Crystal: Welcome to the MetPro Method Podcast. I am your host, Crystal O’Keefe, and today I’m joined by MetPro client Darren Fittler. We’re going to be hearing all about Darren’s MetPro journey. Darren, thank you so much for being here today. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to find MetPro?
Darren: Yes, absolutely. Thanks so much for the invitation. I’ve used MetPro twice, actually. This most recent time, I’ve used MetPro for a 12-month period. I first learned about MetPro from listening to a different podcast. I might not have this quite right, Crystal, but I think it might have been the Tim Ferriss podcast. The idea of good nutrition firing up metabolism, and understanding that different people have different metabolisms, really resonated with me. It made sense to have a nutrition-based eating program tailored to your needs, which can flex with how you’re progressing. It was something I really wanted to try.
Crystal: What was your main goal when you came to MetPro? Was it weight maintenance, weight loss, or just trying to get fit?
Darren: My first time with MetPro, my goal was to improve physical performance. At that time, I was training for my black belt in Taekwondo. Even though I felt reasonably fit, I thought I could lose a little weight and enhance my performance. That was in 2020. But if we fast forward to 2023, during COVID and other circumstances, I managed to put on quite a lot of weight. For the first time in my life, I hit 100 kilograms, which I think is about 220 pounds. I thought, “Oh dear, this is not good. I really need to focus on losing weight.” So I reached back out to MetPro and joined again in January last year. That time was very much a weight loss journey.
Crystal: That’s fascinating. You’ve approached it from two different angles at two different times. I’m curious, how have your experiences differed, if at all, during those two different times with different goals?
Darren: It’s interesting because in a way, the baseline experience has been the same. Having my weekly catch-up calls with a coach kept me accountable, and the MetPro app helped me log my eating, activities, and exercise, and plan out my macros. But the first time around, I wasn’t so worried about stepping on the scales every day because it wasn’t a weight loss journey. I was more focused on my fitness levels, cardio, and body composition. This time around, I was definitely stepping on the scales every day, tracking my progress. I did a lot more cardio in my second time with MetPro—stationary cycle rides most days for half an hour or more, in addition to Taekwondo training. There wasn’t as much weight training, just more cardio. So, similar but with some differences.
Crystal: That’s great information. I thought it might be interesting if you don’t mind talking about the fact that you are currently in Australia. Have you been in Australia the whole time you’ve been on MetPro both times?
Darren: Yeah, I was born and bred in Australia, and I live in Sydney now. For both of my times with MetPro, I was in Australia and still am.
Crystal: I’m just curious, we talk to a lot of different people, but I don’t know that we’ve really touched on having international clients on the podcast. What are your thoughts on using the MetPro system while being in Australia? Is there anything that you thought would be a problem but turned out to be easy, or just your general thoughts?
Darren: With the wonders of the internet and the phone and telecommunication system, I was able to connect with a U.S.-based coach at a time that worked for both of us. My coach, Ryan, could join the call at 3 p.m. his time, which worked out to be about 8 a.m. the next day my time, so we juggled the time zones comfortably. The app, however, uses pounds and ounces, while in Australia, we use kilograms and grams. So I have to do conversions on the fly. Every day when I need to type in my weight, I have to convert from kilograms to pounds to input the data. The food measurements are also in a system we don’t use here, like four ounces of chicken or two ounces of avocado. But you adjust to that pretty quickly. I now know exactly what four ounces of chicken feels like without having to weigh it out. People ask, “How many grams is that?” and I say, “I have no idea, I just know it’s the right amount.” But overall, there have been no problems at all. I love that I’m talking with real people. One of my fears was that it would all be email and text messages, and I wouldn’t be talking to a real person, but that wasn’t the case. There are text messages during the week with my coach, but there’s also a weekly catch-up call, which can be short or longer depending on what’s going on. For example, if I’m traveling for work and it’s difficult to find the right macro structure, we plan how to keep me as close to the plan as possible. Other times, it’s just a quick check-in, and everything seems to be on track.
Crystal: Do you think talking to a coach on a regular basis changes your accountability level?
Darren: Yeah, I think it does. I’m pretty intrinsically motivated. I don’t really get motivated by streaks and badges. I see the importance of health inherently. But even so, knowing that come Thursday morning, I’m going to have a chat with Ryan makes me think twice on those days where I might stray from the path. For example, if I’m out with my family and everyone’s having ice cream, I might think, “No, I don’t want to do that because I don’t want to have to talk to Ryan about it.”
Crystal: I get that. What kinds of things have been struggles as you’ve worked with MetPro? Anything like types of food or something like having to not eat ice cream, anything that has surprised you?
Darren: One of the things that surprised me both times was how much food I was expected to eat during my baseline. When I saw the meal plan, I thought, “Holy smokes, I don’t know if I have time to eat all this food.” It was a lot—breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. It took my body a couple of weeks to get used to that amount of food. I work long hours in the office, sometimes 14-15 hour days, and I traditionally might have eaten two or three times during those days, maybe not overly well, but not terribly bad either. So I was surprised by the amount of food. But within a month or two, I noticed that the food wasn’t enough anymore. My body was metabolizing well, and we could increase my intake to get the metabolism going even more. The app is very helpful in directing you to your protein, fats, and carbs, and the variety of food options is excellent. I ended up landing on a few meals that I eat most often, like avocado and chicken on toast for breakfast.
