Hey there, SU’ers!
It’s hard to believe that we’re already coming up on another Monthly Round-Up! The month of May felt like it flew by, didn’t it? Last month we were celebrating the fact that spring seemed to be in full swing, and a month later, here we are on the heels of Memorial Day, and celebrating the unofficial start of summer. Inside the world of Stronger U, we’ve had a busy month full of giveaways, reflections, and knowledge bombs to help all of us live our best lives. So why don’t we get to some of what’s gone on!
Member Highlights
At Stronger U we care about not only helping you live the healthiest and happiest life possible, we want to help all of those around you do the exact same. Mike put out a call for the “SU Healthy Household Giveaway”, where we asked all of you to share pics showing what health means to you and your household. The prize? We would pick a random participant to receive $1,000 to do something nice for their household. After getting over 1,200 comments and pictures later, it’s fair to say that you all went above and beyond!
Jenny Lynn Shelton was our lucky winner after sharing pic after pic of her whole family taking part in all kinds of healthy activities like cooking together, making sure they get their sleep on a nightly basis, and working out with the best support system any of us could ask for!
Along with that, Anthony Garcia shared the incredible transformation that he achieved along with the help of Coach Jason Falcon. While Anthony’s transformation is awesome, the truly amazing part of Anthony’s post was the message he shared about the lessons he learned with Stronger U. Anthony succeeded in rewriting the story of who he was. He did so through educating himself about the choices he was actually making, then adjusting those choices as he learned how they didn’t fall in line with the person he really wanted to be. It’s safe to say his results speak for themselves!
Lastly, over the years we’ve had a lot of fun with various Stronger U trends that take the community by storm. Whether it’s a tip or trick that we all seem to use to stay on track, a piece of cooking equipment we’re all loving, or something that can best be described as #SUproblems. We had so much fun reminiscing over some of the SU trends from the past couple of years. Some of the ones that really stood out to all of us:
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- Halo Top
- Instant Pots
- Air fryers
- Mike Nuggets
- Learning how to cook as an adult
- Crunch Wraps
- Weighing daily and being ok with it
- Everything But The Bagel seasoning
- Trader Joe’s
- Finally eating vegetables
- Maintenance
- “Is MyFitnessPal down?”
- “I’m so stuffed on SU”
- “I’m so hungry on SU”
If you’re not in the SU Member’s Group and would love to see what all is happening in the Stronger U world, you can find out more about what we do and how to become apart of our community here.
Member Spotlights
We had three member spotlights, including Nicole Barbato, Julie Busby, Bill Hogan. Nicole worked with Robbie to lose over 50 pounds and she is still going. Despite having a side hobby of working at her friend’s brewery, she has cut down massively on alcohol consumption and has gained a world of confidence. Julie has been working with Jeremy Galo to lose 80 pounds and she is still going. She has not only set a new personal record for her 5K, but she is training for a half marathon and also cardio boxes and strength trains too. Bill worked with Matt Dustin to lose 35 pounds in 24 weeks. Through Stronger U, he learned that his old eating patterns included too many carbs and too much fat. He now has changed his habits and is able to eat healthy, but also include foods he loves without feeling guilty. That’s definitely a great place to be!
You can read our Member Spotlight interviews by clicking any of the links above or by clicking here!
Podcasts
Despite being on a hiatus last month, the Podcast channel was on fire in the month of May, with lots of new content for our listening pleasure. This month featured the following:
- Mike Doehla with a special edition “State of the U” to officially kick off season 2 of Stronger U Radio
- 5 Strategies members can use to keep progressing with Tanner Baze and Robbie Farlow
- When you screw up your diet, is it all over? With Mike and Tanner talking through Coach Nick’s outstanding blog about what happens when we go off track, how that feels, and how we can keep on moving forward.
- Alcohol and Weight loss: what do you need to know? Mike and Tanner talk through Coach Jack’s blog that takes a deep dive into alcohol, how it impacts weight loss, and what we need to know about managing those things.
Listen to our podcasts by clicking the links above or by clicking right here!
Blogs
Weight Loss and Menstrual Irregularities
Does Age Matter For Weight Loss?
Does Your Body Really Go Into Starvation Mode?
In this month’s blogs, we talked about a few of the most common questions that we get here at Stronger U. We kicked off the month recapping the coach’s journal club discussing how weight loss can play into menstrual irregularities thanks to Dr. Jessica Bachman and Coach Erin Ferner. From there, Coach Tanner took to the blog to answer two common questions: does age really matter for weight loss? And if so, what does that look like? Then he talked all about starvation mode. Is it real and if so, what does it do in the body?
You can read our blogs by clicking any of the links above or by clicking right here!
Facebook Lives in the group.
