Taught Not Told Podcast
Our mission is to teach you everything you need to know and implement so you can be extremely successful on your journey towards health and fitness. I strive to make complex topics and challenging methods stupid simple to understand so YOU can take action with confidence knowing what you're doing will WORK! Please enjoy!
Much Love,
Coach Tyler
Taught Not Told Podcast
EP#39: Sustainable Fitness Secrets Revealed with Brooks Coleman
In this interview, Brooks and I dive into what it truly takes to live a healthy life in the most sustainable way possible.
We discuss many of the mistakes we made and many that you may be making now that are stopping you from losing weight and keeping it off.
We also touch on many of the lesser known aspects of health and fitness that are likely the reason you can’t achieve sustainable results…
And I know FOR A FACT, you will receive a ton of value from this exclusive episode so find a quiet place, take notes, and enjoy🙏🏼
ALSO:
You can find Brooks on Instagram here:
https://www.instagram.com/thebrookscoleman
You can find Brooks’ FREE “Stop Dieting. Start Living.” Skool community here:
https://www.skool.com/datafit/about
In This Video We Cover:
00:00 Intro: Brooke Coleman
06:25 How to find trustworthy sources
15:38 The Role of Behavior Change in Fitness
19:03 The Benefits of Tracking Calories
21:26 Principles of Sustainable Health
23:19 Shifting Focus: From Body Weight to Body Composition
26:10 Navigating Challenges and Building Resilience
29:28 Prerequisites for Fat Loss
32:32 Aligning Goals with Values
35:57 Embracing Long-Term Habits
40:29 The Foundation for Health and Quality of Life
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P.S. If you’d like my help with mapping out your path to success on your fitness journey, click here to book a FREE strategy session 1-on-1 with me:
https://calendly.com/tntcoaching/strategysession
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https://www.instagram.com/ty.lerstuder
Also, if you’d like to see what others say about working with us check us out on Yelp:
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Lastly, to find out more about TNT coaching, what we offer, and how we can help, check out our website:
https://betaughtnottold.com
BONUS - CHECK OUT OUR FREE GUIDES:
https://betaughtnottold.com/free-guides
Hope you found this helpful!
Much love,
Coach Tyler🤍
Welcome back to the Taught Not Told podcast. I'm your host, tyler Suter, and today I have a very special guest, my friend Brooks Coleman, and I'm super excited because this is one of the most organic and amazing conversations I've had in quite some time now. The other day I was on Instagram I actually don't know exactly how I found him, came across a profile, an ad or something. I saw some really good content, started scrolling through and I was like this him came across a profile, an ad or something. I saw some really good content, started scrolling through and I was like this guy's got some great content. Just popped a little comment on his, on his page, and I was just like man, you have some great content, thanks for sharing, sure enough.
Speaker 1:I actually didn't expect this, but I got a message back from him. We started a conversation, started sending some voice messages and I was like this guy knows his shit one and is in it for the right reasons and he's helping change hundreds of lives, from my perspective of what I see. And so, that being said, I wanted to introduce Brooks and, man, I would love for you to tell us a little bit about yourself and what kind of got you into coaching.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I really appreciate you having me Glad you reached out too, because that was a great conversation and lots of social media can be surface level, so that was great, refreshing for sure. But yeah, a little bit about me. Grew up kind of found the gym like end of middle school, was going into high school, actually had delayed puberty, so started falling behind in sports, was like super embarrassed about it and tried to get bigger. Didn't work for a really long time. Ended up spending like 10 years just like chasing fads, chasing all the things out there. You know, you name it. I tried it and then finally started ended up like majoring in finance but like non-stop consuming fitness stuff at work, outside of work.
Speaker 2:Ended up leaving that job to go work in an exercise physiology lab. Started to learn how to research, how to. Got to do like actually some elderly group fitness classes, which was a good time Like resting, metabolic rate tests underwater, weighing all that fun stuff. Got to do some research and and really started to learn like the science side. So from there I got so addicted to like optimal and I was doing everything under the sun. Finally saw like some of those results I wanted, you know, got a lot stronger, got got some abs, like whatever it was, and then kind of started to realize like that wasn't really what I was chasing.
Speaker 2:You know, I got there and then, like my, my relationships were suffering because I was just obsessed and actually at that time was kind of like just looking for jobs that I could like continue this path of learning more about health and fitness, tried out for the fire department, got hired there on a career fire department in Omaha, nebraska, where I'm from, and that kind of threw a wrench in being optimal, right, because you're not getting much sleep. It was a real challenge and I started to fall off. So I kind of shifted that lens from what's optimal to what's the best bang for my buck and started to find that balance finally with the relationship side, the work side not being totally consumed, and at that same time really started to see friends falling into what I was falling into the keto, the, whatever it is. And that's when I was like okay, like really started to help other people out and then saw how meaningful that was to me to like see the mental shifts that they would get.
