MyBodyTutor - What's the point?
My friend Dan from Cornell University's Food Lab emailed me about MyBodyTutor.com because he knows I'm a proponent of mindful eating over fad dieting. His email came at the perfect time because my Swedish Fish addiction was spinning out of control.
MyBodyTutor is an online wellness service that keeps you on track with your food and fitness goals. All you need is a computer and no more than 10 minutes a day to log-in to your account and tell your personal tutor about what you ate and how you exercised that day. If you've never exercised before, your tutor will help you with a plan of action. Your tutor is a real person; a professional trainer, nutritionist or life coach. He/she gets to know your health status and goals and then provides feedback on your daily reports. Tutors bring bad habits to your attention and suggest food and exercise modifications. You're asked to set daily goals (because it's too easy to flake-out on long-term ones) and tutors encourage you to stick to the plan. Correspondence is both personal and inspirational because before you can change, you've gotta have the heart to commit.
Adam Gilbert left his job in finance to start Mybodytutor which really pissed off his mom.
Leaving Ernst & Young was worth it because now he gets to coach people online and feel rewarded everyday. He helps all kinds of people including directors of other weight loss programs and a Bestselling Diet Book author. Professionals need help too, Adam explains:
"Lack of knowledge is not the problem. It's really a lack of consistent action."
Adam knows this firsthand. He's always been into health & fitness but he fell of the wagon while working at Ernst & Young. He wasn't pleased with how the lifestyle was affecting his body. Drinks after work diverted him from the gym. He decided to do something about it and Mybodytutor was born. To make his mom happy, Adam designed the Mybodytutor website with her and other non-computer savvy individuals in mind.
I got my body tutored for 1 week! This is what I loved:
- It's like getting a response to a journal/diary entry. C'mon, everyone secretly wants someone to read their diary.
- No one yells at you! The feedback is informative with lots of options and NEVER preachy.
- The plan is split 50/50 between food and fitness. Had it been all about food I would've lost interest.
- You can contact your tutor anytime with random questions like "Are Swedish Fish really Swedish?"
- It's way easier than physically going to weight watchers and subjecting yourself to being weighed by someone who doesn't give a shit.
- It's way more personal than a FitOrbit which feels like a social network and categorizes you like an online dating service.
- If you forget to submit your daily report, your tutor checks in with you to make sure everything is OK (this happened to me twice and I was touched by the concern).
This is what I didn't love:
- Having to wait until the end of the day to submit my report. I tend to forget what I ate early in the day. I'm a lot more exercise focused than food focused (except when it comes to Swedish Fish) so it would be more convenient to log my meals right after eating them. I actually gave Adam this feedback and I think he's working on implementing this.
- Not being able to see my tutor when I actually felt like seeing him. Don't get me wrong, I loved not having to physically meet my tutor anywhere. BUT, I think video chat would be a nice addition to the Mybodytutor service (for maybe 1-5% of correspondence time). If you're going to get personal with a tutor and tell them your pain points and goals, they should probably hear the emotion in your voice when you talk about these things...which is why MBT offers the option for a weekly or daily phone call.
- Doing it everyday. Can Mybodytutor rest on the sabbath like God?
I really got tutored. I'm NOT an affiliate trying to make a buck.
Seriously guys, I got tutored and it was awesome. I work out a lot (which should be obvious if you read my website frequently) but I often make poor food choices. There, I said it! MizzFIT eats like crap sometimes. Here's some feedback I got from my tutor after reporting a botched lunch.
I took the picture below after successfully completing a day's worth of exercise goals. To reiterate, I lost 4 pounds in 1 week. Yes, I work out more than the average person but that's not the point here. I was exceptionally proud of myself for following through on goals I wasn't 100% sure I would complete. I may be fit but I'm not perfect or always consistent.
So how does this relate to fashion? When you look good, you feel good and dress a bit sexier and fashion-forward than you would if you were 4 pounds heavier....THAT'S HOW! Lululemon sports bras are just too cute to hide under sport tops all the time.
Who should try MyBodyTutor? Followed by quotes from Adam Gilbert.
- People who are private or uncomfortable talking about their food/exercise issues in person. -- "Clients don't ever meet their tutors...Many people have emotional eating problems which has some depth to it and can be very hard to discuss with someone in person. Clients feel a lot more comfortable opening up [online] and it makes a world of difference."
- People who can't be coached by a friend or loved one. -- "We're too biased, and we're too sensitive - whether we say so or not."
- People who want human interaction not just information. -- "I know I'm 1000% better than [competition] and many other sites simply because none of them come close to the amount of daily and personal attention we offer. No one offers that because it's way too time consuming."
- People who appreciate kind discipline. -- "One of my requirements to be a tutor is what I like to call a gentle relentlessness."
- People who want to invest in their health (MyBodyTutor isn't free). Click HERE for pricing.
I love giving stuff away so I convinced Adam Gilbert to do a MyBodyTutor giveaway.
Adam G. wants to help people who actively participate in their self-improvement. He doesn't cater to the half-hearted or feel the need to lure people to MBT that don't really need it. Most people don't finish reading a blog post (especially one this long) but if you've made it this far you're the type to follow through and finish what you started. You're most likely a great candidate for MyBodyTutor and that's why you should enter to win 1 free week of direct mentoring from Adam.
To enter this giveaway leave a comment telling me about a huge feat you conquered and how you managed to do it. I'll randomly pick a winner on July 10th.
For example: I gave up Swedish Fish, my kryptonite . Now I grab a piece of fruit or make myself a cup of sweetened tea instead of attacking a school of fish. It's more nutritious and I learned to exercise self-control.
You had to know the Swedish Fish thing was going to come full circle!