Colin DeWaay Training

My last two weeks of tracking. I wanted to show how I like to go about things to help stay on plan, give some flexibility, etc. Maybe it’ll help you (not saying this is for everyone.)

First, I’m only tracking calories, protein, and fiber, and I interchange carbs and fats how I like. I pay attention to them, but don’t worry too much. There’s a lot of evidence whether you prefer more carbs or fat is irrelevant as long as calories and protein are equated.

I also track fiber to keep food quality up and it has a high thermic effect of food so a high and low fiber diet with calories equated is NOT the same. I usually recommend between 1-2 g / 100 calories. I go a little less because I have some GI stress with too much.

You could also spell out high/low calorie days but really it doesn’t matter as long as your average for the week is the same. When not cutting anyway, I prefer a static number and just make sure I’m within 50 calories by the end of the week.

While most like their week to start on Monday, I like Wednesday. This way I can “bank” some calories for the weekend if I want. Wednesday also happens to be an off day so I don’t mind lower calories that day and it gets me ahead. This way too if somethings comes up unexpectedly over the weekend and I go over more than planned, I have Mon and Tuesday to get things back in line. Works great for me.

Anyway the main thing that works so well for many with the weekly average is it takes the pressure away from feeling you have to be perfect every day. You don’t have to and it’s not possible. Putting that pressure on yourself often leads to overeating due to feeling like you’ve “screwed up” (you haven’t) and what’s the point?

With the averages you can eat more if you’re more hungry one day, less if you’re less hungry. You can bank up calories for an event or the weekend. And with the 50 calorie RANGE for the weekly average, it helps with that perfectionist mindset.

I HIGHLY recommend you plug your numbers into a spreadsheet like this daily. If you aren’t paying attention and just look at the end of the week, you can be way off. If you see how things look the last couple of days, now you can adjust. Can be helpful!

Currently averaging about 189 lbs. Most I’ve averaged since Feb 2018. I talked recently about how the PLAN was to spend all of 2024 in a build but life threw a lot of monkey wrenches into those plans (it’s always gonna happen.) Between some really bad illnesses and injuries I’ve only been able to fully train half of the last 8 months. Up about 10 lbs this year and 20 since my last cut. Some intentional, some not so much (like Hawaii yolo which I’m okay with.)

Anyway, it’s funny to me. I’ve been back in full the last month and a half. When I started back up I was bumming because I for sure want to cut early 2025. So that ONLY left me 6 months to build, if all goes well. And I know that’s not a lot of time for it.

The reason I say that’s funny is because for me I’m nervous it’s NOT enough time, most of the time if I tell someone they have to stay out of a deficit for 6 months they act like that’s forever and whine about it. When in reality, it’s still often not enough time especially if you have an extreme diet history. (I’ve actually been out of a deficit for a year and a half, minus the 2 week mini cut I documented.)

Building muscle and metabolism takes time. What you do during this time builds the foundation for the success of your future cut. Not just for muscle building, but to make sure your body will respond well because you’re in a good spot metabolically. If you keep rushing back into a deficit, you’ll keep struggling and being frustrated by your lack of change.

Do I love where I’m at right now? No. Am I judging myself for it or feel like I’m less worthy of happiness because of it? Definitely not. I know it’s a temporary thing and sticking with it will aid in the betterment of my future when the time comes. By the time I’m cutting I know I’ll be up even more.

But I’m going to focus on all the MANY benefits the next 5 months. More food and flexibility in my diet, not being hungry (like, at all), CRUSHING it in the gym performance wise, building that muscle and metabolism, etc. etc. etc. I’m going to do everything I can now so when the time comes to cut, the reward will be sweet. You should consider doing the same.

There’s so much to talk about here. Yes, my client made an awesome transformation. Yes it shows you can’t get caught up in the scale. That’s an important message, but not where I’m going with this. Though it’s clear big physical changes were made, regardless of the scale.

