Free Willy Fitness - Chris Whalen CPT B.S. Kinesiology

Responding to client check ins.

This man is looking to turn the heat up soon.

When clients have been consistent and then tell me they want to push their limits, I get very excited.

Think of that Jonah hill gif we all use when texting our friends. That’s me reading a check in like that.

I’m going to set up a call with this client soon to talk more in depth about his goals and really iron out what times he has available and work through some of the financials of the grocery side of the equation to save money in the long run while still keeping a high food intake.

He’s currently in the low 260s. If the goal is 230, that’s 30 lbs.

This is where things get interesting 😈

The difference less than 3 months can make.

And that’s only 12 lbs…

That’s on average less than one pound per week.

And you’re over here freaking out you didn’t lose 3 lbs this week.

Give yourself some credit.

12 lbs can make you look completely different.

1 pound per week can make you completely transform your physique.

You’re not going slow, you’re right on track.

Flashbacks to leaner days…

Although I won’t likely get this lean again any time soon, the goal is to come close.

I have a method I use that never fails when I do it.

1. Control my calories
2. Move more
3. Repeat for weeks at a time

It’s actually simple.

Doesn’t mean it’s easy.

So start one piece at a time.

Just like says with his debt snowball, pay off the smallest debt first.

Except I’ll say start with the easiest piece to achieve first.

Most people find adding movement to be the easiest.

Once you’ve started that piece and done it well, focus on controlling your calories for one meal.

Once you’ve got a meal controlled, add another.

Just like paying off debt, this takes time.

But consistent behavior toward a goal will make it happen.

Still struggling with these even after weeks of trying?

Slide in the DMs.
Online training available.
🐋

“Eating that much protein is impossible” - person that loads up all their meals with way too many carbs.

The reality of current nutrition is that we overeat carbohydrates and fat and under eat protein.

Eating protein has a variety of benefits from increased recovery from workouts to decreased hunger signals.

If we want to get all scientific about it, we can talk about the thermic effect of food, or the ease at which the body stores different macronutrients as long term storage (Body Fat). Let’s skip the fancy words and say this.

Protein requires the most energy to break down and absorb. Therefore it’s got a lower “gas mileage”/“Fuel efficiency” than carbs or fat. It takes more to absorb, leaving less net energy.

Let’s focus on the stuff you really care about.

Less cravings. Less hunger. Improved recovery.

Trying to lose weight and it’s not working? Try increasing the protein. You’ll want to shove less food in your face and experience more “fullness”.

Trying to lose weight and you’re always sore? Try increasing the protein. You’ll have more protein available to build muscle, and recover faster.

Conservatively, since 2015 when I began my career as a personal trainer, I can say at least 80% of the people I talked to were not eating anywhere close to the protein recommendation I would give them. That is, they were not anywhere close before we started training.

I’ve even had clients tell me, “I get enough protein, I’m doing about 35 grams per day”

WHAT?!?!

35 grams per day is a total of 140 calories.

If you’re the average person eating around 2,000 calories (most of you are not actually eating this and you’re way over that number), that means you are eating a total of 1,860 calories per day of carbs and fat. Aka you’re snacking on sh*t.

Stop the nonsense.

Need help figuring out how much protein you should get? Send me a message I’ll give you a recommendation.

Weight loss is SIMPLE. 

It’s controlled by calories. How many you eat, how many you burn, on average, over time. 

Anyone who says it’s not, is wrong and trying to sell you expensive courses, supplement stacks that cost thousands of dollars per year, their sh*tty books or other things to capitalize on your frustrations. 

“But my hormones aren’t balanced so I can’t lose weight even in a deficit” 

WRONG. Again. 

Your hormones don’t oppose the laws of physics. 

Depending on your hormone levels, they can, however, impact how many calories you burn per day. 

But if you eat in a deficit, you’ll still lose weight. 

The problem becomes that if your daily burn amount gets too low, you can’t really eat in a deficit after a certain point. 

The same thing happens with medications, depression, lack of sleep and more. Let’s dive into one of these. Take anti-anxiety medications for example. 

They are better known as “downers” because they lower your central nervous system drive. 

Cont in comments

The best thing you can do in any scenario is to just live by example.

There is a lot of shame around being overweight, unhealthy, and out of shape.

