My weight has fluctuated a lot throughout the years. In high school (and for the first week of university) I usually tipped the scales around 180 pounds. I didn’t feel like I could gain much weight. However, with university came making my own food more often, easier access to fast food, and partying. Along with that came (at least) an extra twenty pounds. I maxed out at 205 in second year (all of my friends did too, and I remember us taking pride in this!?!) and I don’t think I stepped on a scale for 15 years after that. I’m not sure why - I guess I just accepted the fact that university was a weight gaining experience, and that one day I would lose those extra pounds.

After university came work, marriage, and kids. All great things, but eating well and exercising took a back seat. Sure, there were times when I think I dipped down toward the 190 pound range, but they were few and far between. I was still eating and drinking with little regard for my health. Sure, I was running, and I ran a few half marathons and a full marathon in those years when my kids were under 10. However, I still wasn’t eating well, so everything just balanced out (a typical ‘Guy-et,’ so-to-speak). There was something missing. I didn’t have a scale either. I didn’t believe in them (and I’m still not a fan, but I’ll get back to that later). I always figured that how I felt was more important than the number on the scale, and I didn’t feel terrible when I was eating poorly and running, but I also didn’t know that I could have more balance between the two and feel even better.

When my wife joined up with Steph a few years ago, she was stepping on the scale with more regularity, and I started to as well, even though I wasn’t following her meal plan. This came with its own disappointments. I watched the fluctuations, and I often stepped on the scale at bad times (after weekends, after vacations, and after nights of partying and drinking too much). I topped out at 215 after an especially indulgent trip to Newfoundland, and once that stabilized, my new weight was now 205 and my body had settled into it. It wasn’t until I swallowed my pride and joined Steph’s program that I finally woke up. I never thought I would need a nutritionist or a nutrition coach. I’m not sure why. We didn’t eat poorly, but our weekends often ruined a week of good eating. We joined That Clean Life to build up our bank of recipes a few years back, and we ate well from Monday to Friday - but weekends would often go off the rails. However, Steph was the X-factor that bridged the gap between our mostly healthy diet and actual results.

Just sending off my daily food log to Steph kept me accountable. For the most part, our choices of meals from That Clean Life worked. Steph would tweak a few things here and ask us to lay off a few things there, just to fine tune our overall diet. She would also monitor my level of exercise, and gently encourage me to ‘get up and go’ for exercise of any intensity. In our family, we are eating our best when we plan a week in advance, and when we know what we are going to eat from day to day. Steph helped us keep that routine (which I crave), and keep our meal plans consistent so that we could avoid eating unhealthy foods as much as possible. She even gave us healthy eating options at fast food restaurants for our month long trip out west - these tips were very helpful, and they kept our weight gain on this trip to a minimum. Overall, her encouraging words and advice along the way made everything come together.

Of course my issue with weekends and less structured or routined times remained, and Steph was very understanding about this. This is life - weekends tend to take me off track, but Steph was there to get me ‘back on track’ and not let me get too down on myself when I had a bad day or two, or when the scale went the wrong way. Many of our e-mails back and forth focused on this - Steph talked me back from many of the defeating thoughts that would enter my mind after a slip up, and I will take her advice and counsel with me long after my time spent working with her. Steph continues to check in with me, even two weeks after our time was up, and I am greatly appreciative of this. She is so good at what she does.

I am now a trim 172 pounds, any my body is settling into this new number quite nicely. Since I was hovering in or around the 200-205 pound range when I started, it sounds really good to say that I have dropped 30 pounds with Steph’s assistance.

And back to the scale thing - I still don’t really believe in them, and I hate talking about numbers when it’s more important to talk about how I am feeling…but I need a concrete measure for my progress, and I will need that scale to continue my weekly weigh-ins and avoid future gains. I have always had what I call an ‘Uh-oh’ weight. Upon reaching my ‘Uh-oh’ weight, I have always said to myself that I need to buckle down and drop some pounds. At one time, my ‘Uh-oh’ weight was 200 pounds. I’m so happy and proud to say that it is now 175 pounds, and I don’t have any plans on going beyond that number.

Despite all of this, the bottom line is that I now feel great in more ways than one, and if that means I have to look at a scale every now and then as a ‘check-point,’ then so be it.

I can’t thank Steph enough for all that she has done for me. She has talked me through the food choices, the self-defeating thoughts, and the general ups and downs of this process. I hope I don’t have the need for her services again (no offence, Steph!), but if I do, I will not hesitate to re-join her. I also encourage anyone who needs to lose any amount of weight and feel 100 times better to join her and reap the benefits. Thanks so much, Steph!

Jim, Age 41