Project Silverback Coaching

There are so many really cheap and really easy elements of a diet completely ignore.

Introducing the tinned bean.

The level to which these little power houses are slept on is mind blowing.

If you find sticking to a calorie deficit difficult because you feel hungry - beans fill you up faster than anything I know.

If you are struggling to create variety in your diet and eat the same old boring thing over and over - add beans and you get a whole host of diversity.

They go in salads, soups & just about anything that isn’t a dessert.

Stop sleeping on the bean.

The bean is mighty and it could just change your whole relationship with hunger.

Long live the bean.

All hail the bean.

To the bean non is worthy.

One of the best “tricks” I’ve learnt as a Dad that ACTUALLY works is the “DUMMY TAP.”

When I would go out with Alfie on our morning walk in the early weeks of his life there would always end up with a Mexican stand off about 20 minutes from home.

Him screaming his head off & me frantically trying to calm him down concerned that everyone was looking at me thinking “that Dad has no idea what he’s doing.”

Then Kelly Marie Guthery showed me the dummy tap.

Something she learnt as a nurse to get babies to focus in on one thing.

It worked like an absolute dream.

The thing is it’s not really a “trick.”

It’s just a method of honing in on one thing and drowning out the noise of every other distraction.

Anyone can improve their diet in the same way.

Focus on changing one thing to begin with and once you’ve done that consistently without having a day off - add one more element to it.

Not a host of whole sale changes you’re unlikely to stick to.

Just one.

The goal is not how fast can I lose weight with this new approach.

It’s how many days in a row can I do this consistently without breaking the streak.

The more things you’re trying to change the more likely it is you’ll break the streak.

The more gradual & unnoticeable the change the easier it will feel to maintain the streak.

Just because there’s no obvious “bad food” in this bowl doesn’t mean there aren’t a LOT of calories in it. 🥣

This thing is an absolute nutritional weapon.

It’s jam-packed with protein.

Loaded with fibre.

Full of fruit, veg and micronutrients.

It’s filling.

It tastes fu***ng unreal.

It ticks pretty much every box in the “how to build a diet for fat loss” playbook.

It’s also around 800 calories.

And those two things can exist at the same time.

“Healthy” doesn’t automatically mean “low calorie.”

Just like “high calorie” doesn’t automatically mean “unhealthy.”

That distinction matters.

Because when it comes to losing body fat, your body doesn’t give you bonus points because the calories came from avocado, cheese, nuts, olive oil or some beautifully constructed Mexican tuna bowl.

They’re still calories.

Now whether you eat your daily calorie intake across 1 meal, 2 meals, 3 meals or 10 meals isn't the important bit.

It's what you consistently consume across the whole day — and over time — that matters.

We understand this when we're talking about takeaway food.

Pizza.

Burgers.

Chinese.

Fish & chips.

“Careful, the calories can really add up.”

Of course they can.

But the exact same thing can happen with foods carrying a health halo.

A big handful of nuts.

An extra glug of olive oil.

Half an avocado.

Some cheese.

A spoonful of peanut butter.

A smoothie.

Granola.

All individually decent foods.

Stack enough of them together and you can very easily build a calorie surplus while genuinely believing you're eating perfectly for fat loss.

That's why food QUALITY and food QUANTITY are two different conversations.

For health, performance, hunger and recovery?

Quality matters enormously.

For whether your weight trends up or down?

Total energy intake still gets the deciding vote.

This bowl is a perfect example.

I'd choose it over most takeaways every day of the week.

But if my calorie target doesn't have room for 800 calories...

It doesn't magically become 400 because I made it myself. 😂

Life is VERY repetitive right now.

5am — Daddy Day Care shift begins. 😂

Entertain Junior.

Feed Junior.

Change Junior.

Console Junior.

Get Junior to sleep.

Cuddle Junior.

Repeat until reinforcements arrive.

Wife gets up around lunchtime and then we co-parent our way through more feeds, more changes and several rounds of:

“What do you think the problem is THIS time?” 😂

And it’s made me realise something about fat loss.

I don't think fat loss necessarily gets harder because you get older.

Life gets harder to manage.

You have more decisions to make with less time to make them.

Work.

Kids.

Bills.

Appointments.

Relationships.

Problems you knew were coming.

Problems that appear from absolutely fu***ng nowhere.

Every one of them takes a little bit out of the battery.

And eventually you're standing in the kitchen at 7pm with absolutely no interest in making another decision.