Speaker 2:I had one close friend who, throughout college, ended up getting up to 300 pounds and he, uh I helped him out, like kind of from from where I had I had been, and and he lost a hundred pounds and I was like, damn, this is the coolest thing ever. All credit to him, he did, he did all the work. But uh, that was when I was like, okay, like can I coach people? So when got like my precision nutrition coaching cert, got some other certs fast forward, started coaching people and I started helping him. It's been probably four or five years, maybe more, and then been coaching people primarily online since early 2022. And here we are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, what's funny is we actually have a very similar story in a sense. Man, I actually went into college as an engineering major and noticed that as much as I was studying for my classes, I was doing twice as much studying on the fitness side, listening to podcasts. Very, very similar in terms of like, choosing the optimal like dialed into activity. I was partying quite a bit because I was a freshman in college, you know, but I definitely was so focused on the fitness and very similar as well. I had a friend that I joined a fraternity with. He was like, became my best friend and he was like 275, 280.
Speaker 1:And same thing, just kind of he was my first ever client and just like, man, I'm going to help you out and if you just, you know, follow along with me, come work out with me, kind of thing. And sure enough, he lost like 75 pounds, became a stud and just like seeing his transformation, seeing the other people around me transforming, kind of coming to this, like, okay, I'm changing my major Kinesiology is like, oh, it became easy because I actually like what I'm learning. This is crazy. And yeah, man, that's so funny. So, after you know, you kind of found your groove and fitness. You kind of found, you kind of took a step away from the optimal, kind of started to learn more about this balance. Is this kind of what drove you into the coaching and saying like, okay, I did things wrong, even maybe too extreme to an extent. Is that kind of what brought you into that Like, okay, I want to help people kind of avoid this? Or was it more like I just want to put more of the right stuff out there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it was definitely more starting from the standpoint of like this is what work, like I'm finding things that actually work. I was so caught up in these sexy stories that people throw out with fad diets but now, looking back, I definitely got a little tunnel vision on like this is what matters, do this and that's all that you have to do. And then, like anybody that's been a coach, you know, realizes that it's not as simple as you know getting someone to lose 100 pounds by just giving them the right steps. Like you know, my friend did awesome work, your friend did awesome work. But then you start to get clients that have different you know blocks and it's not as much about like just finding the right plan, but helping them get out of their own way. So I think it definitely started from a place of, like you know, nutrition and exercise science and has evolved for me at least, and I know for you too, based on our conversations to a lot more behavior change stuff too.
Speaker 1:It's yeah, it's definitely complicated, but I think that's kind of what originated for me 100%, man, and I definitely agree with you on how, when we first started it seems like a lot of it our focus was like all x's and o's. It was like do this achieve this, do this achieve this? But really, as you get deeper into it and especially like the first few clients maybe the people that are super close to you and dedicated they're like okay, they do those things and it works, but they're just kind of willpowering their way through it, where now you start to realize, like the self-sabotage cycles, the behavior, the mindset, the subconscious programmings that they have that they don't realize they're actually doing is really what creates that sustainable approach. And I think one of the conversations we had is just like how it's so unfortunate in today's world. How has this pros and cons? Right?
Speaker 1:There's so much information available now and it's so hard to kind of decipher between what's right, what's wrong, what should I actually listen to, what should I avoid or who should I even listen to? Right, and so like you have some guy on Instagram that's telling you only vegetables, and then you have some guy over here that's like only vegetables, and it's like it's so hard to know what's right and what's wrong, especially as the average person, and so my question would be is, like, as the average person and I know I'm sure you've had a lot of conversations like this with clients of, like, how does one someone that's trying to figure this shit out right, how does one figure out or find don't know how to say this the right way, are they?
Speaker 2:delivering a message through very specific methods instead of more principle-based and that was pretty wordy of me to say it that way like if someone I mean, for example, that, what was that tiktok trend? That is like three to three thirty, you know what you're saying. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. It's like 30 minutes of walking at a three minute incline On the treadmill, fasted every morning. That's the secret. Right, you're right, right, so like I, and it's hard because it's like you know marketing right, like that's what sells because people want a specific method.
Speaker 2:But I think anybody that's that's gung ho on a specific modality like keto or fasting or anything that's super hyper specific and calling it the way to go is a big clue in that. Maybe you should stay away and I don't, you know all those people. It's like I don't doubt that that worked for you and it can work. But to like get like you have blinders on when you're, when you're so focused on methods instead of the principles behind the methods. I don't know if that was helpful or not. I think that's a really good question, but I think just like yeah, that's great, that was fantastic.
