This is a very special post, because I am celebrating one of my best clients, who recently reached a unique milestone. I’ve been a fitness professional for a little over seven years, with a lifetime in North Dallas, and I’ve worked with numerous men and women, coaching them to achieve more than 40 pounds of weight loss. Mohammed Syed crushed that.
In August 2024, I checked my calendar early in the week and saw that I had two complimentary sessions scheduled with the same member. My first thought was that our concierge team had booked him with me; however, I later found out that Mohammed had booked them himself through our member app.
Members can book time with a fitness professional; however, this was the first time for me, for one member, to book back-to-back sessions on successive days. The first was a goal-setting session, and the second was an actual workout. Once I learned my concierge team was not involved, I was all the more intrigued to meet Mohammed.
During our first session, I asked a lot of questions and gave him plenty of opportunity to share about what brought him to the point of reaching out for help, and what he was seeking to accomplish. This was not your regular new member consultation. Mohammed booked time with me because he was desperate for help. Little did I know how ready and willing he was to listen and take immediate action.
The following is pulled from a recent interview I did with Mohammed shortly after he reached a significant milestone in his health and wellness journey. I hope you enjoy it!
Coach Kelly: Mohammed, where were you weight-wise when we first met?
Mohammed: I was at 323 pounds when we first met in August 2024.
Coach Kelly: And if memory serves, it was on August 14, just a couple of weeks ago, that you weighed what?
Mohammed: I weighed 223 pounds.
Coach Kelly: So you lost 100 pounds in just a little over a year.
Mohammed: Yep. Exactly.
Coach Kelly: Dude, that is amazing! Congratulations! So, I know you have a lot of emotion surrounding this, but what are the dominant thoughts that have been running around in your head since you hit that milestone a couple of weeks ago?
Mohammed: Yeah. I definitely took some time to internalize what had just happened and the 100-pound weight loss. At first, it wasn’t a milestone. There was still work to be done, right? But then I consciously chose to pause, think about it, and reflect on it. I’ve had so many people congratulate me, including people at the gym, my friends, and my family. It’s like there’s something magical about 100 pounds, and they’re like, gosh, you did what?
And that’s what really got me to think, this is a considerable accomplishment, and it’s okay to hit the brakes just a little and savor the moment. So, that was the first emotion or the first kind of sense of emotions. I know when I was on the scale, and I will never forget when you yelled out, “Dude, you did it!” And then it hit me, “Wait, wow, this is amazing!”
The other thing is just the thoughts of how resilient the body really is. You know, it took years to put on the weight, and I took off 100 pounds in 12 months. And aside from the physical aspect, the mindset changes that have come from being extremely disciplined and consistent with going to the gym and losing weight are priceless.
Further, after having some time to think about my life and what’s to come in the years ahead, I know I’ve put myself in a much better place in terms of preventing any form of severe disease tied to being overweight. So, it’s been kind of a flurry of emotions, but altogether, I’m very proud of the accomplishment.
Coach Kelly: Well, so am I. You did great. So, if you could go back and talk to a version of yourself walking into the gym a year ago, what would you say?
Mohammed: I would probably say do precisely what you’re planning on doing. And what I had planned to do when I first booked those sessions was to go all in. I have a mentality like that. When I have a plan to follow and accountability to do it, I will just go all in and give it some time. I find that having patience is a great virtue, and it’s worth giving something 60-90 days to see where it goes.
We saw results in 30 days right away, and I dropped 20 pounds or something to the point where I received immediate gratification. So, I would say show up, follow the plan, and don’t falter, and just do exactly what I did.
Coach Kelly: So, I’m going to brag on you, and I’ve told this to several people, but it really is highly relevant.
It’s not like you lived in a cave for the past year. I know you work from home, but it’s not like you went from apartment to grocery store to gym and back for the last year. We started in August, and then rolled through the holiday season, and you went on multiple trips out of state, where it wasn’t just a car trip where you could bring a large portion of your food with you.
I coach my clients when they travel to control the controllables, and protein powder and bars, for example, will fit nicely in your suitcase. And, if you’re traveling by plane and it’s not appropriate due to a lack of room in your luggage, you can always buy everything you need once you arrive at your destination.