What you don’t see is a lot of patience and hard work. A great attitude. Trusting the process. What you don’t see is 92!!! weeks of reverse dieting and almost 50% more calories before the cut began. What you don’t see is gaining 22 lbs during that time (but only 1/2” on his waist) and one buttload of mental improvements.

Here’s the thing: If you have an extreme history of dieting and your metabolism is shot. You know you need to reverse diet. But you don’t. Why? Because you’re afraid of gaining weight. I get it!

But it’s what allows you to succeed. You have to learn to act with INTENT in your non-dieting phases. The truth is it’s what you do when you’re NOT dieting that makes the biggest difference. Without it, the dieting phase is meaningless.

So yeah, you’re probably going to gain weight. But it’s not about the weight gain during the reverse. Again, he gained 22 lbs (clearly a lot of that was muscle.) The weight gain is a temporary thing to allow your body to thrive again. Don’t sacrifice your long-term goals because of short-term gratification (that isn’t very gratifying.)

Here’s the other thing: It’s not just about metabolism and muscle. It’s about improving your relationship with food and body FIRST. I promise you won’t diet your way there. A better body image doesn’t come from a better body, it comes from accepting you deserve to be happy regardless of how you look. When you stop judging yourself based on looks, now you’re ready to make the physical change.

Anyway, so many people think if it’s going to take a long time it’s not worth it. Do you think he thought it wasn’t worth it??? If you’re finally at the place where enough is enough. You realize crash dieting is not serving you but destroying you. Shoot me a DM, let’s chat.

P.S. He wanted to stay anonymous, I always respect that. Just know I’m INCREDIBLY proud of you my friend! People like you are what make me love what I do. ❤️

One of the most important things I’ve learned in life is almost every time I’ve ignored my gut it’s been a bad decision. The first thought is the right one.

Don’t look for information to support your initial decision. Seeking that will either be based on other people experiences (mostly failures) OR you’re talking yourself out of it due to fear, instead of focusing on the excitement of what could go right.

So have the courage to chase what you want. Learn to trust your instincts without overthinking it. Take action with no judgement on yourself for what happens. Just learn and grow.

I hesitate to make this post because there’s A LOT of people who don’t challenge themselves enough to give their body a reason to change

So don’t take this as pushing yourself as a bad thing

BUT, if you’re working out every day, barely sleeping, barely eating, skimping on protein, and running yourself into the ground

Well, that’s not gonna do the trick either

So yes, push yourself hard... But recover hard too.

Most people think they’ll be happier by reaching a certain body weight or composition. But most of the time that’s not true.

How do I know this? Because here’s what I see all the time as a coach (and have noticed in myself too.) You’re always happier at a higher body fat but actively losing weight than you are at a lower body fat but maintaining.

Why does this happen? Cause people are happiest when making progress. Which is ironic when you consider most people’s goal is to lose the weight and keep it off. Not realizing the “keep it off” part means continuing to put in the work, but without seeing progress for your actions.

Honestly it’s why actual building phases can be so beneficial beyond what it does for you metabolically. Now it gives PURPOSE to your non-dieting phases, not to mention makes any gaining post-diet easier to handle cause it’s for a reason. Especially since if you do this thing right you should be spending WAY more time not dieting than dieting.

So don’t get so fixated on the “end goal” that you rob yourself of the best part. Enjoying the progress along the way. Because there is no happy ending to an unhappy journey. If you’re upset the whole time cause you “aren’t where you want to be” it’s almost impossible to end up happy.

To my knowledge there’s no evidence when total calories and protein are equated, that meal timing has an impact on fat loss

Which is GREAT news

It means you can eat the way you LIKE to eat

Forcing yourself to eat when you’re not hungry or sitting there starving because it’s not your “eating window” isn’t likely to last long

If a certain style fits what you like, great! But it’s not magic, I promise

Focus on how much, not when

How often do you like to eat?