Speaker 1:So I think my takeaway on that is like I think when you have a coach that says this is the answer to your problem every time, that's probably the person that doesn't understand nuance of individuals and human behavior. It's like I always think back to, like when I went to Cal State, fullerton do you know who Andy Galpin is? Yeah, so wizard. That guy's brilliant. So I actually had him as a professor and in our class. Every time someone asked him a question and every time there was a topic brought up, he always answered with it depends. And what I loved about that is that it just played into the nuance of human behavior, psychology. It played into the differences between you and I. Right, we're not the same human being. We have different backgrounds, different histories, different. So I think depends is a great way of saying what you were saying of like principles apply to everyone, but the actual action that you take, the actual methodology, might look different and be plugged into your system differently, right? So I love the answer it depends. That's like my favorite thing to tell clients when they ask me a question, like well, it depends. Like, did you use the restroom today or did you go on a walk today or you got two hours of sleep. No, I absolutely you should not work out today. I know it's on your program, but don't work out. You had two hours of sleep. So I think it depends is like my favorite thing there.
Speaker 1:I think going into that I know, like, like you mentioned like the principles, is really big for you, and the principles of like what you teach to your clients, and so I'm curious to know, like, could you name, by the way, you had a couple posts like this, of like breaking down like the 32 lessons or like the 16 lessons I learned as a coach and I think that those were amazing posts. I read every single one of them. I was like this is awesome, dude, that those were amazing posts. I read every single one of them. I was like this is awesome, dude. But I'm curious, like, what are some of the maybe the principles that people that come into your ecosystem tend to be lacking the most and the ones that you find to be like the most helpful? I heard on a recent podcast you're talking about like moving the big rock instead of like the little pebbles. So, like, what are some of those bigger principles that you find impact, have the greatest impact on, like, say, your clients or some of the newer people that you work with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, for sure. And I'll say real quick just about that last question. Like one of my favorite quotes is if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So that it depends statement which I love. Andy's stuff, that's freaking awesome that you had him as a professor. I remember like looking at Cal State Fullerton's programs back in the day to go to go learn from him. Anyways, like you know, people get very bought in on a specific ideology or methodology. So when you come to them they are blunt. You know, like the way someone looks at a forest is going to be different between a biologist or a, you know, environmentalist or whatever. So if you have a very specific training, you're not going to see the big picture for a client, and so I love that. It depends question Cause it's like is a you know, is diet Coke healthy?
Speaker 2:Like it depends. Actually that's probably a bad, bad example, because I'm actually there's not much out there that convinces me it's not healthy. Uh, but like with a specific food, it depends. Like are you moving from eating mcdonald's three meals a day? Then having mcdonald's once a day is healthy for you. Because you're moving in the right direction. You're moving away from three days, three times a day to one time a day. So so I couldn't agree more. But those principles I mean like it's like it's funny because you know, like there is literature on like what are the things that determine long-term weight loss or weight maintenance success, and when you look at it it's very like, it's kind of like oh yeah, no shit, right. Like you know it's like higher levels of physical activity, more unprocessed foods, a higher level of cognitive oversight. You know it's all stuff that's like okay, like once again, it's like all right. Well, the challenge is getting them to stick with that.
Speaker 2:Anyways, some of the principles are just man, I think like one of the biggest things that I and this is going to be really basic, right, but I'm a big fan of tracking calories and allowing the client to have that self-education instead of me telling them eat this, not that, this is good, this is bad. And I mean the name of your podcast. I love it Taught, not Told, right. So just that principle. I mean this is an obvious one, but that principle of calories is going to be so, so important because so many clients come in and I think it's getting them away from that mindset of being told and wanting to have the black and white answers and true progress and changes in the gray area. So allowing them the tools to start learning that and, of course, assisting along the way and guiding them through it.
Speaker 2:But to give someone a calorie target or to have them track their food and just see why it makes more sense to eat more vegetables and be like I am so much more full and I don't blow through my calorie budget, so big picture. Some of the biggest things for me are that cognitive oversight in some shape or way about your food intake, eating more whole foods like no brainers right. Moving more, getting away from specific exercise modalities. Of course strength training is a big piece in some way shape or form as well, but then, outside of that strength training, not having them super hyper-focused on any specific.
Speaker 2:For me personally, finding CrossFit back in the day, I was like oh, there must be some thing about this high intensity work that just like builds muscle and torches fat and it's like in reality, you know, like exercise is either going to burn you calories to help you create a deficit or to help you manage intake or energy balance, or it's going to build muscle and that's kind of it. Yeah, there's aerobic benefits, things like that, but I kind of rambled there. But those are some of the bigger picture things that we're always trying to work on with anybody that comes in for sure.
