Welcome to
the Holistic Method
About the program
What sets The Holistic Method apart from the other programs on the market is the combination of training, nutrition, mindset, and lifestyle- combined with the fundamental focus on developing awareness around these topics- developing a well-rounded/healthy individual. The holistic approach allows us to translate what we learn and develop to everything we do in life!
From here on out, let’s redirect our natural thought patterns. If we regularly speak to the fact that we “have to” do things, like “having to go to work” or whatever the case- choose to do more.. This subtle difference in language is powerful because we move from a victim mindset to a creator. You are now choosing to do what you’re doing as you’re no longer '“having to do things”. When consciously done this will aid in your decision to make health-conscious decisions because no one chooses to be unhealthy, it’s simply a bi-product of not valuing it enough.
Facebook Community
Let’s get you connected into the community!
Your first quick step is to click the link below and get yourself added to the Facebook group. This is where you’ll connect with the other members, ask questions of me and the rest of the group, be inspired and encouraged, and offer encouragement and support to the rest of the members (after all, isn’t that the basis of teamwork and friendship, mutual giving and support?)
Click the link below, and request to join!
In the next section, I’ll explain your first assignment for the group. :)
Fitness
Depending on what goals you have, I will design a personal program for you to achieve your goals based off your consultation form. You will receive an email to download a free app where you will have access to your training program, exercise demonstration and queuing, daily habit building tasks, and goal markers. You will be able to log workouts and mark off daily habit building tasks that I will have access to keep you accountable and on track.
Nutrition
When it comes to nutrition, many coaches will apply the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) style of eating. Simply put, if we consume fewer calories than we burn, we will lose weight. If we overconsume calories, we too will gain weight. There are though, many concepts that I will present to you that will allow us to veer away from counting calories. Firstly, I just think it’s ridiculous to measure and weight food like a science experiment. If we choose real foods, our body has natural mechanisms to tell us when we are satiated and when to stop eating; this is when intuitive eating becomes an option. If we are choosing high sugar foods and processed foods, they were designed to overconsume; in this case we are bound to overeat. A huge part of this program will be geared around developing a healthier relationship to food. We should not feel ‘full’ or 'bloated, we should not crave food, we should not use food to deal with stress and emotions. Sugar and processed foods also hijack your taste buds, it will make real food taste bland. The good news is, our taste buds change every couple weeks and if we choose better nutrition choices, real foods begin to taste AMAZING and full of flavor. We will evolve the philosophy of nutrition throughout the process.
If you have a hard time giving up sugar, I get it, it does light up the same pathways in the brain as addictive drugs. In that case, we can start slow and go the IIFYM model, which focuses on “calories in/ calories burned” method to help you lose weight. If we take this approach you will have to begin measuring food and gaining awareness of how many grams of sugar you are consuming and your overall intake. This works for certain personality types but do know that we take this approach, my goal will still be to improve nutrition choices so counting is no longer relevant.
There are 3 primary macro-ingredients which determine the calorie content of the foods you’ll eat. You’ll get very very very familiar with these as the weeks and months progress. They are protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
“But wait, how do I know how much protein, carbs, and fat is in the foods i’m eating?” That’s where My Fitness Pal comes in. We’ll use this awesome little app to track the food you’re eating throughout the day, (and take pictures of it), and in the process My Fitness Pal will tell us exactly how much protein, carbs, and fat you are consuming. This will help you stay on track.
A FEW TIPS WITH TRACKING YOUR MACROS
#1: The first, most important strategy to tracking and winning with macros (which likely is a brand new habit for you :-)), is to PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN.
This means you know a day in advance what are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next day. Preferably, you’ll know a few days out by using the sample meal plan I sent you (or feel free to create a version of your own).
This way, you’re not trying to go throughout your day and “guess” what will work for your plan. I promise you this doesn’t work, I know because I’ve tried it.
Mark out your meals for the following day (and create a general outline at the beginning of each week), and then follow it. It will get easier with time. :-)
#2: Purchase a weight scale and use it. A weight scale will help you know how much of each food you are consuming. This will help you know how much food to prepare or consume in order to hit your goals.
If you search “food weight scale” on Google, you’ll find a bunch of options.
This is one I think is great and at a good price.
#3: Progress over perfection. In the beginning this may be difficult because it’s NEW, that’s ok, do it anyway.
If you miss a meal, that’s alright, take your best guess at your macros. If you miss a day (hopefully doesn’t happen, and definitely not more than once), then take your best guess and then get back on it. You’re paying for this program, and I want you to get the best possible results from it, don’t you?
WHAT TO DO NOW:
We will determine which route we take on our first call. If you think you will want to keep your same diet but count calories, become familiar with MyFitnessPal (a free nutrition app you can download) and begin logging your meals. If we are gonna take the route of improving our ingredients, simply write down your meals and begin reading nutrition labels to become familiar with ingredients, we will have conversations on how to upgrade ingredients regularly.
Check-In Instructions
Each week, you’ll check in with me with a few key pieces of information so I know how to evaluate your progress and keep you moving forward.
Your check-ins are to be submitted each week on Monday mornings, BEFORE 8 pm PST. Each check-in is simple, you’ll send an email to me at Brandon@functionalprogressions.com with the following information:
1) Front, side, and back photos. You can accomplish this by setting your phone down in a well-lit room while taking a video. Perform all the poses for the video, and then take screenshots of each pose. These pictures are just for me to know how to make adjustments, they won’t be shared publicly.