You had multiple trips out of town, including the trip to Colorado just a few weeks ago. It’s not like you lived a Spartan life. You have enjoyed time with family and friends, as well as travel, and continued to make progress with your weight loss.
I still remember one of the first social events that you had when we first started training, where you were nervous because you’d been on your nutrition plan for a relatively short period of time. You were going into this social setting where you would be out of your comfort zone.
We talked it through and developed a game plan, and that’s not the only time that we did that, but in a relatively short period of time, you didn’t need my help anymore going into social settings because of your mindset, and it wasn’t intimidating anymore.
You planned and considered whether you would eat before or at the event. And if you chose to eat at the event, you went with the mindset that you were going to make good choices, and to make it more about the people at the event rather than the food.
Again, you lived an everyday life last year and crushed your goals. So, what was the turning point? What made you decide enough is enough? What drove you to come into the gym and to seek out help in the first place?
Mohammed: I think there was a voice in my head telling me this cannot keep going the way it’s going. What it was, though I have given this some thought, and especially talking to other friends who also had a kind of turning point moment, where they also went on a journey. It was my nephew’s 10th birthday party last July 30, 2024.
We got together as a family, and I saw the pictures of me, and that was it. Right at that point, as a guy, at least for myself, I don’t take many pictures, and I don’t even know what happens to them with the family or whatever. But once I saw those pictures, I thought, Wow, this can’t keep going. That was the moment, because within the next several days, I booked those sessions for us to meet.
Coach Kelly: I remember when you celebrated his birthday just recently. We were trying to do one of the makeup sessions after my surgery, and you weren’t available on one of my potential dates because of his birthday party, which was totally understandable.
Of all the people that I’ve helped lose weight, your body responded with the most linear and consistent drop of anyone that I’ve ever seen. It was one to three pounds every week. Every week. Every week. Every week. And your weight never went backwards. It was always either just a little bit of change or two to three pounds. And it was that way for the whole year. What daily or weekly habits stand out that made the most significant difference, that allowed you to pull that off?
Mohammed: Two things really stand out. One is the fact that we were training very regularly, which anchored my week extremely well. Another thing is that we added the cardio sessions, after you took me through the Active Metabolic Assessment to determine my VO2 Max and heart rate training zones.
I think it was at the end of August last year, and that anchored the other three days of my week. So, it was three days of us doing strength training, and three days of cardio that put me on a path of being in the gym pretty much every day of the week. And because of that, it instilled this thought in my mind, like if I’m going to go and do this in the gym, there’s no way I’m going to mess this up, right? I didn’t spend an hour or so working really hard just to mess that up later. That change in mindset really helped.
A big part was also the timing. The time of day we trained was a significant factor, although it’s not as important now. However, back then, it was a significant consideration, and training in the early morning and doing the hardest thing possible really set the tone for the remainder of the day.
It also required a massive lifestyle change, because although we were working out in the gym, including strength training and cardio, the diet aspect was monumental. And the fact that you put together a diet plan that was simple to follow and so straightforward was a huge help.
I’m the guy who will eat the same basic things every day. Most people aren’t that way, but that made it really easy for me. Everything was so regimented, and I knew I would have these five meals in this pattern. The training will be there. And then I just started feeling good, right? Like, after doing that for a couple of weeks, I started feeling great, and then I never wanted to look back. So those things help me a lot.
Coach Kelly: So, I’m going to brag on you again. I love all the people I work with, and for anyone who sees this, it’s always my goal to provide my clients with a nutrition plan that is as simple as possible. I don’t do cookie-cutter nutrition plans. Mine are always tailored to a person’s lifestyle, goals, and needs. The base template is essentially the same, but I customize it per individual.
I’ve given countless people the same type of blueprint that I gave you. Not that I’ve had a lot of clients that needed to lose 100 pounds, but I’ve had countless that needed to lose 25 to 50 pounds, and very few of them achieved your level of success because they weren’t willing to do the work that you did.
In today’s world, it’s not a matter of a lack of information. We have the world’s information primarily for free at our fingertips through our phones, tablets, and computers. The challenge is applying the needed information to your life long enough to see results. Many people lack this ability due to a lack of knowledge, emotional discipline, or a willingness to put in the necessary work.
Not only did you complete the work, but you also managed to live a normal life.
