How we transformed Andy's Krispy Kreme ritual. Practical solutions you can use!
Updated: May 29, 2022
I have a great client Andrew…
Andrew is a driver who rarely sees his family.
His jobs really tough, he has long times away, which is lonely for long periods of time.
He really loves his daughter and he misses out on so much when he’s away. Isla’s first step had to be filmed and sent via WhatsApp…
… he had this ritual…
When he comes home, he stops by the Krispy Kreme counter in the last services and buys a pack of 6 doughnuts.
They only sell them in 3’s (which just isn’t enough), 6 (2 too many) and 12, which is way too many - individually it’s more expensive… so 6 it is.
He buys Donna’s favourite Lotus Biscoff, well 2 (he likes it too), Reeses peanut butter for him and strawberry iced rings for the kids because they call them Homer Doughnuts.
The smell is prettty amazing and well… there’s two Biscoff, one for the road aye!?
When he gets home the kids smother him in “sckooochies” (their pet name for kisses and hugs) and the doughnuts go in the kitchen whilst he gets on the floor, stiff backed, has his make up done and gets his back tickled.
Donna walks in with her doughnut so Andy and Isla grab theirs.
Islas gets cut up and she has two pieces out of the 5 it was cut to, Andy eats his Reeses and… well Isla’s wasting it so he’s polish it off too.
Next day he’s back with his personal trainer because he knows his back is weak from sitting (it’s not, it’s strong, it just does lots of work because he has to stay stable in the car), his PT would tell him to eat chicken, veggies, sweet potatoes and chocolate milk post workout.
He’s do it for 2 or 3 days but then he’d go back into his old habits because chocolate milk just didn’t fill him.
He loves the smell of flame grilled Burger King on the road and there’s one not too far from the gym. The smell as he drives passed has him popping on the indicator.
The problem is his PT would tell him.
You need more discipline
You need to reduce your calories
You need more protein
If you wanna get in shape you have to…
Andrew really just wanted to see Isla and Donna more and not have a bad back… he knew he was out of shape and he didn’t need telling again…
We found the new option.
Cue the health coach ✅
Andy had never heard of health coaching.
When I told him it’s about habit forming and behaviour change he thought it was a bit “squishy”… but he couldn’t keep going on like he was. He knew he couldn’t stick to what was laid out but didn’t know why.
I ask clients what they want but then importantly I ask why?
… then I ask again…
… and again…
… but… again…
… because!?
As you work through that - you actually show yourself what you really value and where you might find your own solution.
Once we have that in place - we look at daily rituals and set small, actionable and realistic goals.
His PT was blaming his discipline and wanted a 180* flip on his food…
I just worked WITH him.
Most people go, “stop visiting Krispy Kreme”.
Not the solution.
You have to replace something with something.
Otherwise it doesn’t stick.
Plus Andy really liked the ritual (and the doughnuts) … his treat.
But … it boiled down to Andrew thinking Isla loved him more or wanted to play with him more, if he brought home doughnuts. What Andy told himself, not the reality.
She still loved him - and she loved the pink ones - but she’d take it or leave it.
So we just looked what he was doing and what we could do…
Starting at Krispy Kreme.
What he was buying…
Biscoff - 396 calories x 2
Reeses - 406 calories x 1
Strawberry Ring - 259 calories each x 3
That’s 1975 total doughnut box calories, he was eating “typically” 900 calories of them.
1 Biscoff, 1 Reeses and Isla’s leftovers.
When I showed him, he wasn’t too bothered about the calories, he actually was more bothered about how much sugar it had (because he wouldn’t drink it from Coke) and the fact Isla’s Homer Doughnuts went in him later on the week or in the bin and he hated wasting food.
So instead… firstly…
We swapped all the doughnuts to the pink ones.
In fact it was faster and cheaper too because he didn’t have to pick them - they had pre made boxes.
That 1 switch kept the ritual, everyone got a doughnut and saved nearly 300 calories.
259 calories each
1 in the car, 1 at home, 1/2 of Isla’s
643 vs nearly 900.
He was doing that 4x a month.
1200 calories saved - 1/2lb fat.
But we didn’t stop there.
I also explained to Andy that after a workout, especially if it was intense strength training for 60 minutes, that he needed around 25g protein and 50g of carbohydrate when he finished his training.
The Burger King visits were typically:
Bacon Double XL 1610 calories, 120g protein, 50g carbohydrate, 104g fat
Side of fries 282 calories, 4g protein, 30g carbohydrate, 14g fat
Flat white because it’s being good and he was knackered 162 calories, 11g protein, 21g carbohydrate, 6g fat
That was 2054 calories, 135g protein, 101g carbohydrate, 124g fat.
Twice a week:
4108 calories
270g protein
202g carbs
248g fat
For a month:
16,432 calories
1080g protein
808g carbohydrate
992g of fat
These are the big numbers that matter.
So he knew that was too much but he didn’t know what to eat!? It wasn’t his fault he didn’t have the tools or was shown.
Again we looked at my survival guide, he knew he needed 50g carbs, 25g of protein after a workout but he also ate this on the road.
So many people just say “don’t do it, eat a salad” but it’s not realistic and practical long term solutions.
We compromised on the big ticket items and gave Andy flexibility in what he chose.
He could swap the burger to:
Sometimes a Whopper at 635 calories, 31g protein, 47g carbohydrate, 35g fat
Sometimes a Bacon Double Cheeseburger at 748 calories, 53g protein, 30g carbohydrates, 47g fat.
After a workout a serving of crispy chicken at 500 calories, 21g protein, 44g carbohydrate, 27g fat
and keep the fries and the flat white if he wanted them.
The great thing about industry is that its deadly consistent and repeatable to assure profit margins. Every Krispy Kreme and BK has to be identical because of profit and loss.
Most days this was now a Whopper meal totalling 1079 calories.
Twice a week:
2158 calories
Over a month:
8632 calories.
16,432 calories vs 8632 calories is 7800 calories less!
Add the Krispy Kreme saving of 1200 calories is 9000 calories - those simple solutions saved 3lbs of fat and healthy didn’t change anything else in his diet.
Over time we just made small changes to the Krispy Kreme visits, and he chose his Burger King items.
At the end of the month. He’d lost 8lbs and was shocked because he didn’t really think he’d changed much food.
3lbs in fat, the rest in salt and water retention from inflammation.
You see, when we make choices they haven’t just got to be optimal for ourselves. They have to be optimal for everyone.
Sadly the newly qualified personal trainer didn’t have age or experience on his side and he just wasn’t really the best person to take advice from for his health goals.
Great for training.
We need practical realistic solutions but we throw kitchen sinks at it and then fall off. Over time you start to see the benefit of these small changes and you feel more obliged to do them.
Does that help you?
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