Some workouts will be good, some bad, A LOT are going to be average

You don’t need to (and won’t) crush it every time

90% of this battle is about continuing to show up for yourself

Regardless of what kind of results you’re seeing or your current mood

You never regret getting it done, but you usually regret NOT doing it

It’s always worth showing up for yourself and making yourself proud

Agree? Please leave a like and share with others who could use this message in their life

You shouldn’t beat yourself or feel bad because you don’t ALWAYS live up to what you think a “healthy person” looks like

Beating yourself up will do much more harm than good

Not only that, the idea that “fit and healthy” looks the same on everyone is ridiculous

I spent YEARS being a “clean eater” and demonizing certain foods

Trust me, I became WAY “healthier” when I got away from the extreme approach and allowed myself some flexibility

(Instead of binging on the foods I deemed as off limits)

No food is inherently bad for you on it’s own as it requires context of your overall diet

Yes you should eat plenty of nutrient dense foods

But having a piece of cake and fitting it into your normal diet isn’t bad for you

A diet of only cake, probably not the best idea...

Most importantly... Always remember FOOD DOESN’T HAVE MORALITY

There’s nothing to feel guilty about...

Muscle memory sure is a wonderful thing. Two months without upper body training with a shoulder injury and now one month back and definitely right back to where I was before.

Just something to remember when you find yourself in situations where you have to miss time.

Muscle is hard to lose and easy to regain. It won’t take you as long to build back as it took to build initially. Not even close.

Setbacks will always happen. I’ve had so many in the last 16 years doing this stuff your head would spin. Including once where I wasn’t allow to do ANY form of exercise for 6 months.

But no setback can ruin everything unless give up completely. Do what you can and control what you can control when they do happen, so you aren’t setting yourself back more than necessary.

Just a friendly reminder it’s perseverance that makes the biggest difference. Not being “perfect” the rest of your life.

If you keep doubting yourself you’ll never make it. I know it’s tough if you have a history of failing, but don’t become a victim of your past mistakes and learn from them.

You become what you repeatedly think. So without the belief you can do it, you have no reason to follow through.

Others will let you down. Life will knock you down. The one thing you have full control over is your own actions.

If you bet on yourself you can’t lose. I promise you’re all you need to succeed. Start making yourself proud!

One thing I frequently hear from clients who were struggling but start killing it:

"I'm just as busy if not busier than before, but now I'm MAKING the time."

Time is an easy scapegoat. Sure we all have to back off sometimes, but all time shows you is what the biggest priorities are in your life.

I’ve had single moms going to school and working two jobs workout 5 days per week and crush nutrition every day. I’ve had retired people with nobody at home always say they didn’t have time to workout twice…

There’s no right or wrong priorities. But YOU decide what they are. But make no mistake… If you want progress, this lifestyle HAS to be a big priority.

In my experience people who claim to be desperate for big physique changes are the ones mentally unequipped to handle what that will mean. Everything is emotional instead of process/purpose driven.

- They aren’t determined, they’re desperate
- They don’t act with strong intent, they act on emotions
- They’re all or nothing instead of consistent
- They place too much self worth on body shape

Without question the main difference is they’re led by emotions, fear, and panic. It’s okay to have emotions, they’re unavoidable. But will you act on your plan or let the emotions steer you away from the process?

Those who make big changes are patient, process oriented, and don’t get overly wrapped up in results. They just EXECUTE and let it take how long it takes.

Desperate people do desperate things and desperate things rarely lead to lasting results.

Don’t be desperate, be determined and disciplined!

P.S. - Definitely not a current picture of me. LOL

How long SHOULD you reverse diet?

I’ll cover it below, but first understand if you cut too soon you’ll undo all the progress you made with your reverse and have to start over...

Focus on enjoying all the MANY benefits that come with reverse dieting

More food and flexibility with your diet, less hunger, more energy, better strength/performance, better sleep, better mood....

EVERYTHING about the process is better during the reverse

There’s only ONE benefit of a fat loss phase. Fat loss. Everything else will be worse

So the million dollar question, how long?

