“I began working with Teddy in January 2023 and it is easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself. Working with Teddy has completely changed my life and having him there coaching, guiding and teaching me along the way has been nothing short of a blessing.
Prior to Teddy, I spent many years gaining and losing weight. I tried different diets, different gyms, different workouts but nothing seemed to stick and the end result was always the same: my weight would yoyo and I remained insecure, unhappy with how I looked and didn’t have the “push” I needed to finally make a change.
When I started working with Teddy, I didn’t know what to expect, how long things would take or where I would end up. The first thing we did was cut. I weighed in at 190.6 and about 38.6% BF. Weight loss was the focus. Being around the heaviest I’d ever been, I went into dieting HARD. I restricted myself entirely. I didn’t allow myself to eat certain foods, skip workouts, miss step/water goals or leave a box “unchecked”. I followed my plan almost perfectly day after day, week after week, month after month. There were times I even brought my own food to family events. Other times I went out to eat with friends / family and watched everyone eat. During this time, I began to slowly develop a fear of food, weight gain and eating out. The thought of going “off plan” stressed me out. I became obsessed with the scale and seeing my weight drop and I did everything in my power to ensure I saw loss just about every week. All of this created a lot of stress, anger, resentment and unhappiness for me. I was living as though there was an “end” to the plan, not a lifestyle change. Knowing what I know now, I should’ve focused on trying to follow a more flexible dieting approach (like the one Teddy encourages) and not the unsustainable lifestyle I allowed myself to live.
Once I lost about 25-30 lbs, I began receiving a ton of compliments and encouragement from friends and family on how great I looked, how well I’d done, how disciplined I appeared, etc. All of the sweet comments made me really happy and it felt really good knowing all my hard work was finally showing. Although I had my struggles, really good days and really bad days, I knew I wanted to continue. I knew what I wanted and I was determined to get it.
Despite how I was feeling, I continued to push through and in Fall 2023, we started reversing me up to maintenance calories. It was during this time that I gained more flexibility with my plan due to having more calories, but I was still stuck in in the “weight loss” mentality and continued to struggle. I would get excited to see my weight drop even though I knew that wasn’t the plan or phase I was going into.
It was also during this time that I began to express my issues to Teddy. I shared how I was feeling and he was immediately very receptive, supportive and kind. He worked with me to try to figure out what was causing me to feel the way I was feeling. We tried different things over time but unfortunately, nothing seemed to be working. I was obsessed with perfection and checking all my boxes and continued to go through that mental cycle. I developed an unhealthy relationship with food. I felt stuck and restricted and this created a “jail” feeling and I felt like I couldn’t get out. I developed a strong resentment for tracking and my plan.
When I was finally at a maintenance, I knew it was time to share with Teddy that I wanted a break from tracking everything as a next step (calories, macros, steps and water). I was longing for freedom and I knew I had to take the time to disconnect. Teddy was extremely receptive of what I needed and continued to work with me during my break. He created a fuel plan for me to use as a guide, checked in with me and made me feel extremely comfortable and supported in my decision. It was during my break that I learned a lot about myself, what I needed, and what was bothering me and I knew all along that I wanted to get back to it someday with a clear mind and a clear heart.
Fast forward almost 2 months, I am 100% back on plan and tracking (after a slow transition back on), working to build muscle and focusing on my next phase and goals. I am sitting at 2,350 daily calories and 147.2 BW and 19.29% BF. I have a much healthier relationship with food, flexibility and giving myself the grace I deserve to not have to be “perfect” 100% of the time. I feel refreshed and excited for whats ahead working with Teddy who continues to support, push, guide and encourage me along the way.
After one year of being on this ride, my advice to anyone starting their fitness journey would be to just start. It will never be the perfect time. On the days you feel like giving up, remember why you started. Focus on your goal and put in the work to get there. Always remember you can do hard things. Give yourself grace along the way and remember consistency is the goal, not perfection.”