2) Weight gain/weight loss from the previous week (include your weight from each day of the week
3) Energy levels throughout the week (I’m looking for general trends, are you feeling super tired, or do you need more support?)
4) Sleep amounts/quality (how many hours of sleep per night are you getting)
5) Recovery/soreness in between workouts
6) One thing you are GRATEFUL for and one thing good which happened in your life this last week
7) Anything else you want to share/ask me.
Check ins are REQUIRED. They are a necessary part of accountability to helping you achieve the best results possible with your program. If you are unable to submit your checkins on Monday, send me an email and let me know you will submit them on Sundays or Tuesday. The more you communicate with me, the better results I can help you create. If you consistently avoid checkins, it may result in suspension of your program.
Each month, I will update you on when or if your workouts need to be adjusted or when your macros need to be adjusted. Just continue to communicate with me through these checkins and I’ll make sure you are more than taken care of on every front. :-)
How To Get The Most Out Of This Program
There are 4 primary principles that those who are most successful in this program, follow. These are the people who I’ll call “winners” in the program.
PRINCIPLE #1: WINNERS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, AND TAKE ACTION.
In joining this program, you took a powerful action by putting your money in and investing in yourself. Now, to get the results you paid for, you will get to continually take action every day, every week and every month.
I am here to help you as much as I can, but I can’t do your pushups for you.
I can’t track your eating for you.
You alone can do that.
So the way you’ll transform is if right now, you decide to take 100% RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR RESULTS. No blaming me, or anyone else or anything else in your life, but deciding right now that whatever happens, you will take responsibility and own it. Trust me, when you take responsibility and take action, you cannot possibly fail.
PRINCIPLES #2: WINNERS GIVE.
In our work together over the next 12 weeks and beyond, you’re going to make progress, you’re going to learn new things, you’re probably going to experience some breakthroughs. When you do, SHARE THEM.
Not every day are you going to feel on top of the world, and that’s ok. One of my favorite sayings is “As I teach, I learn.”
As you start learning this material more and more, the way you’ll truly become a master is by teaching and supporting others. So when a friend, family member, a coworker asks a question, I want to see you LEAPING at the opportunity to answer the question and support the person. Because it likely won’t be long until you need the support too. Givers learn faster and get better results because, in teaching, you learn.
PRINCIPLE #3: WINNERS SHARE WINS.
Unfortunately, we’ve been taught in our society today that we need to hide our successes, pretend we’re worse than we are, and shun praise or admiration when it comes our way.
This is a TERRIBLE way to live and is a SUREFIRE way to keep from feeling confident and GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF.
In our community, everyone will SHARE THEIR WINS, because we’ve found that when people share their wins, they win more! This is because what we focus on, we create more of.
If you talk about your losses and failures a lot or complain about what you don’t like, you’ll fail more. But if you focus on your wins and celebrate others’ wins in the group, you’ll win more, I promise.
For example, if you do your weigh-in for the week and realize you lost 5 pounds, take a selfie, post in the group, and use the hashtag #gainz to celebrate with us! If you notice any other kind of win besides weight loss (like eating a salad with steak at lunch instead of a pizza) then take a selfie and use the hashtag #winz in the group so we celebrate with you!
Speaking of which, it’s important for you not just to share your wins, but to celebrate other people’s wins! I’ve found that those who celebrate the success of others, attract more success to themselves. If you want to experience more wins, then be happy for those in the group who share their wins as they happen! So when you see other people's #winz or #gainz posts in the group, make sure to like and comment back to celebrate them! Most people don’t have people in their life who celebrate their successes, so that’s the community we’ll build here.
PRINCIPLE #4: WINNERS GET SUPPORT.
When you get stuck or need help: Ask. For. Help.
For some silly reason, we’ve been trained in our culture that asking for help means weakness when in reality it’s strength. You joined this community because you wanted help, and so my encouragement to you is to ASK FOR IT. The key idea here is to stay in communication. Because if you’re asking questions, posting wins, encouraging others, doing your check-ins, showing up on calls, then you’ll succeed. Because by staying in communication, you’ll have a constant feedback loop to know how to correct your actions and move forward.
Use the Facebook group by using #ask to get support from the community and myself. I’ll be going through the Facebook group throughout the week as will the rest of the students, we can only help you if you ask ask ask for help when you need it.
PLEASE...for the love of all good things, ask for help when you need it.
How To Get Support
#1: Facebook Group. Whenever you have a question, first pop it in here. It’s especially important that you ask questions in here because chances are, if you have the question, then somebody else in the group was wondering about that exact same thing. So by posting in here, I and the rest of the group can answer it once for the benefit of everyone. All questions should go here first. Here’s the link for the Facebook Group again.
#2: Zoom calls, when you have questions, write them down and be prepared to fully utilize our calls for your best success.
#3: Email. If you need additional support beyond the questions you can ask in the FB group, you can always email me. So if you have a question which is personal in nature you can always reach me at Brandon@FunctionalProgressions.com
P.S. Asking for support is a GOOD THING, and I want you to do it. Make sure you do your weekly check-ins on time every week, show up to the calls, and ask for help when you need it. Following that formula will give you more than enough support.