Obviously, you did well with the nutrition plan, but how did you handle situations like social events and eating out? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people attend social events and make poor choices due to peer pressure.
And all the more, whether you travel for business or fun, it is so widely accepted that travel equates to going backwards with your health. Well, that’s all mindset. You can eat healthy on the road if you choose to do so. And clearly you did. If memory serves, before your trip to Colorado, you were in the 220s, and you actually hit the 100-pound mark the week after returning from vacation. So, you didn’t go backwards on vacation. You took a big jump forward by several pounds.
Mohammed: Yeah. I think it was right after I came back that we hit the 100-pound milestone. Now granted, that trip included quite a lot of hiking, and there was a lot of physical activity. However, looking back at all the events, with the first big one being my best friend’s son’s first birthday, I had to undergo a significant shift in mindset.
That was at the end of September, and it may have been one of the first events, but what helped was just game planning together, right? When you really stop to think, it’s only a couple of hours, so don’t give in to the pressure around you, but rather make it about the people and the memories. The discipline followed from there, so instead of having a regular soda, I would have a Topo Chico or something similar.
And then as time went on, it was all settled. By New Year’s, the four months from last year going up to New Year’s, there were tons of events, weddings, and things of that sort. So it kind of followed suit, and then towards the end of that span, people, including friends and family, started telling me, “Wow, your willpower is excellent.” I heard that on numerous occasions, or “Wow, you’re really not going to have that piece of cake for Thanksgiving. You’re not having that pie.” And I would politely reply, “No, I’m good.”
And they would reply, “Dude, keep it up!” It was like cheering from the sidelines, which also made me feel really great about the decisions that were being made. And honestly, it was a very holistic approach to shedding the weight. I see it every week. We’re training. The strength is going higher. The fat’s going down. People are noticing. And that combination made it really easy.
So much so that to the point where wherever I go now, you know, it’s not just throwing in the towel of, oh, we’re on vacation, like let’s just forget about all the discipline we used, but I also found that I could still have just as much fun without overindulging and going off the rails. So, it made no material difference to how much enjoyment I got whether I went off the rails or just followed the diet. So, I might as well just follow the diet.
Coach Kelly: I’ve had this conversation on numerous occasions with clients who didn’t make the best choices when going out to eat. I’ll ask them in hindsight, but I never want to make someone feel bad. I’m not a hard-ass coach. I’m always looking for bright spots to encourage, but I will ask the challenging question. Was it worth it to have whatever it was that they confessed to having? 99% of the time it wasn’t. They wish they had made a better choice.
So, what were some of your go-to meals or strategies that helped you with the consistency of your eating?
Mohammed: It was just having a set plan of going to the grocery store and a grocery list that was very consistent. I got the same things over and over. And everything on my plan tasted great, right? It’s not that we’re talking about eating undesirable things to lose weight. It was normal, wholesome food, and I felt great after eating. I felt very satisfied, and that helped a lot, too, right? Because in my mind, and for many people, going on a diet seems like a punishment, and you’re not able to have all the good stuff.
Then, very quickly, I started noticing physical changes, like bloating started going down, inflammation started going down, and my joints started feeling better, right? Of course, the weight coming off helped, but the feeling of being lean and clean, along with the mental clarity that brought, was even more beneficial.
It didn’t really occur to me how much what you eat affects your mind and your clarity and the brain fog. That started all going away. So, that was what kept me consistent. As far as the meals, it was all on the list. You provided a mixture of chicken, turkey, lean beef, fish, and seafood like shrimp and stuff like that. It was all the stuff I would typically enjoy eating anyway.
And the other thing is, we didn’t cut out carbs. We’re not doing one of these diets from the current low-carb craze. It was all very balanced. People are still shocked to this day that you can eat rice or other starchy carbs and it’s totally fine. So, not having a drastic change in direction and enjoying the food helped a lot.
Coach Kelly: I’ve done nutrition consults with people, and I’ll take them through a sample day in the life of what they typically eat. We start with breakfast, and many will say eggs. Anything else? And I get nothing. And then I ask, what about a piece of toast, or a bagel, or a tortilla, or maybe some oatmeal? And I still get nothing. And then I ask, “Do you like any of those foods?” And then I finally get a “yes, but aren’t carbs bad for you?” Really? People are sometimes so brainwashed that they’re afraid to have a piece of bread.
