Nathan: Hi, I’m Nathan from the DVCC; I am here today here with Stephen Gray, how are you Stephen?
Stephen: I am good thank you, how are you?
Nathan: I’m very well, thank you. Today we are going to be discussing the progress tracker, which is the way we track our clients’ progress and is a key part of our Real You Transformation Process. So Stephen, could you just talk to me a little bit about the background behind why we do the progress tracker?
Stephen: Well, like you said, the progress tracker is probably the key way that we actually track our DVCC clients’ physical changes, so it is something that happens every – well it differs between different people depending on how frequently they would like and what is best for them – between 1 to 3 weeks.
Basically it is a time where they are able to meet 1:1 with one of the DVCC transformation experts, when they go through using what is known as a body analysis machine.
Basically, it’s a £5000 machine which allows us to literally see every single detail about that client’s body composition; body fat, the amount of muscle tone they have, they amount of fat mass, even down to the amount of water they have got.
So it really allows us to see in great detail how that client is progressing, how they are progressing towards their goals and also if there needs to be any adaptations or changes.
Nathan: Ok; and what else would be included or what else would the progress tracker involve? Do we give nutrition advice?
Stephen: Yes, we have developed our own proprietary software which is called the DVCC focus habits software, which basically means it takes the guessing work out of making a physical transformation.
Rather than different people giving different advice or it being a little bit wishy-washy as it is when someone gives you advice about nutrition, we have distilled all of the latest scientific information about nutrition and what is the best for body composition and change, but doing it healthily, so losing body fat and increasing muscle tone at the same time.
We have distilled that and made it into an app which we use at the DVCC in the progress trackers; it’s the only time anyone is able to use it; it’s proprietary, it’s trademarked, no-one else is able to use it.
It basically runs through a whole host of different diagnostic tests or questions and will basically find out what is the most important thing for you to focus on and make sure you focus on as a habit to continue to make that progress towards your goal.
So it really allows us to be very, very specific about what the best thing is for you and it is all done in this app, so it takes the guessing work out of it. It has been proven since we put it in place, I think about 8 months ago now, it has been very effective; client results have been improved for sure.
Nathan: Yes, client results have definitely improved and that has taken a big step away from what we were doing before, where there was no focus habits software and it was more down to the transformation expert at the time giving their advice, which could kind of lead sometimes to inconsistencies, would you say?
Stephen: Yes, because it is very hard, there is a lot of new information out all the time so it’s very hard to make sure that everything is up to speed, but by just having this app now where all of this knowledge is combined, we were able to put lots of years of education into this software and so therefore it’s the same – there are clients in Northampton, Milton Keynes and Bedford – everyone’s getting the same high level quality of advice as they would do if it was done by the same person – so the best knowledge there is is contained in that app and it is always continually being updated and improved.
That, combined with the body analysis machine, is vital. We actually have another part to the whole process, which is our online app, so that you can see your progress in a graph format, because numbers are very important, the one thing you find very important, you have to have metrics to track.
We have really kind of put that into place with this other app that allows you to actually see your progress ongoing, so it gives you motivation, it allows you to see how you are getting on; a lot of clients have told us that they like to show their partner or children or what have you, and show the progress they are making, because the key - and that’s why it is called the progress tracker - is to continuously be looking at your progress.
A lot of people are very good at looking what they haven’t achieved, what they still have to achieve, and they forget about the progress they are making, so with the progress tracker what we are always trying to do is direct your attention to the progress you are making.
And it’s done in a very structured and processed way which allows us to, interestingly enough, individualise that, tailoring advice and make it appropriate for you.
Nathan: I suppose looking at your results is very important because, as a lot of people may be unaware, fat loss is never linear, it never goes straight down, so obviously if you do have a minute where you come up a little bit, you can still see that you have overall, from where you started, progressed, and I suppose that makes a massive difference to our clients.
Stephen: Well, you have seen the graphs, we have had some massive transformations just recently; you’ve just seen them gone up – 50lbs, 40lbs – really large amounts of body fat lost. But when you look at that graph - and we obviously get to see them all - they don’t just go down in a straight line, they go down a little bit, maybe they go up a little bit, down a little bit, up a little bit, and it’s very interesting to see the way it progresses.
So it’s very important, you’re always looking back to where you’ve actually started from, because as human beings we’re very good at focusing on the negatives, not focusing on the amount of progress we’ve actually made. So the whole point, or one of the main points of the progress tracker, obviously is to make sure that you are making progress and if anything has stalled is to tell you exactly what you need to do to continue that progress, but another part of it which is very important is to constantly remind you about the progress that you have made.
Nathan: Which is awesome. Going back to the in-body analysis machine, because I know a lot of people that I have spoken to when they come in for consultations, have had their body fat percentage checked before; did the DVCC ever use anything else but the in-body machine, or has it always been the in-body machine?
Stephen: We have iterated through quite a few different things; calliper testing is a measure we have used, which is very effective as long as the person doing it is very good at it and they’ve done more than, I think they say more than 10,000 measures or a very large number, which is very hard to actually get to – and actually it doesn’t show the amount of body fat on the lower body when you do it, even if you do 12 points on the body on a calliper test. 
But we also use measurements, which again can be individualised; they can be hard to be accurate. It was obviously a big question, do we invest £5000 in this body analysis machine;
I am very glad we did because there is one in each centre and it literally allows us to see the progress the client is making.
