Scott Schutte of Evolved Personal Training Gym On The 5 Things You Need To Do To Achieve a Healthy Body Weight, And Keep It Permanently
Practice MED — Minimum Effective Dose. For you to lose weight don’t try the extremes, try to do the minimal amount to start off with, set yourself up for success, behavior change works best and lasts when done incrementally. Everyone is unique so how much change you need to make is dependent on how you respond to initial changes and your goals.
So many of us have tried dieting. All too often though, many of us lose 10–20 pounds, but we end up gaining it back. Not only is yo-yo dieting unhealthy, it is also demoralizing and makes us feel like giving up. What exactly do we have to do to achieve a healthy body weight and to stick with it forever?
In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Do To Achieve A Healthy Body Weight And Keep It Permanently” we are interviewing health and wellness professionals who can share lessons from their research and experience about how to do this.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Schutte.
Scott Schutte is an accomplished Personal Trainer and Gym Owner, Author and lifelong learner dedicated to helping people live a leaner, healthier and happier lifestyle by focusing on what happens both in the gym, as well as the other 23 hours of the day. His approach focuses on a personalized approach that marries the best that science has to offer for wellness and fitness with the realities of daily life, to create change that is not only meaningful, but enjoyable and sustainable.
He is the co-owner of the highly successful Evolved Personal Training Gym in Columbia, Missouri as well as co-founder of the Heathy Behavior Institute which provides an educational platform for other fitness professionals to better understand how to create long lasting behavior change through the psychology of fitness.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I would say three things from my childhood are the main contributors to who I am today. I had an amazing supportive family, I grew up on a farm, and team sports were a big part of my life. To me amazing family of course includes your loved ones but also your close friends. It’s about the quality of those you surround yourself with. My time working on the farm showed me what hard work and working for yourself looks like. My team sports showed me the power of a team, we can’t all be great at everything but with the right team we can collectively accomplish amazing things.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
Even though my dad wanted me to stay and work the family farm he inspired me to pursue my own journey and my mom of course encouraged me to follow my passion. Hard work is part of life on the farm, but you’re in control of that life. I took what I learned about hard work and self-actualization, added the extra personal interaction that I needed into a career I am passionate about.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
I have had many advisors, mentors, and cheerleaders. The advantage of working in the career of personal training is you get to work with many successful people. Many of my clients have given me great business, relationship, and life advice.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
Be cautious of who you partner with. It’s easy when a business is new to partner with whoever is on the path with you. Make sure to have some important and deep conversations on where you want your journey to go. Few journeys align. Plus, you don’t want to have another you as a partner you want someone with similar values but different skillsets and personality.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“Learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
I see this far too often and occasional get caught up in this myself. Figure out what you value, what’s truly important to you and let the rest go.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I am co-creating an education platform for coaches called the Healthy Behavior Institute, teaching coaches healthy weight loss behavior coaching. This is the missing link in the fitness industry. There are plenty of exercises, diets, and healthy foods but very few people showing how to make this work for your life so it’s sustainable and enjoyable.
For the benefit of our readers, can you briefly let us know why you are an authority in the fitness and wellness field?
I’ve been working 1 on 1 with clients for the past 16 years; I’ve owned a gym that specializes in 1 on 1 coaching for the past 11 years. I co-created an educational platform to teach other coaches how to create healthy weight loss behaviors.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about achieving a healthy body weight. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define a “Healthy Body Weight”?
Healthy body weight must be defined by the individual and is very personal. There are several relevant factors for this definition and include: what the individual likes to do with their free time, what their bloodwork or doctor says, how they feel overall, and mentally where they would like to be at. What also makes this difficult is so much of this is based on how you were raised, who you value, who your friends are, where you live in the world, and what ethnicity you are.
How can an individual learn what is a healthy body weight for them? How can we discern what is “too overweight” or what is “too underweight”?
Ask yourself these questions. Can you do the activities you want to do in life, for example: hike, dance, play with your kids, ski, walk up the stairs? Are you free from sickness and illness that is weight related? Do you have the energy and strength to do what you want to do? Answers to these types of questions are often highly insightful for answering that question.
This might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to expressly articulate this. Can you please share a few reasons why being over your healthy body weight, or under your healthy body weight, can be harmful to your health?
Overweight can lead to heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc., which can lead to medication, which can lead to side effects of medication.
Under weight can lead to lack of strength and muscle mass. Not only are these two qualities for longevity they also are what we need to age well so we can keep doing what we enjoy.
In contrast, can you help articulate a few examples of how a person who achieves and maintains a healthy body weight will feel better and perform better in many areas of life?
I see clients that struggle tying their shoes, get winded going up stairs, and can’t play with their kids. Keeping a healthy body weight gives you freedom and choice. It gives you the ability to do what you want to do in your life.
Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Do To Achieve a Healthy Body Weight And Keep It Permanently?”. If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
#1 Calories Matter but Are Complicated
To lose weight you must be at a calorie deficit, move more and eat less, to maintain weight you must be at calorie maintenance, eat enough calories to equal your movement. How do you know which one you are in? If you are losing weight over time then you’re in a deficit, weight staying the same over time, then you are in a maintenance. Here is the kicker, you don’t have to count calories to lose weight even though the balance is important. Know about NEAT, Non exercise activity thermogenesis? The basic principle around NEAT is accounting for the activity outside of exercise you do throughout the day. This activity equates to calories being used; this even includes fidgeting. This can vary greatly from person to person and even day to day for the same person. This can vary your calorie output greatly. Know about TEF, Thermal effect of food? Certain foods, good example protein, take more calories to break down so you get a slight calorie deficit by eating more protein than carbs or fats, assuming they are equal in total calories. Tracking food is easy right, nope, most people underestimate the calories they consume. The key is nutrient dense, low calorie options. High fat and high carb options are calorie dense and easy to overeat. Finding lower fat and carb options you still enjoy are key.
