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How Coquitlam Personal Trainer Lost 60 Pounds

How Coquitlam Personal Trainer Lost 60 Pounds

Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com

Nutrition is often misunderstood and can be confusing. To be completely honest, I never really had a grasp on nutrition until I started working with a nutrition coach for the past 3.5 years. Personal trainers do not specialize in nutrition. Thus, Laurie and I have also spent the last few years investing in nutrition certifications, masterminds, and conferences. Our goal is to be a personal training studio specializing in nutrition and provide you with everything you need in order to reach your goals. Although exercise is important to help you reach your goals, nutrition also needs to be at the same level of importance.

Here Are 5 Lessons that I have Learned with My Own Transformation

  1. Nutrition is a skill. It gets easier with practice and as you put the reps in. Meal prep is a skill. Knowing how to put together balanced meals is a skill. Knowing your macros is a skill. Knowing how to track your calories and macros are skills or you’ll be shooting darts in the dark. Determining your portion sizes is a skill! Understanding your biofeedback is a skill! Your energy level, mood, sex drive, sleep quality, hunger levels indicate how your body is responding to your current ‘nutrition’ plan. Planning your nutrition is also a skill which gets easier with practice as you progress from white belt to black belt level nutrition. Start with one skill such as planning your meals for the week. Then progress to incorporating another skill such as portion control. Refer to the Welcome Package to determine portion sizes.
  2. Nutrition doesn’t have a set start date and end date, instead it evolves as you continue to see progress. Instead of finding the perfect diet for you, we’re interested in find the perfect routine for you.
  3. Food is fuel. Don’t punish yourself. Instead of working out to punish your body of food, use food to fuel you through your workouts! Celebrate your ability to move!
  4. Cookie cutter meal plans don’t work. Avoid the fad diets. I’ve tried them all. What worked for your friend or someone else, won’t necessarily work for you. Your starting point is different. If you’re currently consuming 4000 calories and you try a meal plan that your friend is doing at 2000 calories, you’ll set yourself up for failure. It’s too far out of reach. To go from 4000 calories to 2000 calories will create massive withdrawal. Changes must be incremental and based on your current eating habits or you’ll be guessing blind. The reality is, it may have taken 5 to 10 years for your body to adapt to your ‘current’ nutrition plan. It’ll take time for your body to adjust to your “new” nutrition plan. It can take time to see results. Start with tracking at least 3 days of food and assess your biofeedback to determine how your body is currently doing. Are you consuming an excess of carbs? Excess of protein and carbs? Perhaps you’re under consuming protein? Is your energy low or high? How’s your mood? How’s your sleep quality? How’s your sex drive? Once you have that data, you’ll have a better idea on how to troubleshoot if needed.
  5. If you’ve been dieting for years and hopping from one diet to another, your body may have metabolic damage. This can take months and sometimes even years to repair. You may actually need an excess of calories, in order to first repair and reset your body to be able to lose weight. Sometimes, it can take several months to be able to lose 10 pounds if you have metabolism damage. Start with fueling your body with high quality protein, fats, and carbs. Good food is good fuel! If you find that your biofeedback (energy, mood, sex drive, high stress, focus) is poor, this may be an indication of metabolism issues. Reach out to us to help troubleshoot! 🙂 https://calendly.com/nutritioncoaching/chat-with-me
Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com

Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com


Common Questions on Fitness and Nutrition. Answers by Port Moody Personal Trainer Sam Noh

Common Questions on Fitness and Nutrition. Answers by Port Moody Personal Trainer Sam Noh

Should I do keto? Do I need to eat a salad to lose weight? Can you send me a copy of your meal plan? Do shakes help with weight loss. Is cardio the best way to lose fat? Do I do high reps in the gym to lose weight? I’ve heard it all.

There’s a ton of confusing and misleading information out there when it comes to fitness and nutrition, sometimes with conflicting theories. It’s actually quite overwhelming.

Personal trainers are not experts in nutrition. I’ll be honest.  I was quite inexperienced with nutrition early on in my career. We were taught to refer our clients to the Canada Food Guide for nutrition advice. Back in the early 2000’s, the Canada Food Guide was quite general with insufficient guidance to help you reach your goals.

