, and they don’t have to feel stressed about going somewhere and enjoying some foods once in a while. And so when I think that people can do that, they’re literally unstoppable.
Listening To Your Body
Brooke:
Yeah, the tools component of it is so important, right, giving them the education, the tools behind it all. And I have heard multiple times from clients, right? It’s a double-edged sword, knowing being able to look at a plate and see what’s on it, because everything you look around and you’re like, “Okay, this is great, because yes, I can navigate this on my own.”
But also like, “I know what’s in there. Like, I know that I’m gonna have to navigate around that.” And like, yeah, but the beauty of that you can make that educated decision to do that, right.
To still enjoy that food, knowing how you can, you know, manipulate foods later, or, you know, manipulate your day or your week even later, in order to enjoy and not stress about these things, because you don’t know, or you don’t have the mental capacity to navigate it. The tools and being able to look at a plate, and just know what’s in there, for the most part, at least guesstimate well enough to, like you said, maintain your weight, so fit in your clothes, and enjoy that date night out. So yeah, I love that.
Giving People The Tools
Joe:
So I was just gonna say that, like, what you said is spot on. So giving people tools to navigate their day or their week, right? Like, let’s say somebody has this big weekend event, and they want to enjoy it, and they’re stressed that they’re going to gain weight.
It’s like, okay, so all we need to do is maybe drop a few calories every day leading up to it, prioritize your protein in the morning before the event, go there and then eat whatever the hell you want. And you’ve offset that entire week on the beginning half, so that now you can be normal. And when people get to think like that, and plan like that on autopilot, they’re so good.
I love seeing it.
Confidence Is Key To Sustainable Weight Loss
Brooke:
Yeah, it is very cool to watch the transition of someone coming in who is lost, frustrated, right? And then going out who is like, okay, I got this, like, I have the confidence to navigate this on my own. It’s a really special thing as a coach to watch for sure.
And you know, a part of going through the long term and you know, working with someone like, how long would you say it takes for somebody to make that journey with you guys? From beginning to end.
Joe:
So it’s different, right? I mean, we have ladies that want to lose 20 pounds.
And we have ladies that want to lose 100. We have ladies that have maybe dieted for six months before and then we have ladies that have dieted for 15 years. And so it does massively change.
Commiting To Yourself
But I would say, within a year, you can change your entire life. And that’s a really, really, like high guess people can do it faster. But I mean, if you’re willing to commit a year to yourself, you never have to worry about a thing for the rest of your life.
Brooke:
Yeah, I would say I mean, most of our clients, nine to 12 months, right? Because even if you have 100 pounds to lose, right, the tools, the process of implementing those things, even though the process may take longer, right, the education, all of that can happen, like I said, in that year. And so in that year, it’s not all just going down.
The weight scale isn’t just going down. It’s not all progress. There are obviously different ways to look at it.
But you know, plateaus can be really challenging for people in any fitness journey. But especially when you are talking long term results, long term changes, how do you help your clients through that plateau?
How Joe Has Foud Four Ways To Help During Sustainable Weight Loss
Joe:
God, so let me see, I have four ways that I can usually help. And so number one, people might not know how much they’re eating, right? Like if you’ve never tracked or counted your calories, I promise you have no idea how much you’re eating.
So if you don’t know how much you’re eating, you can’t know if you’re hitting your goals. So we have to look at that. Number two, maybe they don’t know what their goals are.
So talking with somebody like you or myself and just asking because we’ll never keep that secret would be helpful or just going online to find like a TD calculator, putting in your statistics on your own and getting a rough guess would be great. Some people if they’ve been losing weight for a while, their calorie needs are changing. And so if they’ve lost enough weight, their old weight loss goals for calories might be their new maintenance goals for calories.
And so sometimes you just need to readjust your calories a little bit lower. Or sometimes people have been dieting for way too long, their body’s gotten used to it, their body’s become too stressed, they’ve become what we call metabolically adapted. And it’s going to be time for a reverse diet or what we call a diet detox.
Seeing The Scale Stop Can Hinder Sustainable Weight Loss
Brooke:
Yeah, all very great points for sure. So what about clients that come in and they’re seeing the scale change, they’re seeing progress, and then the scale stops changing or especially sometimes just a little bit in a couple of months in, right? The scale stops and you are maybe seeing changes right outside of the scale, but they are struggling with that.
How do you help them navigate that mindset? And what do you talk them through that?
Joe:
Yeah, so like we’ve talked about a lot, the scale is not the final answer, right? It is one tool that we use to measure progress in this massive toolbox that we have. And so we’re going to look at other things, we’re going to look at biomarkers, like how’s your energy?
How’s your cravings? How’s your hunger? Are those improving?
Do you feel better day to day? If you do, something good is happening, right? So there’s that.
We can look at how clothes are fitting. Are your clothes fitting better? Your pants are too big, but the scale is not changing.
Progress In The Gym During Sustainable Weight Loss
Well, again, what would you rather have; your clothes fit better or the number on the scale, right? So we want to look at that. And then also like progress in the gym.
