First, let’s look at the Moxie Fitness & Nutrition Coaching process itself, which, in essence, is:

“Assess, guess, try, measure, repeat.”

 

In other words, much of my work is about collaborating with my client to:

1. Understand their goals and situation.

2. Come up with ideas to move them forward.

3. Try something.

4. See what happens.

5. Decide what to do next based on what happened.

 

More specifically, we use 6 steps:

• Step 1: Assessment

What information can I immediately learn about my client?

• Step 2: Understanding

Who is my client as a person, and what is their life like?

• Step 3: Action Planning

What are all the potential paths forward towards the goal?

• Step 4: Choosing What to Do Next

What exactly will we do next?

• Step 5: Testing and Monitoring

What does the data say is happening? Are actions being accomplished?

• Step 6: Evaluating and Outcome-Based Decision Making

Are we getting the results we seek? Why / why not? Is there something we could do differently or better?

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HIGH-IMPACT FUNDAMENTALS

At Moxie Fitness & Nutrition, we focus on what we like to call “High-Impact Fundamentals”. These are everyday skills that, if learned and practiced consistently, will make a significant difference to nearly all clients’ results.

 

Whenever you set out to improve your skills, change your behavior, or better your life, beginning in small, manageable steps gives you a greater chance of long-term success. Remember, you do not have to make big changes all at once.

 

A tiny change adhered to consistently will be just as effective, if not more so, than a large one only practiced half-heartedly.

 

Doing too much too fast not only overwhelms you, but it can also doom the effort to failure – thereby reinforcing the belief that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to succeed. When you start with small, achievable steps you can easily master, it reinforces your belief that you can easily improve.

 

Each of us needs to find something that works for us, but that thing needs to be sustainable for a lifetime. Moxie Fitness & Nutrition Coaching focuses on building sustainable fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle habits that can be your foundation for taking control of your fitness year-round.

 

STOP MOWING THE LAWN WHILE THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE.

Most people do not need (and cannot do) complexity (i.e., attempting advanced strategies like "keto", intermittent fasting, etc. when they are still drinking alcohol almost every night and / or not getting protein and veggies with most meals, and / or eating too many processed foods or not eating enough whole, unprocessed foods, and / or not prioritizing sleep, and / or not exercising enough / consistently, etc. They need help with the absolute basics of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

 

Most people need strategies that are realistic, simple, and fit with their everyday lives as “imperfect” human beings. So, at Moxie Fitness & Nutrition, we do not believe in creating a bunch of strict rules. We are going to build a solid foundation by focusing on fundamentals. Mastering the basics and doing them consistently is almost always enough for optimal fitness, health, body composition, performance, and life balance.

 

FROM GOAL TO SKILL TO PRACTICE TO ACTION

No matter what your Outcome Goals are (what you want to accomplish), or what kind of coaching plan we create together, think about it in terms of:

• What skills you need to learn, maintain, or improve to move towards that goal,

• What practices will build that skill, and

• What kind of small, regular actions support the practice(s).

 

THE FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS YOU WILL BE LEARNING AND PRACTICING DURING OUR TIME TOGETHER:

1. Eat Enough Nutrients - Daily habits and practices that focus on the quantity of what you are eating and drinking (i.e., eating enough protein, veggies, and fruit, and hydrating properly, etc.)

2. Choose Better Foods - Daily habits and practices that focus on the quality of what you are eating (i.e., establishing a criteria for "better", eating mostly whole, minimally processed foods, etc.)

3. Move Often - Daily and weekly habits and practices that focus on more external regulation factors of maintaining a consistent movement routine: i.e., systems, scheduling, and structure (i.e., creating and maintaining minimums, supporting your movement routine, increasing overall time spent moving in daily life, etc.)

4. Get Enough Deep Sleep - Daily habits that focus on improving sleep quality OR amount of sleep - You choose! (i.e., improving your sleep environment, creating and using a sleep ritual, setting sleep targets and planning bedtimes, etc.) 

5. Feed Your Mind - To help you understand habits and why the practices are valuable, to create awareness around your thoughts and behaviors, and to help you foster a positive mindset, I will provide regular "Feed Your Mind" material to read or listen to.

 

These habits and tasks build the essential skills that all clients need to sustain good health, a lean and strong body, and athletic performance for life.

