a client’s labs
I want to walk you through one client’s case because the sequence we used will likely make a piece of your own picture clearer.
This isn’t one specific client. It’s a composite of hundreds of people we’ve worked with over the years who came to us saying essentially the same thing.
He is 53 years old. Executive. Married with two kids. Travels a few times each month.
He came to us frustrated because he felt like his body wasn’t responding anymore.
Over the years he’d tried keto, intermittent fasting, macro tracking, meal plans, personal trainers, and multiple fat-loss challenges. Every attempt worked for a few weeks before life got busy and everything unraveled.
His biggest question was simple:
“Why do I feel like I’m doing everything right, but my body won’t respond?”
His bloodwork wasn’t terrible.
It also wasn’t telling the whole story.
Here’s what we saw:
Fasting glucose trending higher than we’d like
HDL on the low side
Triglycerides elevated
Vitamin D in the low-normal range
Slightly elevated inflammatory markers
Energy crashes every afternoon
Sleeping 5-6 hours most nights
Constant aches and pains
Struggling to recover from workouts
None of those numbers alone explained how he felt.
Together, they painted a very clear picture.
Most programs would’ve looked at this picture and done exactly what you’d expect.
Put him into another calorie deficit.
Increased cardio.
Added more daily activity.
Focused almost exclusively on the scale.
Nothing about that approach is inherently wrong.
It just wasn’t solving the problem he actually had.
We put the fat-loss conversation on hold.
Instead, we focused on rebuilding the foundation first.
We gradually increased his protein intake, structured his strength training around his work schedule, prioritized sleep and recovery, and built a nutrition plan he could actually follow while traveling.
Every week we adjusted based on his energy, recovery, hunger, and consistency instead of blindly chasing lower calories.
Once those pieces were consistently in place, we strategically moved into a fat-loss phase.
A few months later, the picture looked completely different.
Energy was stable throughout the day.
Sleep improved.
Training performance increased.
Body fat was steadily coming down.
Follow-up blood markers moved in the right direction.
Most importantly, he no longer felt like he was fighting his body every day.
The next phase is simple.
Now we continue pushing fat loss from a body that’s actually prepared to respond instead of asking an already stressed system to do more.
The reason this sequence works is the order.
Most people don’t have a fat-loss problem.
They have a health problem that’s preventing fat loss from happening as efficiently as it should.
...
One of the most common things I hear is:
“My doctor told me my bloodwork looked normal.”
That doesn’t mean shit to me 😂
The problem is that “normal” doesn’t automatically mean healthy, and it definitely doesn’t explain why you still feel exhausted, inflamed, and stuck.
Much love,
Mackenzie
P.S. Have you tuned into my podcast yet? We have been pouring so much into each episode and diving deep into all the topics I talk about here.
Listen to the Endless Pursuit Podcast on Apple, Spotify, Youtube, and anywhere else you get your podcasts.