After going through my own weight gain of 45 pounds and weight loss of 70 pounds, my previous beliefs on fitness and nutrition were challenged.

I have learned so much, which has changed the way we deliver fitness and nutrition to our clients. The past few years, Laurie and I have also taken extensive courses on nutrition as we found that nutrition is an area that the fitness industry falls behind on. I also still work with my nutrition coach to this day and continue to learn more about nutrition.

Here are some answers to common questions regarding nutrition:

1) Should I do keto?

There are some benefits of keto. We’re not here to advocate one meal plan over the other. Just be prepared to live that lifestyle ‘life-long’. You cannot necessarily do part-time keto much like you can’t be a part-time vegan. Carbs aren’t the enemy. Carbs serve many vital functions such as helping with regulating cortisol levels. You can still eat carbs and lose weight! It’s overconsumption of carbs which is the main issue.

2) Do I need to eat a salad to lose weight?

You do not necessarily have to eat a salad to lose weight. A salad can be an option to add to your diet. Of course, some salads are loaded with calories due to the dressing and extras. Do you enjoy eating salads? I personally like to eat rice, potatoes, and yams as they fill me up more. You can still have carbs and lose weight.

3) Can you send me a copy of your meal plan?

We don’t give out meal plans. What worked for one client, may not work for you. Your starting point is different. Meal plans and diets can fail you if they’re not sustainable. Sometimes, they’re completely out of reach from where you’re starting from. The reality is your body has adapted to your current nutrition and fitness. To avoid withdrawal and shock to the body, making small incremental and consistent changes are essential to reaching your goals long-term. To put this into greater perspective, my nutrition plan has changed several times working with a nutrition coach the past three years. It continues to evolve as I hit my goals and as my body changes.

If you would like help with your fitness and nutrition, book your complimentary consultation here: https://calendly.com/erf/free-strategy-session-info-session

Sam


The Over Weight Personal Trainer

The Over Weight Personal Trainer

Nutrition is very confusing.

You log in on Facebook and you see your friend is going on the Keto diet, the Detox diet, or the Grapefruit client. It can all be quite overwhelming. Do any of these diets even work?

Whichever ‘diet’ you choose, be prepared to do it for the long haul. After all, this is a lifestyle choice. Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with “Challenges”. I love it that it’ll motivate you to get started, but I hate it because I truly believe that nutrition and fitness do not have a set start date and end date. Your nutrition and fitness should continue to change as you see progress and get closer to your goals.

However, I get it. It’s hard to start. Where do you start??? How do you get started???

Here are Three Areas that Some Struggle with When it comes to Nutrition:

a) There are some who just eat and indulge whatever is convenient and easy, and do their best to make the best choice yet lack direction on what to really eat to reach their goals.

b) There are some who know how to eat, “healthy”, but have problems with implementation.

c) There are some who think they eat “healthy”, yet their main goal is still to lose weight. There are misconceptions on the definition of healthy. Is brown rice healthier than white rice? The answer may surprise you. I’d rather have white rice. Brown rice can have greater traces of arsenic. In terms of white or brown having an impact on weight, they’re both carbs. The discussion should be a matter of portion control.

What do you struggle with the most? Reply back with your answer. I’d love to hear from you…

Because nutrition and fitness can be so confusing, I’ve put together the6 Week Jump Start Program designed to add to yourknowledge and relationship with food, and coach you to implement that knowledge. You’ll receive a taste of what our nutrition clients experience at a fraction of what nutrition coaching typically goes for.

Does this program work? 3 years ago, I was 60 pounds heavier. I was an overweight personal trainer….Nutrition coaching has helped me personally lose over 60 pounds to date. Pretty ironic?


I’m far from perfect. Through my weight gain and weight loss journey, I have a greater understanding of the challenges you may have with your fitness and nutrition.

I still work with a nutrition coach to this day and can still enjoy my favourite cheat foods every week. Eating “healthy” is not about deprivation or starvation! My nutrition also continues to evolve as I continue to see progress.

