How one pH.7 client completely overhauled her diet with little effort and big results

Are you busy Googling ‘paleo vs keto’, or ‘best detox plan’? Have you promised yourself you’ll sign up for Weight Watchers (again), once the Christmas chocolates are all gone?

There is a better way to start this new decade – one that doesn’t involve starvation and other forms of punishment. Here pH.7 client Jenni tells how our nutrition coaching powered by Precision Nutrition's Pro Coach has completely changed her eating habits and why she won’t be starting 2020 with a New Year detox.

You started the year-long Pro Coach programme back in June 2018. Why are you only outing yourself as a success story now, six months after finishing?

My results have continued improving since I came off the programme! I’ve dropped two dress sizes now, and there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t marvel at how much I’ve changed.

Normally at this time of year I’d be doing some sort of detox. At the beginning of 2017 I did Dr Mark Hyman’s plan, and in 2018 I did Whole 30.

I felt great on both, had no problem sticking to them because I had that New Year momentum – the problem came when the diets finished. I retaliated, in effect, and started eating worse than I ever had before. Every meal was like the “Last Chance Saloon” where I’d stuff my face while I could, because I knew I was going to have to start dieting again. When I noticed I’d begun eating in secret, I was horrified. I finally accepted that slightly unbelievable truth: that diets actually make you put weight on.

With my doctor complaining that my cholesterol had shot through the roof, I knew I had to make some sort of permanent change. James was well aware of my disenchantment with Slimming World, which I’d joined after becoming a mother, and began suggesting I signed up to Pro Coach instead. I eventually gave in and took it and, as he promised, it is one of the best things I’ve ever done.

So what’s different now?

So many things…. I’m just back from Christmas in Australia and normally I would have bought chocolate at the airport to help me “survive” the flight and this year it didn’t even occur to me to buy it.

I’m drinking less. I’m exercising more. I no longer eat when I’m bored. My only New Year’s resolution is to spend less at Gail’s!

In fact, although I still have weight to lose, I’m completely relaxed about it – because it’s steadily coming off with very little effort, in a way that feels natural and doable.

Have you had to change what you eat?

Inevitably a bit. But I didn’t have to avoid or ban anything. We still have waffles, bacon and maple syrup for breakfast at home every Sunday. Pasta’s once a week or so, rather than most nights.

The significant change isn’t even my portion sizes – it’s the proportions of what I put on the plate. I’ve always had a fairly long-distance relationship with protein and now when I start planning a meal without it, I stop, rethink and get that right.

How did you find doing the programme?

The format’s great: there’s a lesson to do at your convenience online every day – you can read it or listen to it and it takes 10–20 minutes. But there’s not actually new stuff to learn and implement every day – the programme’s cleverly structured so that you’re exploring and implementing one new habit every two weeks, which helps it all sink in.

You liaise with your coach online too, but the bonus in having the coaching through pH.7 rather than simply online is discussing it in person with your coach during training sessions.

The whole point of Pro Coach is to slowly improve and refine your habits, to stop making extreme efforts that flop within a few weeks, and to only add new things when you’re ready.

There were a few stages, though, when I made noticeable leaps. One was when I got my diet properly supplemented according to various test results and, among other things, found my chocolate and sugar cravings massively diminished. Another was when I upped the number of yoga classes I did each week, which helped reduce stress levels further, so I didn’t stress-eat so much.

James would also tell you that I’ve had a big change in mindset but there wasn’t a particular moment when that happened. Because the programme is proper coaching, it’s working to improve your mindset all the time.

And what’s next for you?

Well you won’t be seeing me in Gail’s till February! But other than that it’s simply getting back to my New Normal after the holidays – that is the beauty of the programme, really. Although I’ve finished the course, I’ll probably be doing PN habits, continually improving, for the rest of my life.

If you'd like to find out more about nutrition coaching at pH.7 please email us at info@ph7gym.co.uk for more details.