That's when convenience usually wins.

So I've started removing decisions altogether.

At the minute I've basically got three meals on rotation:

Lean mince & sweet potato wraps.

Mexican tuna bowls.

Greek yoghurt, protein powder, berries & dark chocolate.

The first two I prep in advance.

The last one I can make in under two minutes with my eyes closed.

It's boring.

And that's precisely why it works.

Because if Junior decides today is a purple-faced, red-rage, vocal-cord-jangling screamathon...

I don't need motivation.

I don't need willpower.

I don't need to stand staring into the fridge wondering what to eat.

The decision has already been made.

I've got takeaway-tasting food sitting there ready to go.

We massively underestimate how powerful that is.

A good fat-loss plan shouldn't require you to make brilliant decisions all day.

It should remove as many decisions as possible.

Same breakfast.

Few reliable meals.

Training booked into the diary.

Shopping list saved.

Steps built into your routine.

Make the right thing the easiest thing.

"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" might be one of the most overused sayings on the planet.

Unfortunately, it's also fu***ng true.

And at some point you have to stop blaming the circumstances you actively participated in creating.

Life isn't suddenly going to become conveniently empty for you.

Simplify it until doing the right thing requires less thought.

That's when consistency gets a hell of a lot easier.

Big shout out to Hayley Stinchon who just finished the 20th July Summer Shred Challenge.

3 weeks worth of progress absolutely torched body fat from her body 🔥🔥🔥

7.5 inches from key areas of fat depository that most women cannot manage to budge 💪🏻

Next challenge is on the 17th August 📆

Comment “challenge” below for more details

About a year ago I'd have done anything
to have the problems I've got today.

8 new clients through the door would have been an achievement over a few months not 10 days.

Having an advert that's working almost too well.

The lowest lead costs we've ever had.

New clients joining every single
month.

The best results we've ever
delivered.

More testimonials than ever before.

Clients referring their husbands,
wives, friends, colleagues and even
other members of their own family.

It's an amazing position to be in...

..but it's also shown me
something.

Every level brings a different
challenge.

A year ago I was obsessed with
getting people through the door.

Now I'm obsessed with making sure
every single person gets an even
better experience than the last.

That has meant hiring a software
engineer.

Bringing in a VA.

Growing the coaching team.

Building better systems.

And honestly...

It still feels like there's another
problem waiting around every
corner.

It reminds me so much of fat loss.

People think they'll reach a point
where everything becomes easy.

It doesn't.

The challenges just change.

In your first month you're learning
how to track your food.

A few months later you're learning
how to stay consistent through
holidays, birthdays and stressful
weeks.

The person you become has to keep
evolving.

Business is exactly the same.

There isn't a finish line.

Just another opportunity to get a
little bit better than you were
yesterday.

Looking back, I'm incredibly grateful
for how far Project Silverback has
come.

Now it's time to earn the next
chapter.

One photo.

A million things you don't see.

❤️

You see sunshine.

A beautiful day.

A smiling family.

A sleepy little lad who looks like butter wouldn't melt.

What you don't see is...

The broken sleep.

The routines we've had to completely rebuild.

Wondering what day it is.

Trying to fit work around feeds.

Trying to fit training around naps.

Wondering if we'll ever have a full night's sleep again.

🤣

Becoming parents has been the biggest change we've ever experienced.

Nothing prepares you for it.

Not the books.

Not people's advice.

Not even nine months to get your head around it.

One day it's just the two of you.

The next...

Everything changes.

And honestly...

I wouldn't change it for the world.

It's hard.

It's relentless.

It's chaotic.

But every little smile.

Every tiny milestone.

Every walk out like this...

Reminds you exactly why it's all worth it.

One thing I've noticed is that you adapt far quicker than you think you will.

A few months ago I couldn't imagine life looking like this.

Now I can't imagine it any other way.

We're still learning.

We're definitely still tired.

😂

But we're making memories already.

And I have a feeling this little lad is going to have some incredible adventures growing up in the Lake District.

❤️

Three years ago I started Project Silverback from my attic room in my first house I could barely afford to buy.

This September…

I’m asking up to 25 complete strangers to meet me in Keswick so we can climb three Wainwrights together.

😂

When we moved to the Lake District, this was always part of the dream.

Not just helping people lose body fat online…

…but eventually bringing everyone together in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

The problem is…

I’ve never organised anything like this before.