Speaker 1:No, that's fantastic and I think I agree that those are, like some of the most like core staple principles that I feel like a lot of people overcomplicate. They cannot allow themselves to believe it is that simple when in reality it really is. And in my opinion it's just like being able to do the stupid simple shit for a long enough period of time to see the change happen. And one of the thought bubbles I had pop in my head as you were talking is like I agree, I'm the same way. Actually, I only have my clients really track calories and protein. I'm like, dude, let your fats and carbs fluctuate as long as you're getting enough fat. It doesn't like your carbs and fats will make up the remainder of your calories. I don't care if you have a little extra carbs one day or a little less, it doesn't matter. And also, I give a calorie range. I'm like, go over 100, go calorie range. I'm like, go over 100, go under 100. As long as your weekly average is about right, there you go. Have a little flexibility, have a little freedom.
Speaker 1:My thing is that I've been seeing this movement on things like Twitter, on threads. I scroll through threads. Sometimes I see some random comments. I don't know if it's algorithm or what, but I'll see some people asking are people talking about tracking food and tracking calories and how it's so bad and it's like you're creating a bad relationship with food and I'm curious to know, like, how do you feel about this? I don't know if it's a movement or if it's like something people are like demonizing tracking food. I don't know if you even have a perspective on that, but I'm just curious do you think everyone has to track their food or needs to for some period of time, or do you feel like it kind of the case, like it depends, kind of thing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so definitely, and it depends if you want to lose weight, if you, if you're at an unhealthy body weight and it's at the point where you need to lose weight. There are some people that it's like you're not necessarily at a bad body weight. You have poor body composition and we need to change your body composition and we can vary. That's a whole different story than someone that has considered a decent amount of weight to lose. So if the story is that they aren't necessarily needing to change their body weight much, I usually say like, hey, let's focus on your habits around food, let's focus on protein intake, let's focus on eating more vegetables, and we can usually get great progress there without even touching it.
Speaker 2:I had a client last year who's super, super busy. I think she works in like the arena space, something with sports, arenas for pro sports and so like. In that season it's super busy. She didn't have much weight to lose and we just focused on consistent meals, more vegetables, more protein, lifting weights, and her scale went up a little bit, but she was off like four inches from the waist or something like that in two months or three months. It was insane and it's like I'm always. I'm always thinking what's the lowest hanging fruit here? Let's not jump to things that that aren't necessary.
Speaker 2:That being said, if someone needs to lose weight, or a pretty solid amount of weight, we need to have some oversight on your food in some shape or form. Honestly, most of us do. Some people are blessed in that they don't, but most people do. In our environment of super high processed foods, they're everywhere. It's a pipe dream If anybody's telling you it's going to be set it and forget it once you get to your goal because high calorie foods are not going anywhere. We all need cognitive oversight in some way, shape or form. For some of us, we can get away with more of that intuitive approach and people are very lucky to have that, but that's not that many people. For the people that are going to have to have a more direct approach first and foremost, I think that anybody out there who has not done it would benefit from it for at least a few weeks. Like it's so educational, literally, if you did nothing else, awareness is the first step to change Right. Like we can't change what we're not aware of. So, even if it's not accurate, like that's going to teach you so much.
Speaker 2:Like I said debate all day in the comments about if whole foods or if a calorie is a calorie or whole foods are important. Whole foods or if a calorie is a calorie or whole foods are important. Just go track your food eating McDonald's and then go track your food at the same calories eating chicken, vegetables, good, whole foods and you tell me how you feel and learn for yourself. So the thing to me and the reason why I tend to lean more towards tracking I also do the same exact thing with calories and protein. Just get that minimum fat. It doesn't matter, and that's even a big one that you have to ingrain in people because they're like do you think it's because I'm going too high on carbs? I'm like me and my assistant coaches joke because it's like 99% of questions we get about nutrition. The answer is unless you want to step on a bodybuilding stage, no, it doesn't matter. Outside of like five things you know, but okay. So if you have considerable weight to lose, you you know the research on intuitive eating it's, it's solid to help with weight maintenance. It's not the best for achieving significant weight loss. So we need some type of strategy that's going to, yes, lead to a calorie deficit. That is true, that's what we need. But the reason I lean more towards tracking calories and protein is that education is that awareness, at least in the shorter term.
Speaker 2:Because with the other methods, like cutting out carbs with keto or like fasting, what do you do when you hit a plateau? Do you cut out more carbs, because you've already cut them out. So what do you do then? And with calories, it's so direct and you can adjust it and tweak it. And with these other methods it's much harder and at the same time, you can really see on paper in front of you how it works to make things work in moderation. Because, like you know, people scream all day that it's like going to kill you that you eat all these things, whatever, realistically, like people are going to eat tasty food, you know.
