Andy’s Story

​The Whole Rose Nutrition Program is unlike any other traditional diet/exercise program I have ever tried before… and I have given most of them a shot. Whether it is, low/no carb, no sugar, low calorie, keto, Atkins, carnivore—I’ve given them all the benefit of the doubt but ultimately it is the same story. A ton of early success and weight loss but the second I get comfortable with my results; I go through one bad weekend of eating junk food and I spiral out of control and balloon back up to my starting weight.  

​It’s a tale as old as time. I know myself and my eating habits. I know my biggest problem is self-control. I know that the mouth-pleasure of eating what I want isn’t worth the calories or the increase from XL to XXL with my tshirts, but I do it anyway. I’ve had a very unhealthy relationship with food my whole life and these diets do a great job at making quick/easy results seem like a permanent lifestyle change.

​This leads me to Whole Rose Nutrition. I admit, I was a bit skeptical at first. I started working out at STC Boxing Gym with the owner, Brad, and his wife, Kimbo. Boxing is the first form of exercise I actually enjoy doing to the point of exhaustion. Being overweight, with a bad back and bad knees—it made things like cardiovascular performance and recovery more difficult than they should be. After expressing these thoughts with Kimbo, she began talking about her Whole Rose Nutrition program. It was clear from the jump that she had a passion & intense interest with nutrition and how what you put into your body impacts your body’s output. I liked that she didn’t tell me I needed or should do her program (like most health/fitness coaches might), but that the option was there should I ever want to give it a try.

​After a few conversations about it, I decided to go give it a shot. I figured it could only help me in the long run so why not. I signed up for a 4-week program with the goal to develop a better relationship with food, and to eat the things that would help my body perform better in the ring. I was told to keep a food journal and to be honest in it. Lying in that little book wouldn’t do anybody any good so Kimbo encouraged me to include everything with the knowledge that it would be free from judgment. Kimbo made it clear from the start that the scale is not relevant to her program which was a relief to me. I can lose weight quick but I put it back on even quicker. It was nice to know I wouldn’t have to anxiously stare at the number go up or down on any given day. We developed a week-to-week routine where Kimbo would slowly introduce or take away things from my diet. We added things like supplements, fruit smoothies, more veggies, more fish, and healthier (or maybe I should say less bad for you) desserts. We took away things like, chips, cookies, alcohol, white potatoes, etc.

​While adding healthy things and taking away unhealthy things might seem standard for any diet or nutrition program, the big differentiator with Kimbo was her encouraging me to make my own decisions with those food choices. She stressed that she didn’t want me to make unrealistic and unsustainable choices. If I was at a birthday dinner for my girlfriend- I had pasta and birthday cake and enjoyed every second of it. When I was at a Celtics game, I savored every last bite of my hot dog and every last sip of my Bud Light. The main goal was that I eat healthy the next day and not let one night of calories dictate the rest of my week. That’s always been my biggest problem, once I fall off the wagon eating-wise then I freefall right back into my unhealthy routines.

Post-Program Thoughts

​After completing the 4 week program I can safely say that it was the least stressful and (hopefully) most effective way of getting me to start changing my eating habits for the better. The program really taught me self-awareness of what I was putting into my body. Was a perfect for the whole month? NO! But this is the main point of the program for me. It is unrealistic to think that I will suddenly stop eating dessert and drown myself in kimchi for the rest of my life. The thing I started to realize is that I can have a night or a weekend of unhealthy food but that doesn’t mean that 24 or 48 hours needs to turn into 72 or a whole week/month.

​I noticed the pain in my knees and back decreasing due to eating less inflammatory foods and probably adding more supplements into my diet. I noticed my output at the gym increasing. After not being able to breathe after 1 round with Brad, I can now comfortably do 3-4 and have gone further than that sometimes. I think a big reason for my improvement is the lack of pressure Kimbo puts on you. She acts more as a guide than a coach in that regard….no judgement or disappointment ju if you break the rules. If you had a night out with friends and eat bad food, she is more interested to hear about your evening than to breakdown why you decided to have that beer or order the side of French fries.

My Takeaway

​Not having that pressure or stress allows you to start forming sustainable habits for the future. It’s impossible to be perfect 100% of the time but knowing you are fully capable of being pretty good 80% of the time is a nice feeling. Kimbo made me have all the confidence in the world that I can keep this going in the long term and stressed that I can always come back with questions or I can jump back into the program whenever should I feel like I’m slipping a bit. Out of all the diets and programs I’ve tried with the goal of getting in better shape: the Whole Rose Nutrition program is the first one to have me not feeling relieved that it’s over. I enjoyed my time getting to meet with Kimbo and I appreciated all the work and enthusiasm she put into my program.