We had a really active month of lives this month. Several of our coaches and Mike got on FB and gave us the real deal on all things nutrition, alcohol, and getting results that last a lifetime. In the month of May we had:
- Mike and Josh joined forces to talk all about the importance of habits, values, and priorities. They helped us to understand how those things can inform our choices, help us stay on plan, and find a way to make our own personal journey work for us.
- Derek and Winnie did an outstanding Q&A where they talked all about things like managing our food environments, maintenance, body composition changes, and “saving” macros for dinner. Watch it here!
- Mike and Jeb went deep in talking about making sure that our actions match up to our goals, being willing to adjust our dieting approach when we need to, and the power of saying the word “no”. You can get some #truthpaste by watching right here!
- Derek and Martin talked all about one of the most important topics for all of us right now: vacation eating! They laid out strategies for how we can manage to eat on vacation and how to decide what is important to us. Watch it here!
- Mike spent a quick minute delivering an important message for many of us about alcohol, how it fits into our life, and how we might or might not manage our intake of it. Check out what our #fooddad has to say. Check out what our food dad has to say by watching it here!
You can watch the Facebook Live’s here! And if you’re not in the SU Member’s Group and would love to see what all is happening in the Stronger U world, you can find out more about what we do and how to become apart of our community here.
Recipes
Last month we brought back Stronger U recipes, and we’re not planning on slowing down with those recipes anytime soon. This month we shared some new and exciting recipes that are perfect as we get ready for summer. Whether you’re looking for high protein options off the grill, a scrumptious all-purpose dip and/or side dish, or a non-alcohol mocktail that you can sip on while hanging out by the pool, we have some ideas for you!
You can find all of our recipes here. If you’re not in the SU Member’s Group and would love to see what all is happening in the Stronger U world, you can find out more about what we do and how to become apart of our community here. We’d love to see you around!
Upcoming Events
We don’t have anything in the seminar hopper for the month of June but have some thoughts on the locations for the next few. As soon as we nail those down, we will be sure to put out a note in the group as well as information on how to attend on the website.
Additionally, if you would like a seminar in your area, and you are able to help secure a space, please reach out to info@strongerufit.com and let us know and we will try to coordinate with you.
Just because we don’t have anything in the works for a seminar doesn’t mean we aren’t getting together though! On Thursday, June 6th, at 7pm EST, we will be having a get together at the Newburgh Brewing Company for all local Hudson Valley SU members. The members of our Central Operations Team will be in town, and we’d love for you to come out, meet fellow SU’ers, our team members, and make friends who are on a similar journey as yourself. You can find more info about the event here.
Stronger U: Not Just Online
At Stronger U, we’re grateful of the fact that we get to work with members all across the world. This online community is what keeps so many of us going and helps us stay accountable, and it’s something that we all love being part of every day. But what’s also incredible about this community is when we get to connect with each other offline, in real life. And the month of May was a great time for just that!
We had a local get together here in the Hudson Valley where some local members and Mike got together to do some hiking. Sure, there was the outdoors to be enjoyed, but more than that, there were friendships to be fostered.
Getting together offline didn’t just stop with hiking, though. Mike and some of our coaches, including Ben, Jeb, Martin, Nick, and Britney all went to Bermuda to spend a long holiday weekend. They not only got to enjoy getting closer to one another, but also all that Bermuda has to offer.
A Quick Note from Mike
I’ve talked about it a lot, but when I think of Stronger U I don’t think of it as a food coaching company. I think of Stronger U as a happiness company. We just help you achieve that happiness by teaching you how to take control of your food life. We love teaching you the importance of skills like planning and prepping. But we also love teaching you about the importance of recognizing your values and priorities. Those things help determine what you’re really looking to get out of this journey.
Summer is one of the most difficult times to stay on a food plan, but it’s also a time when we get to think hard about our values and priorities. Every direction we turn we get hit with temptations from friends and family. Not only is it an easy time to fall victim to those temptations, but it’s also an easy time to go back to that old comparison trap. We see other people eating or drinking things that we want, and we find it easy to ask ourselves why we can’t eat or drink the way they do.
I know just how frustrating that comparison trap can feel. So as we head into summer, I want to challenge all of you to think hard about your own personal values, priorities, and goals this summer. What is that you’re looking to achieve? How do you want to feel on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? And what does success look like for you this summer?
The answers to those questions will tell you how you should approach this summer. Some of us will cruise through this summer in lifestyle mode, enjoying a few more meals out. Others of us will want to work hard to look our best for the big vacation coming up. No matter what your goal is, I want you to know that if you’ve answered those questions, your goal is the right one. Because it’s your choice. And on top of that, I want you to know that we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Love,
#fooddad
