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Case Study

Johannes

Lost 24.5% bodyfat and now training for his next triathalon!

In 2015, Johannes was living a sedentary lifestyle as a product designer in Germany. Fortunately, he decided to make a change and signed up with Gyroscope. At first, using the Gyroscope app, Johannes lost 78.5 pounds and 20.5% bodyfat.

This year, after three months on the new Gyroscope Coach, Johannes has lost an additional 4% bodyfat. With the guidance of his new coach, he is racing in triathlons, walking over 10k steps a day, making better food choices, and is even more productive at work due to improved health and energy.

My largest concern about changing daily habits was to lose performance at work… With my optimized routine and new healthy habits, I was able to become better at my job and improve as a team leader.

Health Snapshot

  • CoachJolene
  • Starting weight260 lbs / 118 kg
  • Starting bodyfat38.5%
  • Current weight165 lbs / 75 kg
  • Current bodyfat12.4%
  • Weight lost on X10 pounds
  • Bodyfat lost on X4% 
  • Average steps before4k a day
  • Average steps after10k a day
  • Enneagram Type3
  • Myers-Briggs TypeENTJ
  • Devices UsedApple Watch, Withings Scale

In Germany, we have a saying - "One can not see the wood from the trees." Having someone with an unbiased viewpoint on your behaviors, status-quo, and providing guidance helps to get a different view on yourself and your progress.

For me, someone with the main goal of initially losing weight and later gaining more muscle, Jolene was the perfect match because she has a lot of experience as a certified nutrition and CrossFit coach.

Personal Roadmap

1

Setup and Baseline

Getting all the data syncing into Gyroscope automatically and establishing good habits and routines, like daily food tracking, cleaner eating, improved bedtimes, and a brand new workout routine.

2

Nutrition > Macro-nutrients

Establishing the right amount of macro-nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fat) to optimize Johannes's energy and improve body composition. 

3

Resistance and Good Stress

Developing a resistance training routine, which provided good stress and built lean muscle mass - enhancing Johannes's health and reducing bodyfat.

4

Running and Mobility

Focusing on improving Johannes's running capacity and flexibility with specific workouts. This was especially useful for his triathlon training and recovery.

5

Mind and Meditation

Diving into meditation and breathing exercises to reduce stress and enhance focus.

6

Nutrition > Reducing Sugar

Focusing on reducing Johannes's sugar intake which helped reduce bodyfat and improve his overall health.

In my first week of walking more, I hit a daily average of 10k and above. I felt an immediate effect: I slept better, it was easier for me to focus and had a positive impact on my weight and bodyfat.

Interview with Johannes

What has changed with your body or lifestyle since starting X?

The effect of Gyroscope Coach for my daily routine was mainly to review my habits and to get an optimized configuration for all the gears. Working with my coach Jolene on a regular basis helped me get a different view of my daily routine.

The biggest change for me was my activity level throughout the day. As a product designer, I sit a lot and, even with a desk that can be height adjusted, it was pretty hard to get my daily steps above 4k. Jolene gave me useful insights and challenged me to try to get my daily steps above 7.5k.

This gave me a lot of motivation, and I tried to push the limits with success. In my first week of walking more, I hit a daily average of 10k and above. I felt an immediate effect: I slept better, it was easier for me to focus and had a positive impact on my weight and bodyfat. Due to these really good results, I built a habit out of the challenge and I implemented a long walk in my daily routine.

Another thing that changed is I take photographs of all of my meals. My coach then analyzes the nutritional values of my meal and gives me an estimation of the nutritional composition and also gives me advice on what to improve with my diet. In the beginning, it was a bit strange to take pictures of the food, especially in public. But, others take pictures of their food for Instagram, so who is the weirdo here?

This approach for food tracking is also really stressless for me compared to using other apps where you have to add the exact amount of all ingredients. I also tried this some time ago, but in the end, adding all ingredients by myself was nothing to keep for a long time in my routine.

For me, X is unique regarding the combination of automated reports and direct and personal feedback. I think the Gyroscope base functions are cutting edge in analyzing and visualizing quantitative data. With Gyroscope Coach, you can add a layer that also gives you feedback with qualitative data through your coach. This is something that other fitness and health apps are lacking and which is unique to Gyroscope Coach. For me, the real strength is combining this data to get valuable insights and identify misbehaviors and potentials.

