“I worked with Justin Murphy for about 6 months from July 2018 through December 2018. I had just got back from a wedding in Cabo San Lucas and saw a pic of me on the beach. I was large and in charge! I was still muscular, and looked like I knew my way around a gym, but also looked like I knew my way around most of the bars in Dallas, TX. When I looked at that picture all I could see was my belly staring back at me, and it drove me crazy!
Over the last 10 years or so I had been somewhat involved with fitness. I served 8 years in the Marine Corps and for the past few years had been training at different CrossFit boxes depending on where I lived. I knew how to work out, and had an idea of what decent nutrition was, but kept going through this never-ending cycle of dieting/cutting then putting the weight back on. I needed a change, and that is where Justin Murphy Nutrition (now iCoach Nutrition) came in.
During those 6 months, a lot of things happened in my life. I got promoted, I got dumped, I got arrested, I started pursuing a new career, and was trying to figure out the whole fitness/nutrition thing. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed, and very critical of myself when I couldn’t get it all done.
During the week I would be on the road 4-5 days, trying to eat clean, train, and study for the LSAT. Then on the weekend, I would be so burnt out I would look to unwind and would end up eating/drinking my way through my weekends. Undoing all of the good I had done the previous week.
At this point Justin had me take a serious look at my relationship with alcohol. He never asked me not to drink, but be honest about how much I was consuming. I am not a little guy, and I do not get buzzed off three drinks, so it was a bit of a shock to me when I realized I was consuming 15-20 drinks in a week. We set a goal to cut the number of drinks I was consuming in half. I quickly dropped 20lbs.
Working with Justin was not what I expected. I thought he would have me counting calories, then put a meal plan together for me, and outline a training guide that would get me where I wanted to be. I was expecting him to provide me with the missing piece of information I needed to unlock my fitness potential. He did have me track what I was eating in the My Fitness Pal app, and taught me plenty about nutrition and the importance of eating real, high-quality food. Nutrition is just where things started with Justin and me.
Aside from my fitness/nutritional goals, I was also applying to law school, working full time, and trying to maintain a social life. Justin worked with me on time management. Teaching me how to block my schedule down to the half hour. This way I was able to get a full night’s sleep, get all of my work done, meal prep/eat clean, prepare my applications, and have a little time for myself.
I was operating at a very high level, and things started to be a little more than I could handle. I started to become very critical of myself. I started drinking more and neglecting my sleep. This had an instant impact on almost every aspect of my life, from the weight, the quality of my workouts, the quality of my studying, and my biofeedback. This is where I really learned the most from Justin. He told me that I didn’t have to do it all at once.
Working full time and trying to get into law school were my major priorities at the time, so he had me stop logging all of my meals into My Fitness Pal, and to cut down my workouts to three times a week. On my rest days I would make sure not to be sedentary, and maybe go for a walk. That time was a busy season of my life, once I was done with applications I could reprioritize logging my food and training. Most importantly though, I had to stop being so hard on myself and take some time to love myself.
Life is too short to constantly be unhappy and stressed out. Yes, there were things I wanted to improve, and achieve, but it did not have to happen all at once. All I need to do was fall in love with the process.
I feel like I barely scratched the surface of everything Justin taught me. Working with Justin Murphy Nutrition / iCoach Nutrition did more than just make me look better without a shirt on. I established better habits/relationships with food and alcohol that will allow me to continue the progress I have made so far. Most importantly, I feel like I grew into a better version of myself. I hope after law school I will be able to start working with Justin, and iCoach again.”
-Mike, iCoach Coaching Client