Because, what a lot of people don’t realise, this is particularly true for women, when they start exercising, particularly if they’re using resistance training which they have not done, they might have done a lot of aerobic type work or they might not have exercised at all, and then they start eating a little bit more protein and a little bit less sugar and they tend to become a little bit healthier – what happens is your body suddenly builds a little bit of muscle tone and so, on a normal set of scales you might not see any change, or you might actually see a little jump in your total weight.
What the body fat analysis machine allows us to do is to see the amount of body fat lost and that is very, very important. It’s a very accurate machine and that is why it cost so much, but it literally allows us to see the amount of body fat lost, which is the key number. So what happens when someone first starts on the Real You Transformation Process at the DVCC is that their body fat will drop, their total weight might not, because their muscle tone increases, and also they tend to be better hydrated, so their total weight might not drop the same.
In the end that catches up, but it’s very important and actually the reason we invested in the body analysis machine in the first place which was quite a few years ago now, was because – I always tell the same story – but a lady was just about to have what was then measurements and putting onto a normal set of scales, and she was saying how well she was feeling, she was feeling really good, she was getting stronger and her clothes were fitting so much better; she just felt really awesome, she was really positive.
Then she got onto the scales and the scales had stayed the same; and there was a massive dramatic change in how she felt because of what that scale said, because she was judging herself as a number on a set of scales, which obviously is probably not the best way to do, but we’re very well trained by all the media and all the magazines we see to try and judge ourselves as if we’re walking around with a number on our forehead, which obviously we’re not.
So it really set her back, she felt really depressed about it, thought that everything wasn’t working, despite the fact that 5 minutes earlier she had been telling everyone how good she was feeling, she’d dropped a dress size already.
...And so she ended up regressing and not making the transformation in the end, because of that number on the scale. So that was when I first started really looking into a way of allowing clients to see in a digital format, exactly how much body fat they have lost and muscle tone they have gained.
There are a lot of alternative methods to this; you can get some scales that you stand that are supposed to show your body fat – there’s a reason they all cost very little, because they are not accurate at all. The Omron ones you hold are really inaccurate. Most, in fact all of those, otherwise we would get them because they are a lot cheaper, are very inaccurate so they are not worth using.
That was a big reason why we invested in the body analysis machine – and as far as I am aware, I know there are a few people in the country that have got them as well, since we got them – but in the whole area we, I believe, certainly are the ones that have the most of them anyway, for sure.
Nathan: Yes, they definitely break down a lot of information; it’s interesting what you say about people, when they first start exercising, they were putting on a little bit of muscle tone and their weight not changing.
I find myself saying to our clients quite often that we don’t really focus on weight very much because it is not a true representation of health; it’s just almost a number. In terms of the in-body analysis machine, it also has software which breaks down segmental fat and where people store segmental fat; is that something that was appealing to you when you bought the software and system as well?
Stephen: Well, we talked about callipers already, but they actually don’t show the amount of visceral fat, the deep fat that surrounds your organs, which is actually the most dangerous type of fat; whereas the body analysis machine does show the exact amount of overall body fat you have, so not subcutaneous only – subcutaneous means just below the skin, basically at the surface – it shows the true level of body fat in your body.
There are studies just coming out now showing the amount of body fat lost or the amount of body fat you have being related very strongly to longevity, so how long you are going to live healthily.
So the leaner you are, the lower your body fat, the less chance you have of disease, diabetes, all those different sorts of things – even cancers because they have related those now.
By using this body analysis machine we are actually able to see the true body fat that someone has, and the best thing is that a lot of people get a little bit intimidated with using one for the first time but I always say, and this is very true, eat before you step on it and you’re the same body fat as when you step on it, so all the body analysis machine does is give you a reference point to then improve – if you don’t know what it is, you can’t improve it, and that’s very true, which is why we have put a lot of metrics and numbers around the whole process so that you can see what’s working and then you can improve it.
The focus habits software allows us to actually be very accurate about what needs to happen to improve that.
Nathan: What I have found with the focus habits software is that before the focus habits software, I was giving people a lot of information and, looking back on it now, it was probably too much information; asking them to drink 2-3 litres of water a day, reduce the amount of refined carbohydrates they were eating; whereas the focus habits software now just asks them to focus on one particular thing.
Stephen: The great thing about that is that there are a few things that make the biggest difference, so rather than what a lot of people try and do is focus on everything, there a couple of what we call lead dominoes, things that start a cascade of other positive actions; so the focus habits software is deliberately calibrated, basically they have worked out a way – I’ve given them the information and they have been able to make it so that the right thing is done at the right time, so rather than trying to focus on everything, it’s giving that lead domino, that thing that makes the biggest impact on all the others.
Nathan: That’s awesome and it is something that I know a lot of clients at the DVCC have done and still are benefiting from. So just to recap, Stephen, if you could go through the benefits of the progress tracker again?
Stephen: The progress tracker is really the ideal way to see exactly how your progress is; we can use the body analysis machine to accurately show where you are at, and then the focus habits software allows us to actually see if there are any changes, if there needs to be any changes – if there needs to be any changes then the focus habits software tells us exactly what needs to be done.
Nathan: Awesome – thank you very much for your time today Stephen, and if you have been listening to our podcast today I hope you have a great day!
