Most diets get this backwards. You drop weight and lose the strength you worked so hard for right along with it. I do it the other way around. The fat comes off, the muscle stays on, and I do the thinking so all you have to do is show up and train. I did this to myself first, before I ever did it with anyone else.
Month to month. First program in 48 hours.
Anyone can build on sand. We build on rock.
I was extremely overweight. I tried every fad diet there was and I could not stay consistent with training to save my life. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. Nothing I was following was built to survive a normal week.
So I quit hunting for the trick and put together something that actually held up. Lose the fat, keep the muscle you already have, and add to it on the way down. That last part is what almost every diet gets wrong. It worked on me, and it kept working past the point where these things normally fall apart.
The other half of my background is medical. I spent about ten years in emergency services and EMS, and I’m a BLS instructor. That’s where I actually learned anatomy and physiology. Not a chapter I skimmed the night before a test, but ten years of watching how bodies work, how they break, and how they come back. It’s why I can tell the difference between soreness you push through and a signal to stop. It’s also why I take post surgical work seriously enough to stay inside whatever your surgeon has cleared you for.
I’ve been on the other side of it too. I’ve had a number of surgeries myself over the last several years, so I know exactly what it’s like to be told not to lift. To watch months of work disappear while you sit there healing. To feel the itch to do too much too soon, and to wonder quietly whether you’re going to get it back at all. The physical side of coming back is the easy half. The mental side is the part nobody warns you about, and it’s the reason I don’t rush anybody. I’ve been in that chair. I know what the wait does to your head.
And not every setback of mine was surgery. Plenty of them were just me. I’ve fallen off, I’ve talked myself out of sessions, and I’ve started over more times than I’d care to put in writing. I’m not going to pretend otherwise on my own website. If that sounds familiar, then you’re not hiring somebody who’ll act like it never happens. You’re hiring somebody who knows how to get you back on track without making you feel like a failure for needing it.
I’ve put in my time on a gym floor too, and I’ve been coaching in weight rooms since 2022. That’s where you pick up the stuff no course covers. What people really do when the plan gets hard. Which excuses are actually problems in disguise. How many smart, committed people quietly quit in week three. I watched it happen over and over, and it changed how I write a program.
Due East is where all of that turns into a plan written for one person instead of a room full of them. I’m at the start of this and I’d rather say so than pretend otherwise. That’s why the first five spots are going out at a lower rate.
Then there’s my day job. I’m a special education teacher with a master’s in special education. That sounds unrelated until you think about what the job really is. Take something complicated, break it into pieces a real person can handle, meet them where they are instead of where a textbook says they should be, and build it so it sticks after you stop talking. That’s the whole skill. Writing the training plan is the easy part.
I coach online because it works better, not because it’s cheaper. In person you get one hour of my attention, on my schedule. This way you get my attention on every set you do, all week, on yours. And I’m looking at your real numbers instead of trying to remember how Tuesday went.
Same person. Different plan.
Not a video library. Not a template. You get eyes on your work and a plan that adjusts to the week you actually had, not the one the spreadsheet expected.
Plenty of people can write you a program and leave you to work out the rest. These are the three spots where it really matters who’s writing it, and where having somebody handle the details is worth paying for.
This was me. It was never about willpower. Nothing I followed fit a normal week, and every plan traded away muscle just to move the scale.
Tummy tucks, back and body lifts, that sort of thing. The people who are happiest a year later are the ones who walked in strong and had a plan for afterward. Most people have neither. Ten years in EMS means I understand what’s going on underneath a recovery, and I know exactly where my lane ends. I’ve also had a number of surgeries myself, so I know what the restrictions feel like from the inside and not just written on a discharge sheet.
I’m a special education teacher with a master’s in special education. Meeting somebody where they are and building from there, without talking down to them, isn’t a side skill for me. It’s my job.
A straight note on scope. My emergency background shapes how I coach, but here I’m your coach and not your clinician. I’m not a physician, physical therapist, dietitian or licensed personal trainer. I’m not acting in a medical capacity and nothing on this site is medical advice. For anything surgery related I train you inside the restrictions your surgeon sets, and only once they’ve cleared you to exercise. I’ll ask to see that clearance before we start. For adaptive coaching I’m glad to work alongside your care or therapy team. Ten years in emergency services teaches you where the line is. If something sits outside what I should be handling, I’ll tell you so and point you to the right person.
Four steps up front, then about ten minutes a week. After that I do the planning, the adjusting and the remembering. You show up and train.
Choose how often you want to check in, and whether we’re doing training only or training plus nutrition.
A short intake form and a few videos of you moving, so I can see how you move before I write anything.
It lands in your app within 48 hours, with a video demo for every lift and notes on why it’s built the way it is.
You send your numbers and your form videos. I go through it and rewrite what needs rewriting. Then we do it again.
No mystery. Here’s what a real training week looks like, how we talk, and what lands in your inbox and when.
Built for a busy client training 4x/week. Names and numbers changed.
Squat felt sharp last week — bump top set 5 lb if RPE stayed under 8. If knee tracking drifts on the split squat, film set 2 and send it over.
Free. No email required.
Built for a busy client who eats out, travels, and doesn’t want to weigh chicken. Same principles at home, on a boat, or at a client dinner.
Five fields. Two minutes. This is what I actually look at to decide what changes next week. No food logging.
Solid week. Weight moving the right direction and you held protein through two dinners out — that’s the whole game. Sleep is the one to protect. Next week: keep everything the same, add a walk after Tuesday’s session, and let’s try for 7 hrs at least three nights.