 

You will find resources for all of the skills, practices, and daily actions (or habits) on the Fundamentals page of the Moxie Members Only site.

 

THE REINFORCING CONNECTION BETWEEN POSITIVE HABITS

Many of the habits and practices that will be presented have a direct positive effect on our ability to carry out the other habits. For example:

• There is a clear connection between the food you eat and your desire to exercise.

• Healthy nourishing foods provide you with more energy and also improve your mood, which in turn increases your desire to exercise.

• Consequently, when you exercise you will have more physical and mental energy which often equates to more willpower to resist temptations.

• Exercise and daily activity also reduce stress which makes you less likely to comfort eat – and in this way the positive cycle continues.

• Regular exercise also greatly enhances the quality of your sleep which, in turn, positively affects your energy levels, motivation, mood, and your level of willpower.

• The improved energy levels and mood we obtain from implementing these “physical body habits” also helps us to overcome the resistance that might arise around building new habits in the other areas of our lives…. You get the idea.

 

WHAT IS GOOD NUTRITION?

If you asked 100 different people what “good nutrition” or “healthy eating” means, you'd likely get 100 different answers. Some think good nutrition means eating fewer sugary desserts. Others think it means eating more fruits and vegetables. Others think it means eating less meat or fewer carbs. Sure, all of these are simple and easy to remember. Yet all of them are incomplete.

 

At Moxie Fitness & Nutrition, we measure the “goodness” of a nutrition plan differently. We ask one simple question – a question that you should be asking yourself right now: “What do I hope to accomplish with my nutrition plan?”
 

In fact, not only should you ask this question now, but you should also revisit it every few months, just to be sure you’re remaining true to your goals. Hopefully you remember that whole “matching goals and behaviors” discussion from the blog post “10 Moxie Fitness & Nutrition Success Tips”.

 

At Moxie, we believe all good nutrition programs must accomplish four things simultaneously:

1. Improve your body composition.

2. Improve your health.

3. Improve your performance (inside and outside the gym)

4. Be sustainable year-round.

For more information, please read my recent blog post: “What is Good Nutrition?”

 

BEYOND THE NUTRITION

…But Moxie Fitness & Nutrition goes far beyond the food. The practice of good nutrition has a lot more to do with action than it has to do with knowledge. You can know exactly what, how much, and when to eat to drop body fat, build muscle, and lower your cholesterol or control your blood sugars, but you will still fall short of your goals if you don't actually do / eat those things consistently.

 

Until you realize that inactivity and inconsistency are your biggest hurdles to change you cannot move on.

 

One of the main lessons is this: Eating better isn't about what you know. And it's not about what you do occasionally. Real results come when you find strategies for making great eating decisions consistently and reliably.

 

Another key lesson: You may find that a lot of the information presented seems familiar. You may have heard some of it before. And, at times, you may think, “I already know this stuff.” If that's the case, remember the point above: Knowing isn't enough. If you still have improvements to make, it's time to build strategies for applying what you know.

 

Finally, keep it simple. Start with the foundational strategies presented, even if you've practiced some of them in the past. In essence, your goal should be to master the basics. Yes, some will feel easy. Spend the time to master them anyway. It's only when you've nailed the primary stuff that the high-level stuff becomes useful.

 

HOW IT WORKS...

The emphasis will be on moving from

• Outcome Goals – Goals focused on the end the results you seek (i.e., complete a 5k race)

• To Process Goals – Skills, Practices, and Daily Tasks (i.e., small, repeated behaviors) that are pursued to reach an outcome (i.e., Jog for 30 minutes 3 days per week and attend 2 personal training sessions per week)

 

A very small task, done consistently, will help you feel increasingly successful, confident, and empowered. As you build small achievement on small achievement, and solve little problem after little problem, you’ll learn crucial skills. You’ll be repeatedly confronted with evidence that:

1. You can make different, and better choices in your daily life; and

2. Those choices are directly connected to real and rewarding consequences.

 

THE BEST PART IS… LITERALLY ANYONE CAN DO IT!!

I choose the Skills, Practices, and Daily Tasks... YOU choose your Daily Targets!

 

This can best be explained by sharing an idea. When I’m working with a 1-on-1 Nutrition Coaching client, instead of making someone change their entire way of eating and (maybe even living) from one day to the next, it helps smooth things out a little bit for them by starting small and / or slow.