Speaker 2:And to see that I think it works in both directions, because sometimes it's like, wow, that adds up quick. And other times it's like like I ate pretty good all day and like I made this work and I don't feel guilty about it now. So I think, like you know, once again, black and white, social media, all that good stuff. But you know, tracking it's like tracking a budget, like is there something inherently bad. Yeah, of course, if you have a history of disordered eating, that's a whole different conversation. But, like you know, tracking your calories, that's amoral, like our human brains, like we just give meaning to everything and try to make a story out of it. But it's like. No, it is what it is Like, it's just bringing awareness to the problem.
Speaker 1:So, once again, I ramble a lot, but those are my thoughts, dude, that was beautiful and I think my favorite analogy around that is what you just mentioned at the end there, which is like tracking your budget. It's like how do you know how much money you're saving, or if you can even pay your damn bills if you're not aware of where the money's going right? So that's how I feel about calories and I 100%. I couldn't agree more with that, and I in a very, very rare case of someone with, like you said, past eating disorders or a very, very poor relationship with food. Sure, maybe we start with just like can we actually eat two meals a day? Let's just start there, not actually tracking them, but just like actually eating them, you know.
Speaker 1:But generally speaking, I would say 99% of my clients that I, especially when they get started with me, they start tracking their food. They're like oh, I didn't realize that that food I've been having at work twice a week is 800 calories and I can just make the same thing at home for 300 and feel way better after not have to run to the bathroom. You know, it's like, yes, those little things are such big impacts on just like that overall journey and kind of going back to the journey itself. I'm curious if you have, or do you have, some sort of like in a sense blueprint or journey or path that you take a lot of clients on. Like, for example, like I come in like the first week or a couple of weeks it's like really focused on just building better a bit. I feel like a lot of people just have these like little habits that they do on a weekly basis they're not aware of, so it's like fixing those. Then it's like really focusing on ramping up the metabolism, which is really just like being consistent with workouts, bringing the calories up to like a normal maintenance if they've been dieting for you know, six months, six years, even you know, six months, six years, even you know.
Speaker 1:I have some moms that come to me. I've been dieting for 10 years and they're eating 1200 calories and not losing weight. Well, there's a couple reasons that could be, but let's just get you back up to normal for, say, fat loss and then, like lifestyle integration and that's what top not told stands for is actually like I tell my clients may sign up, like I actually don't want to work with you forever. I want to teach you everything so you can go off on your own and I can say peace out, love you, thank you, but ultimately that was a long way of me asking do you have some sort of structure, some sort of process that you take the majority of your clients? I'm sure you get a lot of similar people and I'm sure it modifies to every individual, but is there a system or process that you like to follow?
Speaker 2:Yeah, mine's very similar to yours and I always tell people I'm like you know they're not mutually exclusive. It's kind of like fluid, right, but generally my kind of three, three step. You know, satisfy the marketing coaches out there. Three step process is, like I call it focus, calorie deficit, dropping calories, increasing calories out through cardio that everyone's been drilled into shifting it to a body composition focus, so very similar, like we could say maximize your metabolism. But really what is that? It's building muscle to increase your resting metabolic rate, burn more calories while you sleep, moving more throughout your day outside of the gym, because that's an overwhelming amount of the calories you burn, unless you're running marathons. And then increasing your food quality, which is going to improve the thermic effect of food, which actually could be a kind of decent impact on calories out. And those are the main things there. And how I explain it to people is I think there's a number out there that, like the average Americans, are total daily energy expenditures, like twenty, two hundred or something like that, but let's say it's 2000.
Speaker 2:The modern or traditional way has always been like you need a calorie deficit, so you need to focus on eating less, and it's like all right. Well, and, once again, we're always diagnosing the big rocks, like you mentioned. Well, if Mary is walking 4,000 steps a day, doesn't resistance train, doesn't eat any protein and doesn't eat any vegetables, we are literally racing to the bottom. Instead of having this mindset of like all right, I burned 2000 a day, I need to eat 1500. Let's have the mindset of let's eat 2000 and burn 2500 because you're going to get more food. That's more flexibility in our environment. So a very similar first step there is shifting that focus to body composition instead of body weight.
Speaker 2:And then I call it simplify is step two, and that really is, you know, cutting out the noise, really focusing on perfect example. Let's focus on calories and protein, not fats and carbs, and play Tetris every day in our in our phones and then, like, really focus on, you know, streamlining, making it as easy as possible, setting up your environment for success. But I think what people miss with that is they think there's something out there that's going to unlock easy mode and make it easy forever. Yes, we can simplify. Yes, we can make it as easy as possible. Yes, we can modify your environment. But there will be challenges and that's okay. Discomfort is okay.
Speaker 2:So my like third step is always sustain, or sustain it for life. So that's where we come into. Hey, how do we navigate when it will get hard? Let's expect it to get hard, that's okay. We want like a manageable hard, not like grind it out. Like, you know, hate ourselves in the process. Willpower it out, but learn to deal with that discomfort along the way. Learn some contingency plans or implementation intentions for vacations, holidays, all that good stuff. You know, ideally we're incorporating that sustain piece throughout the process.