I’ve heard the following time and time again, I am doing the paleo diet but am putting on weight, I’m doing keto but putting on weight, I’m doing interment fasting but I’m putting on weight, I’m eating nothing but organic foods but I’m putting on weight. None of these things are bad approaches, but no matter the approach, to lose weight you still need to be in a calorie deficit.
#2 Root Cause Behavior
What are your root causes for your unhealthy habits? When we chose strategies that do not serve the same function as the behavior we want to change, we don’t stick with it. Figure out what drives you and you can find the correct and better replacement that serves the same root cause. When strategies are in line with the root cause, they are naturally reinforcing and as a result more likely to be easier, and enjoyable.
Take for example drinking every night to unwind from the day, even convincing yourself you need it to fall asleep. This could be your way of escaping, getting out of your head, having a break from your stressful day or demanding family. The desire for escape isn’t bad the behavior you have in place could be though. Now what’s another way to escape? Working out, jiu jitsu, shooting, calling a friend, watching a tv show, going for a run, taking a bath, reading a book. You have to figure out what you really want from that behavior and find a replacement that fills it but is not as detrimental your weight loss/health goals.
#3 Your Environment
Your environment will make or break you. Want to resist the cookies in your house, don’t keep cookies in your house. Are you a moderation or abstinence person? The moderation person can have the candy bar and have a square every day. These folks are not the majority. The abstinence person has to keep it out of the house, otherwise one bite and then it’s all gone. Think of this for your workouts, how do you make your environment more conducive for it to happen. How do you choose healthier options? Fruit out on the table, no junk food in the pantry, food prepared for the week, workout shoes in the car.
#4 Minimum. Effective Dose
Practice MED — Minimum Effective Dose. For you to lose weight don’t try the extremes, try to do the minimal amount to start off with, set yourself up for success, behavior change works best and lasts when done incrementally. Everyone is unique so how much change you need to make is dependent on how you respond to initial changes and your goals.
I see clients that drink 7–10 drinks a week or eat out most nights. They tell me I’ll stop drinking or I’ll just eat from home. My question is why, why do more than necessary to reach your goals. Plus, I want to set them up for lasting and sustained success. If we can get the results by cutting back 20–30% why not start there. Plus find the proper replacement for the percent that is cut out, remember root cause replacement from #2 above.
#5 Easy and Enjoyable
Make the process easier and more enjoyable. Each week find a new recipe to try out that works for you and your plan. Try a new activity that you think you might like that gets you moving. Enjoy a glass of wine with your spouse or an ice cream cone with your kid every once in a while, just don’t make this the nightly routine.
At the end of each week evaluate the previous week and set a plan for the following week. Evaluating the previous week for what could have been done to make it easier and more enjoyable is a key step. For example, buying daily harvest smoothies vs prepping your own smoothies or if you are naturally social find a friend to run with vs run on your own.
The emphasis of this series is how to maintain an ideal weight for the long term, and how to avoid yo-yo dieting. Specifically, how does a person who loses weight maintain that permanently and sustainably?
The key to long term weight loss is setting up your environment for success, creating healthy replacements that match your root cause for your unhealthy behaviors, making it easy and making it enjoyable. Nobody wants to eat chicken and broccoli every day. Find foods that you enjoy and aren’t high in calories. Find activity you like to do, if you don’t like to run, don’t run. Match up your personality with your activities. If you are social, find a workout class. If you like to compete, find a competition to do.
What are a few of the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they try to lose weight? What errors cause people to just snap back to their old unhealthy selves? What can they do to avoid those mistakes?
Taking extreme approaches almost always lead to the pendulum swing back to where you came from. Start off slow, understand it’s a journey, there is no final destination. Find a coach or friend to help, we all need some accountability.
How do we take all this information and integrate it into our actual lives? The truth is that we all know that it’s important to eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, etc. But while we know it intellectually, it’s difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives?
We all need support, find a coach, find a friend, or find a co worker that wants to go on this fitness journey with you. We also need to make sure we match strategies to our personality. If you like to plan then making meals for the week on Sunday might be for you. If you like to have variety, and make more decisions on the fly then have quick options that you can get on the go.
On the flip side, how can we prevent these ideas from just being trapped in a rarified, theoretical ideal that never gets put into practice? What specific habits can we develop to take these intellectual ideas and integrate them into our normal routine?
Don’t feel like you need to go all in. Work weekly on making small improvements. Test them and make sure they work for you. Over time these small changes will add up. Then you will not only see the results you want but also have a lifestyle you enjoy living.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Comparison is the thief of joy. Work on being a better version of yourself. The internet and social media makes it so we can instantaneously find another person that’s doing it better, faster, or more easily than we can. We do not know their real story, their real reality and most likely they do not want exactly the same things we want. Make it about yourself, not others.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
Tony Robbins
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Facebook: scottschutte.12
Instagram: scott.schutte
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