 

Let's say Mrs. Jones doesn't eat vegetables at all. Well, maybe I’ll have her start with just two servings a day. After all, two is better than none. And then I’ll go through all the habits and tasks and use a similar approach. This allows me to take this person from old habits to new ones without scaring them off. In my experience, unless I’ve got a very committed person, this way is easier and much more sustainable. 

 

If your diet is far from optimal right now, if you are not exercising as often as you’d like, if you are slightly overwhelmed by all of this, or if you're the type of person who does better with small, slow change, you would be well served to take the advice above. Here's how:

 

Let's say your Outcome Goal is to lose 15 pounds in 6 months.

• One of the Skills you would need to learn or improve to move towards that goal is to "Eat Enough Nutrients".

• One of the Practices that will build that Skill is to "Eat Enough Protein".

• A small, regular Action that will support that Practice is to set (and hit) a Daily Target, which YOU will choose (i.e., to eat 'X' servings of protein each day).

• Your mission then, instead of focusing on the Outcome Goal (the number on the scale), is to focus on Process Goals – or small, repeated behaviors to reach that outcome (i.e., completing the Daily Task as consistently as possible for the next 4 weeks).

 

Obviously, you'll want to choose a Daily Target that would be challenging for you but that you would realistically be able to do consistently if you really made the commitment.

 

THE MOXIE FITNESS & NUTRITION COACHING PROCESS

 

STEP 1: ASSESSMENT

• You will complete the Updated 2023 New Intake Form (this will take approximately 15 minutes to complete)

• At the start of every month, I will complete your assessment (weight, BMI, body composition, girth measurements, progress photos, etc.) If you have more than 10-15 pounds to lose, we will take bi-weekly measurements.

 

STEP 2: UNDERSTANDING

• You will complete the Deep Health Questionnaire & Assessment (It’s a good idea to complete this every few months).

 

STEP 3: ACTION PLANNING

• You will complete the Moxie Goal Setting form (You will complete this form NOW, and again every 30 days) and choose your Daily Targets for each assigned Task.

 

STEP 4: CHOOSING WHAT TO DO NEXT

• To help you to build consistent and sustainable nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle habits, your mission will be to consistently follow the suggested Skills, Practices, and Daily Tasks and hit your chosen Daily Targets (striving for 90-100% adherence).

• Tracking

  • Daily: You will track your assigned Daily Tasks (i.e., eating ‘X’ servings of protein per day) in the Online Monthly Check-in Spreadsheet which will be provided. To provide accountability and support, I will be monitoring and checking your spreadsheet several times per week (it’s a live Google Sheet so you don’t have to worry about saving it and / or sending it to me).

  • Weekly (or biweekly): We will review together how well and consistently you did your assigned Daily Task(s).

  • Monthly: We will assess overall progress indicators (outcomes and behaviors)

  • Quarterly: We will assess goals and overall strategic direction of the coaching program.

 

STEP 5: TESTING AND MONITORING

This stage is much like Step 1. We’re gathering data again.

• Sample Progress Indicators: Outcomes

I will take your measurements every 4 weeks (weight, BMI, body composition, girth measurements, etc.)

• Sample Progress Indicators: Behaviors

We will review your Monthly Check-in Spreadsheet, focusing on the following:

• How often / consistently did you do the assigned task(s)? (This is the big one!)

• How well did you do the assigned task(s)?

• Did any challenges or questions come up?

• Was there anything that went particularly well?

 

STEP 6: USE OUTCOME-BASED DECISION MAKING

At this stage, using outcome-based decision making (deciding what to do next based on results and data), I will collaborate with you to:

• Review and analyze the data we gathered from Step 5.

• Based on our analysis, assess whether you are moving in the right direction. Are you getting the results you seek?

• Look for trends, patterns, and relationships between things (i.e., every time client does ‘A’ it leads to ‘B’.)

• Choose the next task(s) and / or strategic direction of the coaching program based on the results of the experiment. This can include:

  • Adding a new task / target

  • Changing the original tasks / targets

  • Shrinking the original task(s) / targets so it’s easier or more manageable (if the client struggled with it initially)

  • Making the original task(s) / targets more challenging (if the client found it too easy)

  • Choose a new or adjusted strategic direction (i.e., modifying the bigger picture).