Okay, so what are some foods and habits that you let go of? You reached your former weight that you were at when we met because of the choices that you had made. What choices did you let go of?
Mohammed: Yeah, this is a great question. I had abysmal eating habits, like eating one meal a day. It was my go-to, and it was a gigantic meal at the end of the day. Doing the worst possible thing. That meal was absolutely not healthy, and it was thousands of calories.
So, and I’ll be frank as far as vices are concerned, cutting out alcohol was a huge benefit. To this day, cutting alcohol completely was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. Did I think that was going to happen? Not really. But I had it in my mind that it would go away at some point. And you know, I soon decided that social settings were better by just avoiding it. I found it made zero material difference to how much I enjoyed my time.
It actually made my time better just because I knew I wouldn’t be punishing myself for days afterwards. And being in a state of peak performance for training and seeing the improvements were far more critical than whatever mild, temporary enjoyment that drinking would bring. And I say this very openly because I know a lot of people may struggle with alcohol as a vice, or they view it as a source of enjoyment. For me, cutting it out was massive.
So, between those things, that’s where it really helped quite a bit. I could go into specifics about the types of food, but it was bad habits in terms of how much I was eating and when I was eating. If you do that for years at a time, you’ll pack on weight like crazy. So, cutting all that out now for the past year has completely changed my life for the better.
So, if you’re on the fence about improving your health through exercise and nutrition, try something for 30 days, see how you feel, and then, you know, go from there.
One last thing would just be sleep. The quality of my sleep just went through the roof. That also bolstered my commitment to continuing and staying on track. I track my sleep every night with my Apple Watch, and before our training, I had to get eight to nine hours of sleep even to feel rested. I could track my chart, and it would show me waking up throughout the night, with a cumulative amount of about an hour or an hour and a half a night. I would be randomly waking up. And so, of course, I needed more sleep just to get rest because my sleep efficiency was so poor.
And then, after going through all this transformation, I quickly noticed a change in my sleep quantity, and I didn’t need as much. I only needed six to six and a half hours to feel rested entirely, because I was only awake for like five minutes or less throughout the night. It’s very, very sound sleep. And to this day, that’s still the case.
So, getting quality sleep is another reason to cut out anything that’s going to mess with your biology, especially closer to bedtime. Because you can’t defer the maintenance for that long, right? You can’t just kick the can down the road on getting insufficient quality sleep. No amount of high-quality beds will ever fix that problem. So that was a big thing, too.
Coach Kelly: It’s interesting that over the last year, since you and I have been working together, it’s also virtually the same time period that Dr. Peter Attia entered my life as a mentor. I’ve listened to so much of his content over the last year, and I knew sleep was necessary, but I didn’t realize how important it was. And now, I am the poster child for preaching to my clients about the importance of sleep.
If you want to wreck your health, both short-term and long-term, don’t get enough sleep. Statistically, you’re setting yourself up for a train wreck by increasing your risk for heart disease, cancer, dementia, and diabetes. So, I’ve always been proud of you for how well you’ve done with your sleep, considering, as you explained, how you used to struggle. I still ask you often about your sleep, and 99% of the time, your answer is positive, which is excellent.
You went to Colorado a few weeks ago for a week, and you told me that where you were a year ago, you couldn’t have done what you did a few weeks ago. That’s a huge deal, so tell us about that.
Mohammed: Yeah, I’d love to. That was one of my favorite vacations I’ve ever taken. We went to Telluride, Colorado, located in the southwestern part of the state. It was the most beautiful place located in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado.
So, it was my brother-in-law and I, and we had been planning this since last December. I kept feeling like I’m not quite ready, because every time I’ve been hiking in the last few years, it’s been atrocious. Like I go a half a mile, and I am just utterly winded. So, this was the ultimate test of the new body, for all the strength training, the cardio training, and everything I’ve gone through with my nutrition and overall well-being. And, it was incredible!
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. None of it was easy, so I won’t say we just glided up the mountain, but I did three hikes back to back on three days. And they were all between 10,000 and about 10,800 ft upon reaching the summit, and each one was anywhere from six to eight hours long. So, these are full days where you’re bringing food and everything. And your body is absolutely just exhausted by the end of it.
