Hey guys and gals! Welcome to the BRAND NEW Beyond Strength Performance NOVA website. We are still doing a lot of work on the site, but I couldn’t wait any longer to start posting here! This first post is an interview with Chas Evans. Chas is a client and friend of mine that did his assessment at BSP NOVA, and then went back to college at Widener, where he completed 16 weeks of online programming and nutrition guidance. He was 265lbs before starting the program in January, and had a goal of being 215lbs before graduation in May. He worked his butt off and hit the 215lbs 10 days before graduation!
To me, the biggest improvement is not the number on the scale, but the improvements in movement, posture, and lifestyle…
I think we can all learn a lot from individuals like Chas, so check out the interview to see what he has to say!
1.) Tell the readers a little bit about your background and why you came to Beyond Strength Performance NOVA for help.
My background – As a football player through high school and college, I knew I wasn’t fast enough to be a receiver or linebacker so I took the role of offensive and defensive line and had a blast playing the game. My workout tactics as an offensive lineman were strictly bench, squat, hang clean, and power clean. Push-ups and pull-ups were not emphasised, but conditioning was encouraged (not always done). In terms of diet, it was just eat, eat ,and eat. So obviously I got my protein with chicken and beef, but also enjoyed eating all the chips, ice cream, pizza, and anything else that I wanted to.
I knew once my football playing days were over, I would need to completely revamp how I ate throughout the day, and change my workouts to improve my overall fitness level, not just my bench and squat. I came to Beyond Strength Performance NOVA because if there was anyone I could go to for advice on diet and fitness, it was Chris Merritt. Also, by going to Chris, I became liable to someone for my results. If I came up with my own plan to start off I feel like it would have been too easy to just quit for some BS reason.
2.) What was your experience like when you came down to do the assessment?
When I came down for my assessment I thought my overall fitness was decent from playing football in college, but I was quickly proven wrong in terms of my mobility and core strength, which Chris showed me lacked by a bit.
3.) When you went back to college, what did you do differently?
When I went back to college, the first thing I did was give away most of my food from my fridge to friends. I found out quickly if I kept chips or ice cream in the dorm room, I would eventually eat it, even if I wasn’t hungry. Once I cleared out my food supply, I started going to the cafeteria more, which helped me to limit my meals to 3 solid meals a day. The snacks I did pick up eventually for the dorm room consisted of vegetables (celery, broccoli, etc) and perishable fruit such as apples and bananas, which forced me to eat them before they went bad.
4.) How did you eat to lose 50 pounds and gain strength while in college? What was it like navigating the student cafeteria?
In terms of gaining strength, it wasn’t tough to switch the time I spent lifting for football to time spent doing more conditioning and completing my BSP workout. I felt I got a lot stronger when Chris would set weekly goals for different activities. [Note from Chris: I added weekly density challenges for Chas to complete. i.e. 150 pull-ups a week on week one, 175 on week 2, etc…] Navigating the cafeteria was definitely an experience. I found that for lunch I stuck to the salad bar area and would only add chicken or tuna to my salad if the café had it in stock. I decided to not even walk towards the pizza, burger, and “chicken patty” stations because I knew that even though they had protein they also had a ton of fat. [Note from Chris: The nutrition guidlines I provided Chas with called for plenty of fats, just from the right sources…] In terms of breakfast, I switched my usual omlet from ham, turkey, bacon, and sausage, to one with spinach, broccoli, and turkey. Another major change in my diet was pushing carbs off until one time a day (dinner). This allowed me have a subway sub for dinner or have the potatoes, rice, breads, with my main protein at the café. The best strategy for the rest of the meals was to switch my typical carbs with a veggie.
5.) What was different about doing programming online as opposed to going to the gym “on your own?”
The biggest difference about doing online programming was that it provided me with workouts and exercises I was unfamiliar with and would struggle a little with. It was a challenge I would have never gotten if I just created my own workouts. Chris was always available to answer questions on workouts I didn’t understand, but that rarely happened since a lot of the online videos of the workout were Chris demonstrating the proper form.
6.) How will this change your life after college?
The program has definitely changed my eating habits post-football and post-college. Now, whenever I eat a meal I always try to pick a vegetable over a carb. I have also found it easier to select items at restaurants because I can cross more selections out that I clearly know wont be healthy. In terms of overall fitness, I used to always tell my self each football season that I was in the best shape of my life. But now after my 16 week program I can do more pull-ups, push-ups, bench, and squat than I had been able to do my entire football career, all while being 50lbs lighter. I can now truly say that I’m in the best shape of my life, but there is always room for improvement.
7.) What are the biggest takeaways you’ve learned from this experience?
The biggest takeaway from this experience had to be to make sure you have a support system and someone to hold you accountable for your weight loss. In the end it is just you that has to deal with the results, but along the way if you have people who are expecting you to succeed it provides you with that extra motivation to not let them down. Also, make sure those around you understand that you are serious about losing the weight and dieting. Nothing is worse then going to restaurant with friends early on in your diet and having them persuade you to have that fast food and dessert. I found that when I told my friends that I was not going to eat that way enough times they saw that I was serious and they would actually begin to suggest places were there were I could get healthy options to eat.
8.) What advice would you give to a college student, or even a high school senior about to go to college, in your position?
Right off the bat, SET A ROUTINE. A routine for where you’re going to look for food when you go to the cafeteria- everytime. Set a routine for when you are going to go to the gym, even a routine on how you’re going to get the extra workouts and food on the weekends (a routine on how you’re not going to eat junk food is also a good idea). If you tell yourself that you’ll figure out your routine along the way, you are lying to yourself and you will give half-effort on your workout. That is exactly what happened to my roommate. He said he’d join me on the workouts , but once he changed his routine and missed a few, a few ended up leading to a lot more. Then that became his routine, not working out and not eating right.
9.) Anything else you’d like to say, or people you’d like to thank?
I first off would like to thank Chris. He knew the goals I wanted to accomplish with these workouts, and even though others would say that they were lofty goals, Chris told me right from the start that they were attainable, BUT THERE WOULD BARELY BE ANY ROOM FOR CHEATING. I would also like to thank my roommates Shaun, TJ, and Jared because back when I was still playing football they all made a significant bet with me that I wouldn’t lose the weight. Luckily for me (and them by the end of the program), they dropped the bet the week before I started working with BSP because they actually wanted to see me succeed, and not root against me. They provided me with additional motivation while I went through the daily grind of college.
10.) Thanks for doing the inerview!
Thanks again Chris for providing me with the tools and support to achieve my goals of losing my football weight and improving my overall fitness. I hope to be in touch in the future with another fitness goal.
Have any questions for Chas? Drop a comment below and I’ll be sure to have him come and answer! Thanks for reading… (1862)
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