Speaker 2:I always tell my clients I want you to have a vacation while we work together, because that's your practice run for later on. Let's have those small doses instead of just like trying to get to a goal and be like all right, I'm done tracking, because if we use tracking as a tool, not a crutch, we can kind of pair it with the habits around food, all the things outside of that, so that like, eventually people get to that point where it's like all right. I know intuitively, if I have like one of these three, four, five breakfasts, one of these three, four, five lunches and I eat, like you know, I watch my protein and prioritize veggies at dinner, I can maintain weight and that's a really cool place to get to. So, yeah, that's, that's the. The shift. Simplify, sustain is what I've called I love that.
Speaker 1:It's so funny, dude, All of these things. We have so much more in common than I thought. It's great, but I do feel like that. I always tend to relate to really great coaches that really emphasize the value they're providing to their clients. They really genuinely give a shit about giving their clients the best results possible and helping them make sustainable change, and it's unfortunate to know that there's so many people that I don't know about you, but I come across a lot on social media that just are either in it for the wrong reasons or spreading misinformation or giving these people this cookie cutter. You know, one trick pony approach to here you go, here's results, but not really setting them up for success in the long term.
Speaker 1:And I do feel like one of the like fastest ways that people are one of the biggest mistakes people make on their journeys is like when they first start, they just go straight into fat loss.
Speaker 1:Like they make that mistake of like I'm just going to cut this out, cut this out, and I'm going to just go run and run and run.
Speaker 1:It's like this endless game of I'm just going to burn more calories, cut more food, burn more calories, cut more food, and it really leads to this really damaging place to sustainability, but also their quality of life, their happiness, and I think that that's one thing that I really like to emphasize is you can actually enjoy this journey if you do it the right way. And I feel like this kind of brings me to my question of like I genuinely don't think everyone's ready for fat loss, especially when they start right. I feel like there is some prerequisites in a sense, and so is there anyone that comes to mind, or any like demographic or not demographic, but what's the word? I'm looking for A type of person or a person with X behaviors that you find is not ready for fat loss, and a person that is ready? Or my question is who is not ready for fat loss and who is someone? What things need to be in place before someone is ready for fat loss?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, and like you said earlier, it is really simple. I feel like if people follow my page, I say the same damn things over and over and over. I used to have a module in my program for clients that said earn your diet and it and what it was is you have no business trying to cut calories If you have not bare minimum established a steady weight training routine, started eating more protein and increase your step count. And this is kind of like just like right before, because Because you literally like and I know for us it's like and I struggle with this Because like, it is so clear to me From my perspective to see this and I forget how Like blind people are to this but you aren't starting back over at square one. If you lose weight and gain it back, you are digging yourself into a deep hole because you're losing muscle. Without those habits online and I throw in with that also sleep, because we also see sleep restriction impairs the ratio of fat and muscle you lose too. You are not getting back to square one. You're losing muscle on the way down and then gaining it back as fat when you gain it back up, and like if we zoom out across your entire life, switching from this scale focus and this fat loss focus to a accumulate as much muscle as possible focus is so much better all around because of, like you just said, it's more energy, it's more flexibility, because you start burning more calories in your sleep. It is, you know, you look better. It's such a no brainer to me. But those are like the main things that I like, june Like, and the thing is, like you know, I know we say like not ready for fat loss, you can still lose fat, like if you maintain your weight and you're new to resistance training and I think people get confused when I say resist If you're new to lifting weights and eating protein and taking care of yourself, you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time without ever trying to cut calories super low. And I always tell people you could do that for a year and be so far. I think of it. I always say it's like kind of pulling a slingshot back when you're building muscle and putting the reps in with strength training and protein and the scale isn't moving because later on you fast forward a year. Your metabolic rate is higher. Your metabolic rate is also higher. Your total daily calorie burn is also higher because the habits that are that you're going to do along the way, with those increase in steps and the weight training, are just going to lead to better mood, better energy. So you're going to move more in your day anyways, your habits are going to be different. And then you get to this place where it's like, okay, now, later on, we get you know like let's, let's juice it for all we got, while your weight stable, and like get as much muscle gain and fat loss as we can at the same weight drop inches, still look better, feel better. Then, yeah, down the line, if we want to let go of that slingshot and go into a dedicated weight loss phase, it's going to be so much better all around. So those are the main habits I would say.
Speaker 2:I'd say demographic-wise or mindset-wise what are you doing it for? Whose goals are they? Are they actually your goals? How do they align with your values? Because I promise you, if it's about looking good in a swimsuit for people other than yourself on a holiday, you're going to get there and it's going to fall apart because it's not going to do what you wanted it to do. And so, if we can tie your goals, to your values. You can live by your values today instead of getting to some place in the future where you think everything's going to be fixed.