If we have a lady that’s doing strength training and she’s consistently getting stronger in her clothes are fitting better, but the scale is not moving. Chances are there’s massive changes going on physically, but not weight wise. Right.
And so it’s always helpful to look at it from different perspectives.
Brooke:
Yes, those are some of my favorite to point out. Honestly, I mean, personally as a coach, like depending on how much somebody has to lose, but there are points in which I would rather see the scale not move and, you know, be seeing those other changes. And I know that can be hard, especially for somebody who’s not used to that.
And who’s used to scale, just dropping, dropping, dropping every week. You know, we get a lot of the word frantic people who are like, why have the scale, you know, and you really do have to point out the other wins, right. Go back to that big picture.
Don’t Get Stuck With Quick Fixes Promising Sustainable Weight Loss
So I love that for sure. So again, with so many quick fix diets, promising the fast result, there’s so many things out there at this point, from shakes to shop, people can be really resistant to committing to we say a year and they’re like, oh, dear God, you know, the longer and slower methods of wellness, despite the promise of the sustainable results.
What would you say to somebody who is hesitant to embark on that journey with the idea of long-term change, doing things the way that you and me do them are the most difficult because nobody wants to wait that long, right?
Joe:
People have wanted to change their body for years. And at this point, they want it now, not in a year. So I understand where they’re coming from.
I always like to position it this way. It’s like, look, let’s go through time together. Let’s look back on your life.
Two years from now, you’re at your body weight, you’re at your goal body, you fit in your clothes, you feel great, all the things we’ve been talking about today, in two different ways, like, or rather, would you care if it took you eight months, or 12 months, in two years? Or are you just going to be happy that you’re there? In nine times out of 10 people are like, well, in two years, I don’t really care.
Like, I’m where I want to be. I’m good to go. It can take another four months.
Being Patient And Having A Great Perspective
That’s fine. It’s like, okay, then you have your answer, because you’re not doing this for a year from now, you’re doing this for the rest of your life. Right.
And so like, trying to give people some patience and perspective is good. But again, I get that it’s difficult, especially when people think right, keyword here, think that they can use a weight loss drug, or follow a crash diet and be good to go for life. When in reality, the same exact thing’s going to happen, like it did the last five times, you’re going to lose weight rapidly, you’re going to feel like crap, you’re going to lose your muscle rather than your fat.
And then you’re just going to gain it all back in the form of fat and not muscle, you’re going to be in a worse position than you were before. And maybe then you’ll be ready for this change. But it’s going to take a little bit longer that time, because you did that.
Right. So like, sometimes we have to play devil’s advocate and tell people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear.
Brooke:
Getting To Your End Results For Sustainable Weight Loss
Yeah, the visionary thing is like, okay, in two years, like, what are you looking back on? And I think the comparison of how long have you spent trying to do things, I’m going to say your way, right? versus how long you might spend trying it my way. And if it works, right, you know, this one doesn’t work.
So why not try something else. Even if your end all results are going to take a little bit longer, right, you still haven’t reached your end all results. And it’s been how long so I like the fact that you’re using that the visionary thing.
And then the comparison of like, how long have you been doing this? To what end?
Joe:
That’s tough.
Brooke:
Yeah.
The Experience During The Process
Joe:
The other thing I like to throw in there is like, look at the experience during the process. If you have to cut all of your favorite foods and feel like crap, the process is going to suck, and you’re probably not going to stick to it. Or you can spend some time with us.
And we’ll encourage you to go on dinner dates and get dessert, and maybe like have a weekend off and enjoy yourself. And you’re going to reach your goals that way. So what do you think is more realistic, something that sucks or that you enjoy?
Brooke:
Quality of life throughout the process. And like, that’s a big part of why they weren’t successful initially. So yeah, that’s a good point.
I like that. Well, Joe, thank you so much for coming on. I think we touched on so many good points and really things that people can use here.
Your approach to health coaching fat loss specifically tailored to women navigating perimenopause and menopause is great. It is hopefully refreshing for a lot of people who are not familiar with some of these things. And yeah, I appreciate you sharing that all with us, so stay connected with Joe and explore more of what he has to offer.
Where To Find Joe
You can follow him on social media, Instagram @hoyefit, and then make sure to check out his diet detox book so you can ditch the diets and get on with your healthier best self. And that is a game changer to making those changes and making them permanent. Yeah.
Thank you, Joe.
Joe:
Love it. Thank you so much, Brooke. That was fun.
Brooke:
If you have any questions about sustainable weight loss, suggestions for future topics, or just want to chat, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram @Brooke_Elysian and Facebook linked in the show notes or via our website, Elysianwomenswellness.com. And if you enjoyed what you heard today, we’d be thrilled if you could take a half second to leave us a five-star review. Not only will you be helping others find our show, but you’ll also be entered into our monthly hundred dollar giveaway for new reviews. New episodes drop every Monday, so make sure to hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more.
Thanks for listening. See you soon.
Coach Brooke Davis Links:
Website: bdavistraining.com
LinkedIn: Brooke Davis – Owner – Davis Fitness
Facebook: Brooke Davis, CPT
Instagram: Brooke Davis (@brooke_elysian)
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