I made it to the top on all three, and the first one overlooked the city of Silverton, Colorado. Once we got all the way to the top, you could look down and hear train whistles going through the mountains. It was something that I never imagined I’d ever be able to physically accomplish, to actually see.
On day two, we tackled a trail called Ice Lake. So, once we reached the summit, there was a pristine blue lake at the very top of the mountain that was fed by melting snow at the time of year we went. It was a long, long hike, and I’m not going to lie, there were many times in the middle of it where I asked myself whether I would make it. But at some point, you’re past the point of no return, and you might as well just keep going. And so, the things I saw in the videos and pictures, once I reached the top, were terrific.
As I sat there at the edge of the lake, it occurred to me that I was probably one of the very few humans in the US that has actually seen what I was seeing. And it felt like freedom. Like, I literally felt my body could take me anywhere I wanted to go. I could get up and go in that direction. I don’t understand how I could adequately convey how freeing that feeling is from going from a 323-pound frame to being able to do that.
The last day we were in the city of Ouray, Colorado, and there were these two twin peaks mountains, and basically that was the longest hike, which was about 5 hours up, and two and a half hours back down, covering incredibly steep terrain.
Once we made it to the very top, I sat at the very, very top and did a 360 panorama, and it was like time just stopped. It showed me what I can really do and gave me even more confidence to tackle all the company meetings, new client acquisitions, and other daily responsibilities back at home.
So, the switch that flipped in my mind is that you can exhaust your body by taming your mind and be able to accomplish something like this. There’s no way I would have been able to do this a year ago. It also unlocked in my mind that I want to do more of this. I’d like to take more hiking trips. I want to learn more about these kinds of things.
There were 50, 60, 70 year 70-year-old folks on the trail, too. So, it’s not just for young people. So, I was fully immersed in it for a week. And it showed me that there are beautiful things to see, and you won’t be able to do it if you don’t take care of the one body you have, right? So, you might as well get in the gym, get your work done, eat right, and enjoy your life.
Coach Kelly: I’m so proud of you. Obviously, it was a big thing to be able to go and do the hiking, but just in your day-to-day life, how is life different today versus a year ago, based on the shape that you’re in now versus where you were?
Mohammed: Oh, it’s very, very different. The consistency of my day is different. The sleep quality is much better, like I mentioned, and the choices are very different as well. Everything in my life is positive and moving in a progressively positive direction.
My relationships are far better now than they were back then. Some friends have not necessarily dropped out of my life, but the frequency of our meetings has declined. I realized it started revolving around all the negative things that I had already said I’d stop doing. So, it’s not that we fell out of a friendship. It was more like just our engagement and consistency changed.
I have a lot of mental clarity that I use to tackle my goals. And, I don’t think I’d be equipped to handle some of the stresses that I’ve been having as of late if I didn’t have this clarity and this feeling of good health. And generally speaking, I feel nimble. Things don’t hurt, you know, like knees or back. That feels good, and my confidence is sky-high. I could tackle just about anything that comes my way.
And finally, mindset. My mindset a year ago was not in a good place, in the sense that I was asking, ‘What’s the point?’ And a little bit of nihilism was creeping in. My viewpoint was very self-centered, and everything was about me. This translated into everything driving my need for instant gratification. It was a ‘let’s enjoy today because who knows what will happen tomorrow’ kind of mindset.
Now, I’m very disciplined, duty-driven, and thinking for the long-term, which is a direct reflection of not deferring the difficult work until tomorrow. Do it today. That makes me think about what’s to come years from now. I think more about family and friends and setting a good example. I also feel like I’m a better member of my community as a result.
Coach Kelly: You just said something that I’m going to use in a new blog that I’m writing. I quoted the late great Jim Rohn, who said, “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons”. So, choose discipline in the moment because you don’t want to be in that place down the road with the regret of what you should have done when you had the opportunity.
What surprised you most about yourself during the last year?
Mohammed: That’s a good question.
Coach Kelly: During our first conversation, we determined that the initial target was 100 pounds, and I said that’s a year-long project. And while hopeful, you probably didn’t walk out of the gym with the same confidence that you have about yourself today. You’re a completely different person today in terms of your mindset.