Gyroscope was always companion through my journey, which started in 2015 at 260lbs and 37.6% of bodyfat. Over the past five years using Gyroscope Pro, I lost 78.5lbs and 20.5% of bodyfat. At that time, I also finished my first triathlon. When I received the invitation to join Gyroscope Coach earlier this year, I caught a glimpse of taking my journey to another level with a coach.

I think the biggest challenge in the whole process was to integrate healthy habits into my routine. In the past five years, I co-founded several companies. Some of them were acquired by large companies like Trivago. My largest concern about changing daily habits was to lose performance at work.

But that was one huge mistake: With my optimized routine and new healthy habits, I was able to become better at my job and improve as a team leader.

You mentioned a few benefits from your coach (like walking more), are there any other specific benefits that you received from your coach?

Yes! One other great benefit is the education about nutrition. Before starting Gyroscope Coach, I already had a slight idea about proper nutrition and also started with fasting. Still, as always, the biggest challenge is to form a balanced energy intake as a habit. 

With my coach, it is easier to keep up with this habit because Jolene regularly gives me new insights about my current energy intake and how the macro composition is. That is something essential to me because sometimes you don't get a direct feeling if your nutrition starts slipping one-sided. 

With the education of Jolene and the advanced nutrition tracking of Gyroscope Coach, it is easier to understand trends early. One thing we recently found out was that I ate less protein in my meals. We developed some ideas to optimize the composition of my plate and tried to add the right amount of protein in every meal.

Why did you choose your specific coach? 

For me, someone with the main goal of initially losing weight and later gaining more muscle, Jolene was the perfect match because she has a lot of experience as a certified nutrition and CrossFit coach. I hoped to have someone who can join me throughout the different stages of reaching my goals, and with Jolene, I felt she offered the perfect package for my goals.

What part of your roadmap were you most excited for? 

As mentioned, I started Gyroscope with two goals: first, losing bodyfat and secondly, gaining more muscle. We are on a good road now, closing phase one. I'm excited about entering phase two. Due to my heavy weight loss in the last months, I have a little bit of loose skin right now. I can't wait to work against it with gaining more muscle. 

In Germany, we have a saying, "One can not see the wood from the trees." Having someone with an unbiased viewpoint on your behaviors, status-quo, and providing guidance helps to get a different view on yourself and your progress. That helped me a lot. Also, learning about the right combination of macros helped me taking my progress to another level.

First, I was a bit concerned about me doing exercises at home and not in the gym, but having all gyms closed, this was a great new experience for me and convinced me to keep bodyweight exercises in my plan.

Are you still training for triathlons? How are you training now?

Yes, I'm still training for my next triathlon, which should happen in September. I was planning on competing in other triathlons this year, but unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Germany, a lot of events were canceled. But, I'm hoping to finish at least one triathlon this year. If this is not possible this year, I have to do my own triathlon in my backyard. This could be a challenge, but I already have some ideas on how to do a triathlon at home. 

For endurance, I've discovered bodyweight training through my coach Jolene. First, I was a bit concerned about me doing exercises at home and not in the gym, but having all gyms closed, this was a great new experience for me and convinced me to keep bodyweight exercises in my plan. Jolene was a big help because she gave me good advice to find the right exercises and helped me keep the training exciting and challenging.

When I started training for my first triathlon, the Gyroscope Health Score had just been released and gave me a good education about my recovery levels. If you come from a completely untrained state, it is crucial to understand when your body needs rest. 

With the health score combining different health measurements such as the HRV, the resting heart rate, mood measurements, and sleep analysis, it is pretty good in understanding your overall health status… It taught me to take the health score more seriously because it is a good indicator if you are pushing your training too hard.

What would you say to people who may be on the fence about X?

I think that Gyroscope Coach is the perfect companion to keep you on track, reaching your goals. Nowadays, you find a lot of stuff on the internet that claims it will show you the right way to live a healthier life. But what works for some does not work for everyone.

With Gyroscope Coach, you get a dedicated coach that learns about your status quo and helps you outline a roadmap to reach your goals. After you have reached your goals it helps you set new goals.

You still have to walk the road yourselves, but with Gyroscope Coach, you have someone who has an eye on your progress and gives you feedback if you start to stray from the path. So long story short: If you want to sustainably improve your personal self: go give it a shot!