My wife and I also now own a nutrition coaching business. We’ve included some of those services into this particular program to help you see even better results. As well, we’ve put this program together because the information out there is just so confusing and misleading!

The 6 Week Jump Start Program also includes 12 of our semi private personal training sessions! BTW, our sessions are small and intimate averaging only 3 to 6 clients, as opposed to a large bootcamps of 20 to 30+ people. We like our sessions small, so that you receive 1-on-1 attention from your personal trainer, giving you much faster and safer results.


Celebrating 11 Years! Founded on December 18, 2008. Happy Birthday!

Celebrating 11 Years! Founded on December 18, 2008. Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Celebrating 11 Years! Founded on December 18, 2008

Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com

Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com

It’s been quite the ride! It’s been quite the hustle. I’m still hustling! I have learned to embrace the journey.  I started off training crazy hours every week, typically working split shifts. Working early mornings and late evenings used to be the norm. In my mid-twenties, the goal was to open 10+ locations. However after facing some adversity in my life, having life outside of work has become a greater goal. Being home in the evenings and enjoying dinner at home was quite rare. It took a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices to get here.  I have no regrets though.

Looking back the last 11 years, I am content and extremely grateful. My program continues to grow and evolve every year. Regardless, the mission remains the same. My passion remains the same and is greater than ever. I’m here to stay and excited for the next 11 years!

Over the years, we’ve also added more offerings and some great plans for 2020! Our 1-on-1 Personal Training Program and Nutrition Coaching Program have grown this past year. I’m so excited for 2020!

Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com

Through this journey, I have learned many lessons, and continue to learn. I’ve made countless mistakes through trial and error. I’m far from perfect.

11 Lessons I have Learned in 11 Years

  1. Invest in a coach to get you to your goals. Never stop learning. Embrace change and adapt. I believe this is why we’re still in business after 11 years. On the surface it may not be always obvious, but our program continues to improve and evolve each year.
  2. Hire slow, fire fast. Have an ideal team avatar who shares your core values, mission statement, and vision. This took some time, but we have it now dialed in with our new hiring and training process.
  3. Hire full-time team members. Part-time equates to part-time commitment and focus. Full time can be a challenge in the fitness industry. It typically means splits shifts, working early mornings and evenings. We’ve created hybrid positions in order to offer full-time career opportunities.
  4. Level up your team! Invest in your team. Invest in their personal and professional development. Support and coach them to continually grow with you. I’m so proud of my team on how much they have grown not only as a professional, but also as a person.
  5. Serve your Ideal Client Avatar and be the best at serving them. You can’t serve everyone. It must be a good ‘mutual’ fit. Also offer programs that you truly believe in for your ideal clients. We’re not the ‘bootcamp’ program where you work out with 20 to 30+ people. Sorry we don’t believe in that, as providing personalized attention and engaging with our clients are very important to us. 🙂
  6. Embrace the ride! Owning a business is like a roller coaster. There will be good and bad days.
  7. Put the oxygen mask on you first. Take care of your mind, body, and spirit.
  8. Learn to say NO.  There will always be distractions and energy sucking activities and people, which can distract you from your goals.
  9. Plan your non-work time into your daily schedule. I honestly struggled with this for years. Sundays are now always a full work-free day for me. I don’t check work messages. I don’t even think about work. If I have a work matter on my mind, I’ll compartmentalize it by sending myself an email to deal with on Monday.
  10. Plan to complete your deep work time each day ideally first thing in the morning, when you’re the most positive and have the most energy. This is when you focus on the biggest lever that moves the ‘needle’ forward. Also, plan for ‘buffer’ times daily for unexpected interruptions.
  11. Be grateful each day. Remember where you came from, and why you started.

We’ve survived the last 11 years and we’re grateful to be Tri-Cities’ longest running personal training studio, due to your amazing support!

Thank you to all past and current clients. Regardless if you’re a current client or not, I’m grateful for you for giving me the opportunity to live my passion. Thank you to everyone who has coached me and supported me through this amazing journey. Special thanks to my family, my mom, and my wife, Laurie for believing in me and making my dreams come true!