Mohammed: Oh, 100%. That’s probably the thing I’m most excited about. The confidence is definitely high. That’s more like a symptom or an outcome of mindset, right? Some challenges arise every day, and my confidence fluctuates, but I’m now more long-term driven towards achieving my goals, rather than seeking immediate gratification. That’s a big deal for me.
I look back at my 20s and most of my 30s, and I was focused on building businesses and advancing my career. I was financially driven, but it wasn’t about creating a sense of a positive community and making a positive impact on the people around me.
And now it’s very much along those lines. I want the rising tide to lift all ships, not just mine. And that’s probably been the most surprising thing, because I didn’t see it coming. It was not something I set out to do. It’s nothing we talked about in our first meeting. It just happened as a result of getting into the gym.
A big part of it is like when you’re lifting something heavy. You’re immersed in the action entirely. There are very few times throughout my day that I’m immersed in what I’m doing 100%. There are distractions and things of that sort. But when you’re about to do squats or deadlifts, it’s the only thing you’re focused on. You’re not focused on the call you have later, the meetings, the angry client, or whatever. That’s helped a lot, too. So that was probably the most surprising thing.
Now, that’s one aspect of my mindset that I love the most. Now, that is what I truly want: to leave things better than I found them. And I wouldn’t have that perspective if it weren’t for overcoming this challenge.
Coach Kelly: So, beyond the obvious change in your weight, have you received any feedback from family and friends regarding any changes that they’ve seen in you? Again, not your weight, but how you’ve changed and evolved as a person. Have you received any feedback regarding that?
Mohammed: Yeah, I have from close friends and family. The discipline has been refreshing for many, to the point that some of my friends have also started cutting out bad habits. And while they’re telling me about this, they’re not necessarily saying it’s because of what I did. But I’m seeing they’re doing these things, and it’s not just out of nowhere. So, being supportive and being there for them has been great.
My family has told me my resilience is something they admire. It made me realize that if you could do something hard like climb a mountain, which I literally physically did, the other things will fall into place. You have to put things in God’s hands, trust in His perfect timing, and realize that you can’t control every single aspect and every single variable.
People have told me about how they’re impressed with my willpower and resilience, and when they look at old pictures and see me now, it’s like Wow! Dude, good job! We’re very proud of you! I’ve heard a lot of good things like that. I don’t go fishing for any of it, but it’s always nice to hear nice compliments.
Coach Kelly: Well, you definitely deserve it. So, congratulations again on 100 pounds, but we’re not done. You said that early on, we still have some work to do, and that is to get down to 200 pounds. So, what’s the significance of 200 pounds?
Mohammed: It’s mainly where I was back in 2018. This is before I went on this seven-to-eight-year journey of quitting my job, starting a business, and going through this completely unknown territory. It did a number on my mind, which is anchored to 200 pounds.
I also think, for my height, from a health perspective, I’ll put myself in a really great place. If we could go lower, great. I’m not necessarily married to just 200 pounds, but I do know that I like how I’m looking at 221 pounds, so we’re very, very close. I’m probably tethered more to just general health and making sure numbers are in a good place, but I’m still very excited to hit 200 pounds. It’s somewhere I haven’t been in seven years, and once I get there, I never want to go back in the opposite direction.
Coach Kelly: So, I’m curious as to what you say about this because I’ve talked to you about my mentor, Keith Klein, before.
I’ve heard him tell a story about a guy who came to his office for a session, who, like you, had lost a significant amount of weight. The guy was happy on the one hand because his pants were obviously fitting much looser; however, he was also stuck and had stopped making progress. As Keith explained it, he had become so fixated on his initial weight loss target that he hadn’t thought about setting another, more long-term goal to pursue in his health and fitness journey. This left him in the short run with little purpose beyond maintenance, and that was not providing the needed pull to spur him into daily action.
Also, one of my longtime mentors, leadership expert John Maxwell, doesn’t believe so much in goal setting, but in focusing on continuous growth. A goal can be achieved in a season, but unless you’re careful to recalibrate and set a new goal, you could end up like the guy in Keith’s example above. But with a growth mindset, you’re always moving forward, and you eliminate the peaks and valleys of random goal setting and achievement.