There is a lot of suppressed emotions around this as well.

Direct confrontation works well, for like 2% of the population that truly hate beating around the bush.

Most of the time people will internalize your concern for their health and respond as if you are attacking them.

Rather than navigating that route, I would recommend to continue just showing people what’s possible.

It’s not a matter of if they ask you about something related to health and fitness, its a matter of WHEN.

When this does happen, do your best to be encouraging, give simple advice that can make a big difference without too much additional work, and then wait for the next question.

You can periodically check in with them about how it’s going and offer help if they ever need it.

You can share your own story with it. Your own struggles with it. This will humanize you to your friends and family that look at you as if you have it all figured out.

Don’t push the subject just share your experience and where you struggle. Ask if they have any of the same thoughts or frustrations.

But at the end of the day, the choice is ultimately theirs. You can still be friends with them, but if their choices impact your life negatively it might time to pull away from them.

This happened with a client of mine years ago.

She wanted to lose weight. She had told her friends about her goals. She had told her family about her goals.

Cont in comments

Leaning out and adding some mass

The great thing about understanding nutrition is that you can allow your clients to continue their social lives, and allow food and booze when it’s accounted for.

Evans been fighting through some sickness lately but you can see the muscle adding onto his chest and arms and his chin line getting more defined and his stomach tightening up.

This is the byproduct of consistency and effort.

You can even see more self confidence in the after picture!

No accidental results here.

Interested in these results for yourself?

Free discovery calls 📱
One on one online coaching 🛜
A better you is waiting 💪

Todays walking brought to you by outdoor hill climbing

We’ve got a super steep hill near our place that we took advantage of today.

Walking is a great way to get your family involved in fitness, and the more people you have around you that promote physical activity the more likely you are to get it done

Beginning 2023 ➡️ Beginning 2024

Not a dramatic transformation but definitely starting the year leaner than the last few.

I cut all the way down to 175lbs in 2019 as I entered chiro school.

That was October-December. March 2020 rolls around
Not only was I burnt out on fitness and working out after that cut, I couldn’t even get to the gym if I tried.

Then school gets intense. Board exams, hundreds of lab and lecture exams, 10-13 hour days at school, planning a marriage proposal, planning a wedding, and more over the next 3 years.

Fitness had worked its way back into my life but I never got back to a weight or physique I was happy with.

This year my plan is to cut back down and maintain it. No extremes just in good shape and able to perform endurance events.

The reason I am posting this is it’s a daily process. Daily decisions. 6 months seems far away but it’s not.

It’s 180ish total decisions to make the day work toward your goal or against it.

Work toward it more than you don’t and you’ll get there.

I’ll be documenting workings meals and everything else involved in this process if you want to join me.

It’s not going to be flashy. It’s not going to be crazy feats of strength or hype videos around intense workouts. Just me doing the work.

This weekend I’ll have time to sit and plan, and that’s what I’m going to be doing.

Planning workouts, planning nutrition, and planning other life events.

Got questions? Starting your process? Drop me a dm let’s talk about your goals and your process.

Don’t be shy, it’s a strategy session to make sure you’re not being counter productive

It’s not one or the other when it comes to the gym and nutrition.

Don’t be upset with the results you get from doing half of the work.

Eating for your goal is much less about perfection than it is consistency.

Therefore, find a dietary strategy that fits the needs of your goal and supplies you with what you need, and do it.

I always thought it was impossible for me to reach 200lbs.

Then I actually tracked every piece of food going in my mouth, every drink I drank, and every weeks weight.

I finally actually pushed my limits of what I could eat with health in mind, and home cooked all my meals so I knew the calories I was putting in.

I ended up eating from 4 am to 9 pm almost daily while training 8-13 people per day and managing a team of trainers.

It wasn’t easy. I said no to a lot of meals out with friends. I said no to a lot of fun nights and drinking with friends. I said no to a lot of date nights with my wife. Seriously, ask her. She hated it. I was boring and always eating.

But…

I got up to 210lbs… after never hitting 200lbs in my life.

I had guys at the gym come back after a few months and not recognize me because I had changed my physique.