This time around, what I found hard was that it took me 12 months to lose about 19 kilos, going from 100 kilos to 81 kilos. That’s about 45 pounds. It’s just every day, you have to be disciplined day after day for over 365 days. That did get difficult at times, though it was also easy at times. You go through different seasons—winter, summer, spring, different work schedules, different events. I went to a work Christmas function and took my own Tupperware container with my dinner in it and ate it on the sly under the table because I knew the food they were serving wasn’t going to be healthy for me. At that point in my journey, coming off that structured macro intake would have been detrimental. What I also found intriguing is that you really understand how your body responds. There were times when I fell off plan, maybe had a couple of beers or a glass of wine, or couldn’t miss out on my wife’s birthday dinner. I could see how my body responded on the scales when I went off plan and how long it took my body to readjust and get back into rhythm. It made me really conscious of the consequences of going off plan, so I became wiser about when to do that.
Overall, I’m now far lighter than I was, back to a healthy weight for someone turning 50 this year. Now it’s almost back to when I joined MetPro the first time—focusing on body composition, reducing fat, and increasing muscle. I’m more in maintenance mode now, not weight loss mode. I feel really equipped to sustain this where I am for, well, forever.
Crystal: That’s awesome, and congratulations. That’s a lot of hard work—many days of deciding not to have the wine, beer, or birthday cake. But I’m glad there were also times you chose to have those things. Sometimes people think it has to be all or nothing, but it’s still your life. The idea of MetPro is to take these strategies with you forever and use them in challenging situations or everyday life. But we also want you to live your life and enjoy the birthday cake or occasional glass of wine, so I’m glad you were able to do that.
Darren: Yes, and you can do it with a better understanding of what it means. You really get to understand your body’s operations, so you can make those decisions more wisely.
Crystal: What about your friends and family? When you are doing MetPro, do they eat different meals than you, or does the whole family have one meal? How do you guys approach that?
Darren: That’s an interesting question. My wife’s vegetarian, and I have two teenage kids who run their own schedules, so we generally have varying meals across the family. But with MetPro, it’s clear that’s what I’m doing. One of the keys to success is preparation. It’s easy to grab whatever makes you less hungry from the fridge or cupboard, which might not be the best choice if you haven’t prepared. So spending time preparing lunches and dinners in advance and knowing what my snacks will be is important. I’ve done a lot of that myself, but my wife, Renee, has been awesome in helping keep me on track on busy days when I’m in the office and can’t get home. I come home, and she’s already helping prepare the next three nights’ dinners, which has been enormously important to my success. My kids see what I’m doing, and I think they’ve been encouraged to eat better themselves. They won’t eat exactly what I eat, but seeing me follow a rigorous regime and eat well has encouraged them to think about how they’re eating.
Crystal: It’s great to have such a nice support system. Some people might feel like they don’t have that support or aren’t comfortable talking about it with others, which can get a bit lonely. I’m glad you have that support system, and I think it makes a big difference. We’ve talked about a lot of different aspects of your journey, but what have we missed? I want to make sure we cover everything you want people to hear.
Darren: Well, Crystal, what you might not know about me, and Ryan may not have shared, is that I’m blind. Because of that, getting things done is sometimes a little more difficult for me. The MetPro app is somewhat accessible using the special accessibility features on my iPhone, but when it comes to some of the sliders to adjust the macros, I find the app could be more accessible for users like me. But that was another way my wife was able to step in and help. She’d say, “Your meal plan’s gone up, so you’ve got more carbs at lunch.” Then we’d adjust the sliders together to see what that means in reality. Is it more brown rice, more vegetables, or a different meal? We worked together on that. But I wanted to let people know that because of the human contact and openness of the MetPro community, my disability hasn’t been a barrier to success with MetPro, apart from maybe some fine-tuning to the app with accessibility in mind.
Crystal: That’s great feedback. Wow. No, I did not know that, so thank you for sharing that with us. That really shows a testament to having your support system and your perseverance. I know that just about everything out there takes a different level of figuring things out, so my hat’s off to you for all of your perseverance.
Darren: Thank you. Everyday tasks just take a little bit longer, whether it’s weighing things or food prep. It requires a bit of extra commitment, but that’s just life. There weren’t really any extra barriers to using MetPro. I found it a really accessible way to get to know my body, my metabolism, and to hit my goals of either performance or weight loss, whichever time I was with you.
Crystal: That’s awesome. Well, again, thank you for that, and thank you for all of your time, Darren.
Darren: Thank you, Crystal, for your time and the opportunity to speak with you. I hope this was at least somewhat interesting to the listeners.
Crystal: I cannot imagine that it wouldn’t be. It was fascinating. Thank you. Listeners, that’s all for this week. You can find all the MetPro Method episodes anywhere you get podcasts or at MetPro.co/podcast. Please be sure to follow the show and rate and review—it lets others know what to expect. You can also learn more about MetPro at MetPro.co. I’m your host, Crystal O’Keefe, and I will be back next week. Until then, remember, consistency is key.