So, 200 pounds is only 20 pounds away. How are you going to keep going after that? Losing 123 pounds is a massive accomplishment, but then what? Have you given this any thought? What’s going to keep you going? It’s easy to say, I want to take care of myself from a health standpoint, but to drag your butt to the gym every week and to continue with how hard you’ve been working is not going to be easy. What thoughts have you had, and what are you going to do to stay the course with your training?
Mohammed: That’s a great question. It’s so ingrained in my mind now to move my body, engage in physical activity, and go to the gym every day. I’m literally there six to seven days a week. I also started incorporating daily walks into my routine. That’s been super helpful from a mindset perspective. Combining the sunlight and movement has been the best cure to just about any stress, and I’ve been doing that quite a bit lately.
I’m consistently hitting five to six miles a day, which is easily over 10,000 steps. I wasn’t doing that before, but I am doing that now, and that’s in addition to my three days of cardio and three days of strength training. So, it’s such a part of my identity now that I don’t see that going away. It’s beyond just a routine. It’s literally part of who I am.
So, we will hit 200 pounds. But there’s still work to be done on VO2 Max. There’s still improvement to be made with my overall cardiovascular fitness. And, perhaps more weight loss to go. There’s still so much to do that it’s almost like a never-ending video game. But the discipline is so ingrained into my identity now that I just don’t see myself discarding it.
Coach Kelly: For my part, I would love to see you reach 200 pounds, and then not so much continue to drop scale weight, but to see you continue improving your body composition, adding muscle, dropping body fat. I’d love to see you down into the mid to low teens in terms of body fat. If you maintain around 200 pounds and get below 15% body fat, you will look phenomenal. It will be jaw-dropping.
So, if someone hears this video and they’re where you were a year ago, what are you saying to them regarding just whatever you’d want to tell them?
Mohammed: There were a couple of things that went through my head, and there were doubts and there was shame involved in it, where I just couldn’t help but think, oh my god, I’ve gotten it to this point, and this is so bad. The thought of going into the gym and wondering what people will think, these are all things a lot of people have in their minds as far as hindrances to just not go, and not just face the problem head-on.
So, for somebody watching this, if you have the means, hire a coach and get some help. Even if it’s for a couple of months, if you can afford it, just do it. It will immediately solve the accountability problem for you. That would probably be the first thing. The second thing is that most people in the gym are proud of you for just showing up.
It’s hard enough to do the work while you’re there, but just showing up is the first step. So, don’t worry if you think people will look down on you or make fun of you or anything like that. I promise you nobody will notice, and it’s going to be just fine. Just get yourself to the gym and let the magic of the environment and professional help lift you up.
Number three, if you don’t hire a trainer, at least get some help with your nutrition. 70 to 80% of weight loss is nutrition-based, and it doesn’t matter how much you’re working out; if your nutrition is not dialed in, you could spin your wheels and make zero progress. And without progress, you’re all the more likely to quit. So definitely get some help on the diet part too.
And just be consistent. Try something for 30 days and see how it goes. And then even if you do it halfway correctly, you may see just enough proof of progress to keep going.
Coach Kelly: So, to your point, Wendi was struggling when she and I first met, and she lost 40 pounds that year.
Mohammed: Wow!
Coach Kelly: It started with me just helping her nutrition, and then she finally let go of using an online training app for her training, and she allowed me to begin doing her program design, and she did well. I have another client who was just killing himself by doing mostly group fitness classes, and then adding extra cardio on top of that.
He was working out every day, and he was stuck at a little over 200 lbs. This was back in January of 2021, and by that fall, he had lost a little over 40 lbs. So, again, they were both working out really consistently. The change was that they let me help with their nutrition, and they were both ready to make a change. Just like you, once they started seeing results, they were motivated to continue.
There’s a lot to what you said back at the very beginning about training three days a week with weights, and doing cardio three days a week on the alternate days. I believe that there is a catch-22 between time in the gym, and there’s something to be said for morning workouts. Not to say that you can’t be successful training later in the day, because I know a lot of people have, but it sets you up with a positive goal achieved for the day.
You go and kick butt in the gym, and I think it sets you off on the right track for the rest of the day. Daily exposure in the gym as opposed to if you only worked out three days a week, and you’re not in the gym the other four days a week, and you’re essentially not exercising the four days a week. People with that kind of overall weekly structure tend to struggle more with their food. There’s a yin-yang between hard workout, good food, hard workout, good food. They build off of each other. The cadence we set up for you at the beginning has worked really well.