I even got accused a few times of adding in some extra fun hormonal supplements and a trenbologne sandwich or two…

Moral of the story is this,

If you think you’ve been trying hard and nothings working, it means you’re missing something. Evaluate your current process and refocus.

Are you tracking meals? No? Then start. And don’t miss one.

Are you having beers on the weekends with the boys? Stop and get serious. Your boys are still there regardless of the booze.

Eating out for lunch while at work? Go back to high school days and pack a damn lunch.

We all make excuses and don’t realize it. Put the effort in and the results will come.

If you’re triggered by this, it means you’re not working as hard as you think you are, and you’re missing a piece of the puzzle.

Message me and schedule a call to figure out what that piece is

Big differences made by small changes.

The difference in her physique between the initial and the progress picture (left and right respectively) is how many calories are going in, and how many are going out.

Aka we dropped calories and increased movement throughout her day.

It’s not about a fancy workout. It’s all about consistency of process.

Katie’s got a number of injuries that were working around, she’s a single mom, she’s a coach herself, teaches swim, and has a life.

She is still able to make results happen. Midsection is tightening up, exposing more muscle definition, getting stronger, and managing injuries. It’s possible.

Making results happen starts with managing expectations. Managing your expectations when it comes to the speed of progress and what to expect can make or break results.

Expect them too fast, you’re guaranteed to miss soon. Don’t let that make you fall off the wagon.

Slow and steady makes the world go round.

One on one coaching available.

If you’re looking for a mentor to keep you on track, teach you the process and make things simple drop me a DM.

Let’s get you started this coming year with the right first steps to the body you always wanted

Getting through the holidays without the annual weight gain requires some strategy.

Here are some of my favorite methods to incorporate during this time of parties, tasty food, and good company.

Have you tried any of these before?

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your family.

Client Transformation

Down 25+ inches between these photos.

Exponentially stronger

Much better understanding of nutrition and ways to navigate it sustainably

Excitement about her goals

These things were not a reality last year for her.

When we started our coaching relationship, she was very unhappy with her body, got frustrated about nutrition and staying on track with her dietary guidelines, and she found herself struggling to stay on track after missing a few days.

Since we started she has now completely shifted her mindset. She’s acknowledging things like she’s nervous for the holidays because of the food situation, but she’s got a plan of how to navigate it (which she didn’t last year). She struggled with getting her workouts done if she missed one, now she’s excited to see how strong she can get.

She’s having real conversations with herself about her goals and what she needs to do in order to achieve them.

The best part: she initially only wanted to lose weight. Now, she’s wanting to lose weight still, but gets excited about ALL of the progress in other areas too. There’s an 8 pound difference between these photos. But 25 inches of difference.

I’m super proud of you, you know who you are. Her face has been covered for privacy, as I am only starting to show transformations and I’ve avoided it for so long.

These next few months are going to be fantastic for you.

- - - - - - - - -
If you’re interested in achieving these results yourself, message me and we’ll set you up with a strategy call, completely free. Either we’ll start working together or you’ll get the steps in line that you need to completely change your physique over the next year.

Nothing fancy. Just a post announcing my return to running this week.

New plan, new coach, new race.

Starting at 3x30 min runs per week

When you return to exercise after time off, don’t go crazy.

The goal for this next race is to beat my last time of 2h 25m.

That time was at sea level, this next race will be at 7,200 feet elevation

Anyone want to join?

EVERYONE has time for more steps.

This picture is showing a leisurely walk pace with a dog, Sam who is 6 weeks postpartum and Kayden in his stroller. We took a few breaks too.

16 min = 1600 steps (ish)

Which means 10 min = 1,000 steps (ish)

Over the 16 hours you’re awake, assuming you sleep 8 hours, which I know you don’t, can you fit in another 10 total minutes of walking?

That can literally be 1 min of walking each hour for 10 hours…

Aka, you have the time. You just don’t want to get up off your couch to do it.

Make it happen.

Exhaustion, poor hydration, poor nutrition, obviously poor sleep, but still got the work in.

If you “don’t feel like doing ___” the good news is that feelings are momentary and will change.

Show up anyway.

Fat loss or running, they both require effort when you don’t want to give it

Some work is better than no work.

No excuses

Sure this is my half marathon prep. But it easily could apply to your weight loss.