Speaker 2:And I actually said this in one of my client trainings. I said you don't believe me, go do it and you're going to find out it doesn't. And then you're going to come back around. And I think, honestly, that was part of my journey, like, personally, I had to do that. Maybe didn't have to, but that was it and I realized that.
Speaker 2:But really really ask yourself what you want, because I yourself, what you want because I personally believe that everyone is doing it some way, shape or form to be more present in their relationships, in their everyday life, in whatever they do.
Speaker 2:And so if we're rushing to fat loss and hating the process, you're literally just beating, beating the shit out of yourself. I don't know if you're cool with cussing on the five, you're just beating yourself up to do something that you're hoping is going to get you more peace of mind in your day. Anyways, in some way, shape or form. So you know. And then that that brings me always to like the spiritual side and all that good stuff. But yeah, those are the things like really really consider, like whose goals are they and why are you doing them? Because if you, if you drill down from that surface level stuff and consider that it's like I want to be a good role model for my children, you can. You can live as that today instead of rushing to some outcome and, like you said, it can be so energizing and so much better and enjoyable if you, if you do it a different way Literal home run.
Speaker 1:The man just hit a home run with that one. That was beautiful. I couldn't agree more, man, and I think I love how you went from like the actionability, the baseline of like the actual behavior I mean the habits and then it really came down to again that deeper stuff that a lot of people don't really consider and I think that is absolutely essential. And I think one of my favorite things to do with clients is or like potential clients is like on phone calls is not just like oh, what are your goals? Okay, but like why? And then they'll say oh, like, oh, I just like you know we want to feel better, okay, why, like I want to look better so I can. Okay, now we have I asked why, like, sometimes three to five times on the same question, so I can really get deeper and really understand that like okay, what's the root cause of this Like for myself, very relatable when I got to college I wanted to get in great shape. It was like, yeah, so maybe I can attract some more females, maybe I can get more attention, but really that was only feeding my ego. Little did I know that this was going to lead me to some some orthorhexic like spiral of like me, me optimal chasing, and then from there, backing off, I realized, oh damn, that was not even me. What was I doing there? And now I've been able to create more balance and being able to. I just want to feel my best.
Speaker 1:I literally told the client today. I said I literally want to be the person that can use the restroom on his own until the day he dies. I don't want to have to have help. That's what drives me. I want to be an amazing example for my children. I want to look and feel my absolute best so I can have the energy and be able to do these things on a daily basis for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1:And so 100% agree with you on that. And speaking of home runs, you had a quote and you had a tweet or a thread the other day that I was like, too, this is like one liner that really hit home for me and like I definitely feel like a lot of people get some value from it, and it was if your diet has an end date, your results will too, and I would love to kind of hear kind of what sparked that for you, but also like maybe some elaboration on it, because I think, I think that is is like one of the most important things for people to understand is that this is not a destination. This is all about the journey itself yeah, yeah, man, yeah, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:So I think I was writing a longer thread and it was like the fourth tweet or the fourth slide down and I was making a point and it just came out and I was like, oh, I'm throwing that out by itself. I really like that. It's so weird because, like, if you go into like creation mode for those like heavy hitters, like the short ones, you can't force that, it always comes, you know, and then you're like wow, like I've always known that, but I've never been able to put that into words. So, first and foremost, I want to highlight the and I might butcher this a little bit, but I think I can get the point across the word diet originates, as I believe it comes like the Greek very origin. I'm not super good about speaking correctly about this, but I think it originates as a way of life. Literally, the word diet originates as way of life or way of eating maybe I don't know, just because I threw diet in there, like a lot of people you know, diet culture, or like, because people associate diet with eating 1200 calories, and it's like, first and foremost, your diet, everyone has a diet, everyone has a diet. Like you have a diet, and so I mean most basic level.
Speaker 2:I think 90% of people are in this mode where they are so focused on a specific plan that gets them, like I said earlier, to this set it and forget it, land where everything is perfect, and that is just couldn't be farther from the truth. It's not a thing. So if you're planning on doing it and then something else, you're already setting yourself up to fail. Now, one thing I will say a little bit of nuance, it depends right Is, let's say, you're tracking your calories to lose weight.
Speaker 2:The thing I want to highlight there is like, yeah, the amount of restriction it takes to get to your goal is not necessarily the same. Like after we get to your goal. We want to eat as many calories as possible while maintaining that goal, but we want to be eating the same types of foods after. So it's like the amount you're eating might change while your goals change, but what makes up that amount should be the thing you're focused on, without an end date, so making the change. I really feel like so many people's frustrations and self-sabotage and these cycles of just beating themselves up could be solved by just taking the pressure off Instead of doing it for that wedding that you're going to see high school friends at, or whatever. It is what's best for you five years from now instead of five weeks from now, because that will just change your entire perspective. But yeah, that's. That's kind of the backstory of that one 100% man, and couldn't agree more, I think.