Well it depends on a lot and every situation is unique but here’s a small guideline you can use.

Keeping in mind these are MINIMUM times and the longer you’re out of a deficit the better you will respond when you cut

If you have less than 5 years of dieting history:
6-9 months

If you have 5-10 years of dieting history
9-12 months

If you have over a decade of dieting history:
12-18 months

If you aren’t coming from a position of chronic dieting and you’re talking about finishing a cut:
Minimum however long you dieted but that’s still dangerous. Preferably two times as long or more

These times include your time increase and time holding your new maintenance calories

Don’t be the person who says it’s too long and then spends 20 years dieting on and off only getting fatter

Use this time to improve your relationship with food and body, build muscle, metabolism, and buy into the LIFESTYLE

If you focus on what you can’t do, you’ll feel like you might as well do nothing

Waiting for things to be perfect is a surefire way to never make progress

Something is ALWAYS better than nothing

Focus on what you CAN do, stay patient, and you will still get results

If this helped please leave a like and share it with someone you think it could help

Lifting is life’s greatest metaphor. The harder you work in there the less you’ll accept an average life everywhere else.

Especially early on when you push yourself your body has no choice but to adapt and get stronger. You quickly find strength levels you thought were impossible you can now accomplish.

It teaches you that you’re capable of more than you think and when you don’t quit, good things happen.

If you don’t let the weights beat you, you won’t let LIFE beat you.

If you want great results, it's your mind and willingness to do what it takes that'll get you there.

Others like myself can teach you and inspire you, but only you can do the work and stay disciplined.

When you vow to forget about "how long" and persist unconditionally without creating excuses, you open the door to massive results.

This is something few understand or are willing to do. Do this, and you'll know what it's like to create results you never dreamed were possible.

Unpopular opinion: The thrill and excitement of chasing a goal is better than accomplishing it.

Often you just find yourself lost after. Like “now what?”

I promise there’s no end goal that makes you happy. So if you focus on how far you have to go instead of appreciating whatever progress you make. You’re robbing yourself of the best part of the process.

There is no happy ending to an unhappy journey.

It’s not sexy, but it’s what works. Don’t major in the minor.

Getting people to take pictures is one of my greatest struggles as a coach. When I think about how tough it is to get people who are PAYING me to take them, it leads me to believe almost nobody doing things on their own does. You’re trying to change your BODY, not a number on the scale. Would you believe the difference here is 5 lbs??? Cause it is…

But even if you are taking pics, just taking them on their own isn’t enough. You need to physically put them side by side to compare and you need to take ones from the front, side, and back because you can lose body fat from ANYWHERE.

We tend to have certain areas we focus on the most, like the stomach, which is usually the LAST to go. So you may be losing fat in many areas but you don’t see it because you’re only looking at one spot (if at all.)

So when my client was talking about how a lot of people at the gym were complimenting him on his changes but he couldn’t see it, I went back to the evidence and put the original photos from 4 months ago side by side.

They all showed changes, but nothing compared to the changes in his back. Even his lower back fat has VANISHED, which is crazy cause for guys that’s usually one of the last spots to go. That taper is freaking impressive.

But if we didn’t have pictures, or if he only took pictures from the front, I wouldn’t have been able to show him this. (Boy did that excite and motivate the crap out of him to keep pushing btw!)

So take those pics! I understand you don’t like how you look when you’re starting. But if you aren’t documenting it, it can get demoralizing when it feels like things aren’t working. Not to mention when you DO make big changes, you LOVE having those photos because you’re proud of how far you’ve come. (I regret all the time not having photos of me at my largest.)

Remember, you see yourself every day. Changes happen slowly. So while it FEELS like nothing is happening week by week, when you look back over a longer period of time it shows dramatic changes. If you don’t have the pictures to compare, well, it’s just not good...

Anyway, proud of you Dhiaa! Keep crushing it my man!

You can’t know what you’re capable of without challenging yourself to do more than you’re currently capable of.