So over the last week I’ve gone from being an online coach…

…to an amateur event organiser.

🤣

My to-do list currently includes…

🦍 Finding a boat that can take 25 hikers.

🦍 Figuring out whether four of my mum’s homemade sourdough loaves will actually feed everyone.

🦍 Designing lanyards.

🦍 Ordering commemorative pin badges.

🦍 Finding a pub that won’t have a heart attack when 25 sweaty hikers walk through the door wanting food.

🦍 Working out whether Catbells, Maiden Moor and High Spy are realistic in one day as a group.

I’ve even been using ChatGPT to help me pressure-test the route, timings and logistics.

It’s become a proper little project.

Will it all go perfectly?

Probably not.

There’s a reason my wife still reminds me about the time I reversed a hire car into another parked car in Croatia…

…from a standing start…

…with the rental company stood there watching.

🤣

But I also know this…

If we pull this off…

It won’t just be a hike.

It’ll be the first ever Project Silverback Summit.

The first of what I hope becomes an annual tradition.

A chance for people who’ve supported each other through a phone screen to finally shake hands, climb a mountain together, share a sandwich, have a pint afterwards and create some proper memories.

That, to me, is what community is all about.

If you’ve organised events like this before…

Or you’ve got any advice that might stop me making an absolute tit of myself…

Please let me know in the comments.

I genuinely want this to be something special. 🦍

People often ask me…

“What makes you different from every other online coach?”

It’s not because I’m smarter.

It’s not because I’ve discovered some secret nobody else knows.

It’s because I’ve spent years collecting evidence instead of opinions.

Over the last 12 months alone I’ve walked…

🦍 4.5 million steps.

🦍 2,224 miles.

🦍 An average of 12,500 steps every single day.

Most of those miles weren’t in the most picturesque part of the Lake District.

They weren’t on holiday.

They weren’t through amazing back drops with sunsets in the background.

They were around exactly the same loop…

Past the Esso garage.

Through Penrith town centre.

Round the back of Sainsbury’s.

Across the motorway.

Sometimes I’d convince myself I needed to buy something from Sainsbury’s…

…when really I’d just spent 40 minutes thinking about concocting a ridiculous breakfast most people wouldn’t even think to make.

😂

It sounds boring.

Because it is.

But that’s exactly what getting results looks like.

The same habits.

The same walks.

The same decisions.

Repeated over and over again.

The walking is only one example.

Over the last few years I’ve also reviewed more than 20,000 client check-ins.

I’ve watched people succeed.

I’ve watched people fail.

I’ve watched the same excuses appear hundreds of times.

I’ve watched the same habits create incredible transformations.

That repetition teaches you things a textbook never will.

People think coaching is about motivation.

It isn’t.

It’s about pattern recognition.

Knowing what’s likely to happen before it happens…

…and helping someone change direction before they disappear.

That’s what experience buys you.

Not perfection.

Just fewer surprises.

Matt 🦍

P.S. Before anyone asks…

Yes …

I still ended up buying the unnecessary breakfast …

Yes …

It was better than you’re imagining right now

No …

You cannot come round next time - I do not share food 🤣🖕

114 recommendations.

For a 10-day shred challenge.

Honestly…

That blows my mind.

(Swipe through a few of them 👇)

Three years ago I had an idea.

Instead of asking people to trust me…

I’d earn it.

No long sales calls.

No pressure.

No “buy now before midnight.”

Just come and experience what coaching with us is actually like.

If we can help you in 10 days…

You’ll probably want to stay.

If we can’t…

At least you’ve learned something and got a kick-start.

Simple.

Every single person who joins our coaching programme comes through that challenge first.

It’s a trial for you…

…but it’s also a trial for us.

I’m just as interested in whether we’re a good fit for each other as you are.

Believe it or not, there are three things I want to know before someone joins Project Silverback.

✅ Are they a decent person?

✅ Could I happily have a pint with them?

✅ Can they take honest feedback without taking it personally?

Because if the answer is yes…

The coaching usually works brilliantly.

We currently coach 57 amazing members.

We’ve got around another 40 smashing the challenge right now.

And another intake waiting to start.

Every single one of them started in exactly the same place.

With this 10-day challenge.

To everyone who’s left a recommendation…

Thank you.

It genuinely means more than you probably realise.

And if you’ve ever wondered what Project Silverback is all about…

I think these reviews explain it far better than I ever could.

Matt 🦍