-Sammy Noh


I finished my advent calendar in 2 days! Plus, my Four Strategies that I personally use in order to Survive the Holidays!

I finished my advent calendar in 2 days! Plus, my Four Strategies that I personally use in order to Survive the Holidays!

This year, my Lindt Chocolate Advent Calendar only made it to December 2. 🙄  My kryptonite is chocolate. 😛 The good news is, after my chocolate feast, I was back on track the next day and haven’t had any chocolate ever since.

Judge me if you like. However, there’s a lesson to be learned here.
Last year, I had one chocolate a day from my Advent Calendar but ended up getting addicted to chocolate and craving it throughout the day. One chocolate was a gateway to eating more treats and indulgences, especially when I got in the habit of having chocolate everyday from my Advent Calendar! I remember one year, I ended up gaining 8 pounds during the holidays!

I’m not necessarily recommending you eat all your chocolates in two days. However, I’m in a better position this year to stay on track. Amazingly, I didn’t gain any weight from my two-day binge fest either.

So, what’s really going on here? Sugar is addictive! It’s an ongoing cycle! Having one chocolate leads to another!

Sugar Addition: The Perpetual Cycle
1. When you eat sugar, dopamine, the happy hormone, is released.
2. Blood sugars levels spike. Mass insulin is then secreted to drop blood sugars.
3. Blood sugar levels then drop rapidly.
4. The rapid drop in blood sugars causes the body to crave the ‘sugar high’, thus increasing your appetite and cravings! The cycle goes on!

Going back to my 2-day chocolate binge… Was it hard after two days of having chocolate? Absolutely! What really matters is, what you do after your binge fest. Do you continue to binge eat throughout the week?

Here are Four Strategies to Survive the Holidays and Still Enjoy the Holidays:

If you’re frequently binge eating, your body is also telling you that you’re not consuming enough food throughout the day, that your meal timing may be off, or perhaps your daily macro-nutrients are off. So, how do you assess if your nutrition may be off? You would assess your biofeedback. How are your stress levels, energy levels, hunger levels, sleep quality, sex drive, and mood? Also look back the past few months to assess how your body and weight have changed. Biofeedback is a whole big topic on its own which I’ll get into next time.

Strategy #1: In order to better tackle your cravings and to deal with the aftermath of binge eating, ensure you have a good quality protein, carbohydrate, and some healthy fats too for each meal. Yes, this will help eliminate cravings. By the way, carbs aren’t bad. It’s over consumption that made them bad.

Strategy #2: If you plan on binge eating, having treats, and drinks every Friday, plan for those indulgences into your daily eating plan. Yes, build it into your nutrition plan and ensure your protein, carbs, and fats are on point. By having sufficient daily macronutrients,, you’ll avoid impulsive eating and unplanned binge eating.

Also, plan at least a day before, what you plan on eating the next day.  Like everything else in life, nutrition also requires planning, or you’ll leave it up to chance. =) The reality is, we’re all on a weight gain, weight loss, or maintenance eating plan. Sure the plan you’re on may be intentional or unintentional. Regardless, your body responds to your daily habits.

Good news is, you still can enjoy the holidays and stay on track with your goals! We have all heard it, “have food in moderation.” What does that really mean? I find “moderation” quite ambiguous.

Note: These templates are general but will give you far more guidance than the loose definition of ‘moderation’.

Strategy #3

Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com

Strategy #4

Port Moody Gym | Port Coquitlam Gym Personal Trainer and More bcworkout.com

So, what will you be having for breakfast tomorrow? Love to hear from you! Ensure to drink plenty of water! I’ll be covering the importance of hydration in another email. You’ll be quite surprised about my discovery.

Have a great rest of your week!

Sammy Noh


“I can’t do that. Life must be so boring…” Ignore the Naysayers!

“I can’t do that. Life must be so boring…” Ignore the Naysayers!

The other day, a client mentioned that a close friend of hers made a remark that she wouldn’t last on her new weight loss journey.

Have you heard this before? “It’s not sustainable.”