Don’t let limiting beliefs or the fear of failure stop you from reaching your true potential.

That all starts by no longer judging yourself. Try, fail, fall down over and over, but keep getting up.

Do this for years and your current version of yourself wouldn’t even recognize the new you. A version of yourself you only dreamed of!

I’m sure you’ve heard “find your why”, but do you know why it’s so important?

It’s your PURPOSE. Everyone does great at first. Your why is fuel to sustain you through the WHOLE journey.

If you lose sight of your purpose, you give too much value to current challenges and pain. So you stop when it inevitably gets hard.

So find your why. I promise “I just don’t want to feel so fat” is not enough. Give it a deeper meaning. One incredibly important to you. Then don’t let go.

Long but incredibly important message here. This is NOT just about hitting a milestone...

Anyway, I don’t view myself as someone overly talented at anything. But one thing I know I do better than 95+% is I keep going towards my goals regardless of how long it takes.

Sure I think I work hard, but plenty outwork me, especially for short periods of time. VERY few can OUTLAST me. (How do you outlast someone who never quits???)

I honestly believe the biggest reason people never reach their physique goals or any goal in life isn’t because they don’t have the capability. They just give up because they feel it’s taking too long. But especially considering you have to live this lifestyle FOREVER, why does it matter how long it takes?

Thing is I can talk all I want about how to optimize exercise and nutrition to get the best results. But there’s one thing that TRULY separates people who succeed and don’t.

It’s having the grit to persevere through tough times. To keep going when results suck and it feels like it’s not worth the effort. When everything inside of you is telling you to quit, but you DON’T.

BUT it’s not enough to just keep going if you’re being consistent and not seeing results. You have to have an honest assessment with yourself. Where can you improve? What can you do differently?

I had to do that in the last year or so with my videos. Let’s be honest 1000 videos in 10 years and 18,000 subscribers SUCKS. But there was a reason for it and it’s not “YouTube hates me.”

My video INFORMATION has always been good, but when I was honest with myself they were long-winded, often redundant, and boring. I’m proud knowing almost everyone would’ve given up by now and I haven’t, but something had to change.

So I’ve made improvements. Traction is picking up some. Hopefully things will pick up more. But regardless, my vow is this: I will keep going no matter what. I hope you’ll make the same vow for your health and fitness goals.

Besides, you don’t value stuff that comes easy, you value things you have to fight for REPEATEDLY. The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. Keep going my friend.

When life knocks you down you will not be the same person after. You WILL either be stronger or weaker after. Which one is dependent on how you respond.

If you fight back and keep going after your goals you have no choice but to become stronger. You teach yourself you’re capable of more than you thought. The pride and confidence you build carries on forever.

If you succumb and quit. Now you’re weaker. You’re teaching yourself you give up when things get hard. You convince yourself it’s just not in the cards. And life gets harder and harder as your confidence plummets.

“But it’s hard”. Damn right. It’s what makes it worth it! Stop running from hard, embrace it and run TOWARDS it. Cause everything you want in life is on the other side of fear, pain, and difficulty.

When you have a big goal you’ll be challenged relentlessly. Eventually you’ll be forced to have a debate with yourself. Either temporarily relieving pain by quitting, or a lifetime of pride by always pressing forward.

If you continue, eventually your dream becomes a reality. If you succumb to the pain and quit you’re left with a giant hole that eventually gets filled… with regret.

I promise you’ll be happier by continuing the pursuit. You’re stronger than you think. Prove it to yourself! 💪🏻

Life will make you retry the same things over and over until you learn what you did wrong and and fix it. If you don’t, it will keep repeating.

Your failures don’t make you a failure, they’re the very things you NEED to find the correct path forward. Head up, no judging yourself, learn the lessons and grow. This is THE way you create the life you want.

Don’t let one day enjoying yourself turn into several days or weeks because you beat yourself up

You’re always just one meal from being back on track

If you struggle with this. Stop and ask yourself what you would tell a friend who did the same thing

Then tell yourself THAT