Speaker 1:I think my my favorite thing to clients to tell them is just zoom out, just freaking zoom out. Like, why are you so you're so narrowly focused on this thing? I'm like okay, are you only going to be here for the next three months on the planet? Or like is that, is that it and all you know? It's like no, you're going to be here for another 30, 40, 50, 60 years. You know it's like why? Why put a restriction on it? Like I get it.
Speaker 1:You want to look amazing for your wedding, but like why don't we plan to? Like look amazing like six months after and the three years after while you're a mom, and then you know what I mean. So I think I couldn't agree more with just like being able to zoom out and look at the bigger picture of like okay, what do I want 10 years from now? My favorite quote from that is like if you can't do it for a decade, don't do it for a day, and I think that one, that one, really is like one of my favorite quotes.
Speaker 1:When my friend Jared actually said that to me once, I was like that's deep. But man, I do want to say this has been freaking amazing, dude. I think so many people will get a ton of value from this, and one of the traditions I have that I started recently on my podcast, especially when I interview coaches and minds like yourself. I like to ask one question that is like the TNT question. Ask one question that is like the TNT question, and it's if you could only teach your clients one skill or habit that would have the single greatest impact on health and or quality of life, what would it be?
Speaker 2:Yeah, my mind's going like so many different categories. It's a tough one, yeah, and I want to like give four, but think I I have to just go with with basic strength training. I have to because that is like if if there's only one thing you could do when it comes to the x's and o's, right, when it comes to the x's and o's of nutrition or exercise, I would say literally just getting two days a week of strength training in whether you're getting on machines or lifting kettlebells at home or using resistance bands or dumbbells or barbells, I don't care Literally just getting consistent with that long-term will get you that muscle and get you so much wiggle room with everything else. So when it comes to X's and O's, that's always my number one, I think.
Speaker 1:I would 100% agree and I also think it's like working on itself is such a fantastic foundation, like it's one of the least barrier to entry. You can modify exercise lifting weights to anyone like I literally have 80 year old clients that I work with that can actually go to the gym and pick up a five pound dumbbell and do some exercises, and also people extremely young to the gym and pick up a five pound dumbbell and do some exercises, and also people extremely young, you know. So it's modifiable and I really think it's a foundation for everything else. Like once you get that habit and routine in place, then it's like oh. Then you're kind of like, oh, this is kind of cool, like what's next? So I love that answer, man.
Speaker 1:So lastly, I want to know where can people find you and do you have anything cool coming up? I know, actually, I will say I do know I'm aware that recently you kind of changed up a little your demographic, right, I know we both had a very similar career-driven individuals, busy professionals per se it's kind of broad, but also probably the people that need the help the most. But I know you kind of changed that recently. So I would love to hear a little bit about that kind of what you have to offer for those people, and then also let us know where we can find you, where people connect with you moving forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so you can find me on Instagram If you search Brooks Coleman or the Brooks Coleman. Everything is linked from there. Yeah, shifts recently. So it used to be similar and then naturally kind of like the algorithm did its thing and we started working with primarily women. But really, what's been most rewarding for us is this mindset shift away from the scale obsession and the calorie, the super low calories and this endless cycle that we really just talked about.
Speaker 2:So we've shifted to really embracing that ditch the scale, ditch the chronic dieting, ditch the restriction and embrace more instead of less. So really focusing on people that want to change their body shape and then have that body weight be a secondary thing to that, so that we can contribute to your quality of life, your energy, your vitality, your day-to-day life enjoyment. So with that, I actually am opening up all previous client trainings and in a new course inside the platform called School. So the group is called Stop Dieting, start Living, which I am really excited about the name. But really women that want to just strength training, start eating more protein, start doing these things for life instead of a short-term thing. You know men, men are welcome as well. You know it's it's principles over methods, so it'll still apply if you're interested.
Speaker 1:Amazing man. I'm super excited and if you're listening to this, can you do me a huge favor. Can you go follow Brooks Coleman on Instagram, send him a message, told him that you found him on the podcast. Just say thank you, because I know you already got a ton of value from this. But aside from that, man, thank you again so much. This has been an absolute pleasure and I just want to say I'm excited to connect with you more in the future and, uh, leave in san diego in a few weeks. Are you going to caleb's event? I will be able to make it. No, I was going to say I actually might be going, alright, man. Well, thank you again. Any last words?
Speaker 2:I'll say the motto in the group is F the scale, so F the scale. If you're out there, you're scale obsessed. Embrace muscle, embrace body shape over body weight. That's what I'd leave you with Love.