Go take a 10 min walk right now, message me a video on the walk and you’ll get 1 month of free coaching.

Limited to midnight tonight, and not open to current or past clients.

3.8 miles in an hour today at an easy pace.

I had to constantly remind myself that if I couldn’t talk and have a convo at that pace it was too fast.

Training is feeling good and I’m excited each workout to see what it has in store.

This is coming from the guy who swore off long cardio for over a decade.

Who needs sleep anyway?

Kayden Gene Whalen

2/27/2023
2:38 AM
7lbs 14 oz
20.5 in

Sam was amazing. Went into labor Monday afternoon and we were at the hospital from early morning Tuesday until this afternoon. She was pushing for 3+ hours but she never once said she was afraid she couldn’t do it.

The nurses loved her push playlist too.

They had a great team at the hospital and were super helpful.


Let the dad jokes begin

Perception > Reality

An unfortunate truth.

Health, like wealth, is something you must work for and doesn’t just fall in your lap. If you’re one of the few that it does fall into your lap, you’re likely to waste it because you lack the understanding of its importance and potential to do good.

Do more, talk less.

How to pick your running shoes:

Step 1- realize you haven’t consistently run in a decade
Step 2- talk to the people in the running store who know what they’re doing, and ask their advice
Step 3- swipe the credit card

Thanks to for the help!

5k - 16:21, 1:38/500m, avg 24 strokes per min

Back to challenging cardiovascular as this quad heals up

Simplicity wins out.

When working toward a goal, find a way to make each step as simple as possible.

For example, a movement goal of steps on a daily basis.

You could make it complex and try to fit in all the steps you have for the day after your work day is done…

Or

Simple additions like 5 min walks every hour, parking further away from the store, doing a lap or two while your gas tank fills up at the gas station, a lap around the house while waiting to for water to boil in the kitchen… etc

Small movement additions win out.

Give some of these a try.

Today the wifey and I took our dog to the state park to explore. Definitely got some solid steps in!

Not the goal, still part of the outcome

First picture collage was Feb 1, the first day of my rowing challenge.

The last was Feb 25, almost done with the challenge.

The goal in February was cardio and health based, and as a byproduct, I had an improvement in my physique.

Over 28 days I lost 12-13lbs

No this is not what I would recommend for people to lose weight.

Just a testament that when health is the goal (kind of the goal here) you can improve your physique as well.

Also a testament to his being busy can help you diet. If you’re rowing 2 hours per day, you have 2 hours less per day that you can shove calories in your face.

Sounds dumb, but it’s actually a terrific strategy for controlling your eating. Add in walks immediately when you get home, join a club or sports team, do something to keep you out of the kitchen, and it WILL help.

Day 28 ✅

28,000 meters rowed
February total - 388,000 meters
New Remaining Total - 0 meters

Total missed - 18,000 meters (1 day) ❌

February challenge complete
27/28 days
95.6% completion
388,000 meters rowed. That is the equivalent of 241 miles or from San Francisco to Avila Beach

Last day to donate, link is in my bio

Day 27 ✅

27,000 meters rowed
February total - 360,000 meters
New Remaining Total - 28,000 meters

Total missed - 18,000 meters (1 day) ❌

Day 26 ✅

26,000 meters rowed
February total - 333,000 meters
New Remaining Total - 55,000 meters

Total missed - 18,000 meters (1 day) ❌

Day 25 ✅

25,000 meters rowed
February total - 307,000 meters
New Remaining Total - 81,000 meters

Total missed - 18,000 meters (1 day) ❌

Day 24 ✅

24,000 meters rowed
February total - 282,000 meters
New Remaining Total - 106,000 meters

Total missed - 18,000 meters (1 day) ❌

Todays rowing session was focused on a higher intensity.

Thought I might be getting sick yesterday. So I made sure to hydrate, eat some plants, take vitamin d, get good sleep, and I took my toe easy.

Making up for yesterdays leisurely pace, I took today and decided to do sprint intervals.

4 sets
-4,000 meters
—1 to 2 min rest
-2,000 meters
—1 min or less rest

Definitely exhausted.

Day 23 ✅

23,000 meters rowed
February total - 258,000 meters
New Remaining Total - 130,000 meters

Total missed - 18,000 meters (1 day) ❌