Mohammed: It has worked very, very well. We put a strategy in place knowing we could pivot as needed, and it was never necessary.
Another notable improvement was the cardio benefits; they definitely complemented the strength training. As we increased the volume of my strength training, it seemed to help my cardio. So, it was this beautiful oscillation back and forth between the two that was incredible to see.
Coach Kelly: Well, I still remember the first workout, and you were wearing your Apple Watch, and after a couple of very moderate warm-up sets, I saw your heart rate, thinking, “Oh my God!” It kind of scared me. But now, a year later, and given all the weight loss and the collective training, you’re in far better shape cardio-wise than you were when we got started.
Mohammed: Oh, yeah. But, there’s room for it to improve as well. That’s the fun part, right? I’ve always worked best when I have a goal in mind or something to aim for. If I just hit the end and then that’s it, then that’s not fun. So, it’s in the pursuit of a goal where I find a lot of fulfillment. So, there’s so much more to pursue, as you said, in improving my body composition. I would like to lower my body fat percentage to the teens. It would be incredible to look and feel 10 years younger in my late 30s. If I look 10 years younger and continue to improve my VO2 Max, it will position me to undertake even more challenging hikes in the future.
I’m just very excited. It’s almost like I got a second chance at my life. Thank God there was no debilitating chronic disease. I didn’t get hit with any of that, and I think it was on the way, to be honest with you. But thankfully, we took the right course of action, and so grateful for everything we’ve accomplished.
Coach Kelly: The one question I did not ask you, and I want to touch on it for a second. Weight loss drugs have gained increasing popularity over the past few years; however, I don’t recall us ever discussing them. And while I believe they have their place with specific medical conditions like diabetes, they are not a part of my primary tool kit to help my clients. Unfortunately, many people see them as silver bullets and the answer to all their health and fitness dreams, and unfortunately, that’s not the case. Unless you’re willing to change your nutrition, they can be nothing more than a total waste of money.
Did you ever consider any type of weight loss drug before we started, or even during the early days of our coaching client relationship?
Mohammed: No. It was never an option. I’d heard of them, of course, and I’ve read stories about the fantastic results people have achieved; however, it was never on my agenda. I would rather accomplish the results naturally. And even if it takes a little longer, so be it.
If I had done it, it would have completely shortcut all of the great mindset stuff that we just talked about. It would have never even had a chance to settle in my mind, right? So thankfully, at least for myself, I would say it was never on the horizon.
Coach Kelly: That’s interesting because I’ve listened to a lot of content over the last year from Dr. Attia, and I’m just trying to learn more about them. And again, they definitely have their place, but I’ve watched one of my current clients who was on one of the current popular drugs. He’s off of it now, but I watched him go on that drug, lose 20-25 pounds, and then go right back the other direction, all while still being on the drug. So again, none of them are silver bullets. You have to be willing to change your food. They may suppress your appetite, but you can ignore that and still overeat.
Do you have anything final that you would like to share, and we’ll wrap this up?
Mohammed: I have a very bright outlook on the future, and I’m very, very grateful for that. I have some big plans coming up, and a lot of that positive thinking wouldn’t have really happened if it weren’t for tackling this gigantic milestone. Also, thank you for everything we’ve worked together on and all the things we will continue to work together to hit these numbers.
It’s just so great to know there’s a Lifetime community, and there’s everything there as long as you’re willing to just walk in through the front doors, and you know to use it. So, I’ll leave it at that. Over the years, we’ll continue to see improvement and build upon it from there.
Coach Kelly: Well, I’m proud of you, my friend. You’ve done well.
Mohammed: Thank you.
Coach Kelly: All right, I’ll see you soon. Take care.
Mohammed: All right, goodbye.
In closing, Mohammed and I did a coaching session this morning to strategize for the fall. As of this past Thursday, September 11, 2025, he has dropped to 217 pounds. And while not appropriate to share, he’s gone through some considerable challenges over the past few weeks with his family, and yet he’s managed to stay the course with his training and especially his nutrition. Regardless of what life throws your way, you always have a choice in how you respond, and Mohammed is consistently responding like a champion.
Keep up the great work, my friend! Your future is bright!
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