The Simple Strategies My Clients Use to Lose 8-10 Pounds in a Month
You would not believe how much time and mental bandwidth my fiancée and I have spent discussing our first dance song.
In theory, it should be simple—just pick a song we both love.
But then the overthinking kicks in. Is it too cliché? Too slow? Too fast? Will Aunt Laurie judge us if we go with Pony by Ginuwine? Suddenly, what should be a straightforward decision spirals into a full-blown, multifaceted, weeks-long debate—until I finally snap and yell, “Fine! We’ll go with [redacted by Kelly]! I can’t live like this anymore!”
The same goes for fat loss. The basic principle—creating a calorie deficit—is simple.
Burn more calories than you consume, and the scale moves in the right direction. But actually making it happen? That’s where things get complicated. Different strategies work for different people, and success comes down to finding what fits your life.
Two of my clients, Chris and Donnie, both lost a significant amount of weight last month—8 and 10 pounds, respectively.
They took different approaches, but the key principles behind their success were the same. Here’s what they did—and how you can use their strategies to get results, too.
Chris: Walking More, Strength Training, and Tracking Food
Chris lost 8 pounds by making small, sustainable adjustments to his daily habits:
✅ Moved more. He increased his daily steps, burning more calories without adding intense cardio.
To hit 7,000-8,000 steps per day, he committed to a 30-minute walk daily, making it an easy and low-impact way to stay active.
This helped him burn extra calories without exhausting himself, making it easier to stay consistent.
Walking also improved his recovery from strength training and helped with stress management—both key for long-term fat loss.
✅ Started strength training. Lifting weights helped him build muscle, boost metabolism, and improve body composition.
He trained three times per week, doing two full-body workouts and one upper-body-only session, keeping each workout around 45 minutes.
This ensured he was stimulating muscle growth while keeping his routine manageable and not overwhelming.
Strength training helped him preserve muscle while losing fat, leading to a leaner, more defined look rather than just weight loss.
✅ Ate more protein. Prioritizing protein kept him fuller for longer and supported muscle retention.
He increased his protein intake from under 100g/day to over 150g/day, which helped with feeling full and muscle recovery.
Eating more protein helped reduce cravings and made it easier for him to stick to his calorie target without feeling deprived.
Higher protein intake also helped him preserve muscle while in a calorie deficit, ensuring the weight he lost was mostly fat, not muscle.
✅ Tracked his food. Logging meals made him more aware of his intake, leading to better food choices.
He tracked everything he ate for two weeks, which gave him a clear understanding of his calorie intake and portion sizes.
This tracking period helped him identify high-calorie foods that weren’t keeping him full, allowing him to adjust his meals for better hunger control.
When/if he decides to stop logging every meal, the awareness he makes it easier to stay consistent and make better food choices moving forward.
Donnie: Cardio, Smarter Portions, and Healthier Snacks
Donnie also saw great results, dropping 10 pounds—including some holiday weight—by focusing on small but effective tweaks to his routine:
✅ Incorporated more cardio. He added gym-based cardio sessions to help burn extra calories.
Instead of focusing on steps, Donnie spent more time in the gym using the AirDyne bike, which allowed him to burn extra calories in a controlled setting.
This approach fit his routine better because it was time-efficient and easy to track, making it a sustainable way to stay active.
The AirDyne workouts helped boost his cardiovascular fitness while also being low-impact, reducing the risk of joint stress or injury.
✅ Ate more protein. Just like Chris, he increased protein intake, which helped control hunger and preserve muscle.
By dramatically increasing his protein intake, Donnie found that he felt fuller for longer, making it easier to control cravings and naturally eat fewer calories.
More protein helped prevent muscle loss while dieting, keeping his metabolism strong.
Since protein takes more energy to digest, his body burned more calories just processing food, giving him a small but helpful metabolic boost.
✅ Adjusted portions instead of tracking. Instead of logging every meal, he simply reduced his portion sizes to lower his calorie intake.
Donnie is too busy to track his food, so he focused on eyeballing portion sizes rather than weighing and logging everything.
To ensure he stayed on track, he weighed himself regularly to monitor progress and made small adjustments as needed.
This approach kept things simple and flexible, allowing him to lose weight without feeling restricted or overwhelmed.
✅ Upgraded his snacks. By bringing healthier options to the firehouse, he avoided mindless eating and made better choices throughout the day.
Since some meals were out of his control, he planned ahead by keeping high-protein snacks like Greek yogurt and beef jerky on hand.
Having these easy, go-to options helped him avoid reaching for junk food when hunger struck.
The Takeaway: Find What Works for You
Notice any similarities between Donnie and Chris?
They took different approaches, but both followed the same key principles:
✅ Move more in a way you enjoy.
✅ Strength train a few times a week
✅ Prioritize protein to help with hunger and muscle retention.
✅ Find a way to manage your calorie intake—whether it’s tracking, portion control, or mindful eating.
That’s the real secret to sustainable fat loss. Finding a method that fits your life.
Chris and Donnie didn’t follow extreme diets or spend hours in the gym. They simply made small, manageable changes that fit their lifestyles—without making their lives miserable.
And trust me—they both pulled it off with far less stress than choosing a first dance song.
Would you like to get started on the same path Chris and Donnie are on? Learn more about online coaching below:
How Online Fitness Coaching Works
Best,
John
P.S. We had the best pork chop and cheesecake of our lives during our Valentine’s dinner. The pork chop was dusted with chamomile, insane!
The cheesecake? Let’s just say, if Kelly could marry a dessert instead of me, I’d be in serious trouble.
3 Steps You Can Take
Apply for coaching - If you’re ready to start, you can fill out a coaching application here (it takes 90 seconds or less). Best case, you change your life. Worst case, I’ll help you draw up a road map to get closer to your goals.
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Keep learning - You can check out my other articles here. Nobody asked me to, but I’ve spent a ton of time researching everything from artificial sweeteners to saturated fat to testosterone and more, so you don’t have to.
