Chaim Loeb is a certified personal trainer and a certified nutrition coach who is the founder and lead coach of Fit Yid Academy, an online health and fitness coaching program
Someone who is open to it — meaning, he communicates and has a growth mindset. Yes, if you follow the plan and show up, you can succeed, but communication when things aren’t going well allows you to break through your roadblocks. Someone who can’t give up on an all-or-nothing mentality or who insists on doing his own thing will have it harder. Sometimes a member decides to do more exercise than I recommend or eat less because “that’s what worked last time.” He’s forgetting that all the weight he lost “last time” is back on — clearly it didn’t work in the long run!
A healthy lifestyle is long term, and that’s what I do — guide Jewish men to properly engage with their health and fitness by providing individualized coaching for a sustainable healthy lifestyle so they can live more intentional and energetic lives. I’m emphasizing sustainable because a good chunk of my methodology has to do with mindset, sometimes more than physical results — how members feel is more important than if they work out daily or if they lose weight. I tell them perfection isn’t the goal — consistency is. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t hold you accountable for your goals, but your state of mind about health can be more important than your physical results that month, for example.
I tried getting a personal-training certificate years ago, not to earn a parnassah but to focus myself. Yet I couldn’t do it — I really struggled with the studying. After that I wasn’t in a great place health-wise, until I finally decided to commit to a healthy lifestyle and mindset, to get my personal life back on track — managing my time, setting a sleep schedule, eating well, treating my body with respect. I was productive, I had energy and clarity, and I understood where I was holding spiritually. I wanted to help other Jewish men experience the benefits of good health habits and all that comes along with that. At that point, I was able to sit and study and pass the personal trainer certification exam.
I set up Fit Yid Academy over two years ago. At first I figured the way to go was workout DVDs — I’d done enough of them! — but I quickly realized they’re too one-dimensional, they focus on just working out, not the whole picture. How could that lead to real transformation? A nice house with no foundation won’t stand for long, and the same holds true here — habits like hydration, food prep, and better sleep for recovery will set a stronger foundation than just focusing on what you eat or your exercise routine. This one-stop shop is a fairly new model. For decades, health coaching has been about going to multiple professionals — a personal trainer, a nutritionist or dietitian, and recently, weight-loss coaches, who can help with a fad diet or one that has you buying their food line, and yes, you’ll lose weight quickly, but these diets are restrictive and not really sustainable.
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