When you embark on a healthy journey, people are generally supportive. However, there will be naysayers who’ll make comments such as, “I can’t do that. I want to enjoy life. Life’s too short. I don’t have the will power. I don’t have time like you do,” and so forth. I’ve personally heard all sorts of comments during my weight gain and weight loss journey.

I don’t believe people have intentions on knocking someone down for getting healthy and fit, however there’s a lot of confusion and misunderstanding when it comes to fitness and nutrition. The whole fitness and nutrition industry is a mess. There’s far too much misinformation and conflicting information out there. Marketers will try to sell you gimmicks, fad diets, and pills and potions. Even fitness professionals find nutrition confusing.

👉If apersonal trainer, throws a cookie cutter meal plan at you, run the other way. I’ll admit…Before experiencing my journey and launching our nutrition coaching program, I was quite misinformed myself.

Through my personal journey, I’ve learned so many valuable lessons which has given me greater insight on some of the challenges that you’ve perhaps faced in the past, or are currently facing.

When I was gaining weight form 218 pounds, there were concerns from my close friends and family about my health.

When I was losing weight, I was surprised by some of comments. Of course, many were quite supportive.

I’m going to do debunk these comments and ‘myths’ to shed some light on the truth, as there’s far too much misconception on nutrition.

Here are the 5 Common Myths

Myth #1: “I can’t do that. I want to enjoy life. Life’s too short…”

You can still enjoy life. My diet is not a starvation or deprivation diet. In fact, I have more energy. I sleep much better. I’m in a far better mood. I have a confession to make. My favourite cheat meals are steak with mash potatoes, pizza, and burgers. I can still enjoy them every week and still stay on track with my goals, and still keep my new abs. I also go through different ‘phases’ much like everyone else. There are phases where I indulge more than usual. The key is to get back on track afterwards.

Myth #2: “I don’t have time to workout…”

In as little as 30 minutes, at least 2x/week, you can still reap the benefits of exercise. You’ll have more energy to get through your day. It may be hard to believe..Eventually you’ll make time for it, once you see amazing results and start feeling amazing after each workout. Please keep in mind that you can’t out exercise your nutrition. Save your time and energy! If you’re working out 5 days a week, especially doing lots of cardio, and aren’t seeing much results, reach out to me! Let’s get you back on track! Too much cardio isn’t good either for your weight loss goals. Yup! I’ll get into that another time. As well, it’s important to be aware of your bio-feedback each week. I’ll also get into that another time.

Myth #3: “I don’t have the will power…”

Neither do I. I have the worst will power. If I see pizza in front of me, most likely, I’m going to be the first to eat a slice. gosh, I still struggle with this from time to time. It’s not all about will power. You must give your body a chance to adjust. Extreme diets with caloric deprivation will only set you up to fail. You can’t go from 0 to 60, and then blame yourself for failing due to a lack of will power. You can’t go from consuming 4000 daily calories to 2000 calories. Your body will hate you. By day 3, you’ll be tempted to crack.

Myth #4: “You actually work with a nutrition coach? Aren’t you an expert in fitness and nutrition?…”

Hiring anutrition coach has been integral in my weight loss journey. It’s been a game changer! I still work with my nutrition coach to this day. I’ve learned so much about nutrition, especially in the past few years. I don’t consider myself an expert at anything really, because I’m a long long student. I’m always learning and growing.

Why do I work with a coach if I’m already a coach?

Even professional athletes have coaches. A coach will filter through your chaos and assign you with action steps that you need to do today, in order to reach your goals for tomorrow, for next week, for next month, and so forth. My nutrition continues to change, as I get closer to my goals each day. Knowing is not enough. It’s about taking action and taking steps to get closer to your goals.

Myth #5: “Just send me your meal plan and I’m good…”

Getting a cookie cutter meal plan isn’t the solution. My meal plan won’t necessarily work for you, as your starting point may be different. Your challenges and obstacles are unique to you.

Nutrition coaching is about creating action and implementation to suit your current lifestyle. Having someone just tell you what to eat is just scratching the surface.

Have a great rest of your week! Crush it!

-Sammy Noh