Due East is new. I’m taking my first five online clients at a lower rate, and in return I want honest feedback as we go, including the parts I get wrong. If you’re happy at the end of it I’ll ask permission to share your results. If you’re not, I want to hear that even more.
There are five founding spots and the rate really is lower than the prices below. If I ever publish a testimonial from a founding client, it will say plainly that they were one. That disclosure is required, and it’s also just the honest way to do it.
Two choices and one price. Pick how often you want to hear from me, then pick what we work on. The more we talk, the more it costs. Weekly comes with the Private Line, my personal number, open around the clock. Everything is month to month with no contract, and surgery prep and adaptive coaching are included in every plan at no extra charge.
Three check-in frequencies, two tracks.
Training written for you, video form checks, progress tracking.
Everything in Track 1, plus calorie and macro targets, meal planning guides and real accountability.
One check-in a month, to hold what you’ve built.
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
A check-in and a program adjustment every two weeks.
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
Everything else, plus my number in your phone and the line open twenty-four hours a day.
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
The Private Line. My number, in your phone, open twenty-four hours.
Not an app. Not a portal. Not a ticket, a support queue, or an assistant deciding
whether your question is worth passing on. You text the person who wrote your
program, and he answers you himself.
There is no window on it. Six in the morning before a session, eleven at night when
you’re staring at a menu and the whole thing looks like a problem, Sunday afternoon
when the gym is packed and the machine you wanted is taken. Text me when you want a
push, too, because some days a bit of encouragement is the only thing standing
between you and skipping the session. Or just ask what I’d do in your shoes, and
I’ll tell you what I’d do.
I’m not going to insult you by promising I reply at three in the morning. The line
is always open, I’m not always awake. What I will promise is that you never sit on a
question for six days waiting for a check-in, you never have to guess, and you never
wonder whether the message reached somebody who matters. Most days you’ll hear back
within a few hours.
That’s the whole point of it. You stop managing this yourself and hand it to
somebody who already knows your training, your food and your week.
One rule. It’s a coaching line and not a medical one. If it’s a
medical question, if something doesn’t look right after surgery, or if you think it
might be an emergency, call your surgeon or call 911. Don’t text me and wait on me.
Not sure which one fits? Read the FAQ or send me a message and I’ll tell you straight.
Two minutes. I read every one of these myself and I’ll get back to you personally, usually the same day.
Fifteen minutes, no charge and no pitch. Grab whatever slot works and it goes straight into my calendar. If you would rather just write to me, the form above is fine too.
No. I don’t hold a personal training certification and I’m not going to pretend I do. Here’s what I do have. About ten years in emergency services and EMS, which is where I learned anatomy and physiology properly, and where I’m certified as a BLS instructor. A master’s in special education and a career spent teaching, which is the skill of making something complicated actually stick with a real person. Time on a gym floor, and coaching in weight rooms since 2022. And I was extremely overweight myself and fixed it after every fad diet failed me.
If a certificate is what you’re after, there are plenty of certified trainers out there and I’d tell you to go hire one. But a weekend course teaches anatomy off a slide deck. I learned it with my hands on people having the worst day of their lives. That’s the trade.
No. Tell me what you’ve got, whether that’s a commercial gym, a garage setup or a couple of dumbbells, and I’ll write the program around it.
Ideally a few months before. Walking in with more muscle and better body composition gives your surgeon more to work with and usually makes the return smoother. Afterward we don’t start again until your surgeon clears you. I’ll want to know your restrictions and we work inside them. I’m a coach and not a medical provider, and your surgical team’s instructions always outrank anything I say.
I’ll say this too. I’ve had a number of surgeries myself over the last several years, so this isn’t theory to me. I know what it’s like to be told to sit still while everything you built slips away, and I know the temptation to jump back in early and undo it. If you’re dreading that part, you’re not being dramatic. It’s the hardest bit and most people go through it with nobody to talk to about it. I’ve also had plenty of setbacks that were nothing to do with surgery and everything to do with me, so I’m not going to judge you for having a bad month.
It looks like the program getting adapted to the person, instead of the person getting a watered down version of somebody else’s. Clear instructions broken into pieces, visual cues, routines built for consistency and independence, and pacing set by the individual. I’m glad to coordinate with family, carers, support staff or an existing therapy team. Message me and tell me about the situation and I’ll be straight with you about whether I’m the right fit.
You send your training log, your bodyweight, a couple of photos and any lift videos you want looked at. I go through all of it and send back written feedback plus the updated plan. Takes you about ten minutes.
Weekly clients get my personal number and text me directly, any hour of any day. It goes to my phone, not to an app, not to an assistant, and not into a queue. Three things it’s for. A quick question, when you need an answer and you need it now. A bit of encouragement, when the session is the last thing you feel like doing and hearing from somebody actually helps. Or my opinion, when you just want to know what I’d do if I were you.
The line is open around the clock. I’m not awake around the clock, and I won’t pretend otherwise, because I teach all day and I train in the evening. Send it whenever it occurs to you and most days you’ll hear back within a few hours. What matters is that you’re never waiting six days for a check-in to find out what to do, and you’re never left guessing in the middle of a Tuesday.
This is the part people end up valuing most, and it isn’t because the questions are complicated. It’s because it takes the decision off your plate. You’re busy. You’d rather text somebody who already knows your program and get on with your day, and that is worth paying for.
One rule. It’s a coaching line, not a medical one. Anything medical, anything that doesn’t look right after surgery, anything you think might be an emergency: call your surgeon or call 911. Don’t text me and wait on me.
If you’re newer, or you know accountability is your weak spot, go weekly. If you’re experienced and consistent on your own, every other week is plenty. Monthly is for people who already know what they’re doing and just want the plan kept current. The more often we talk the more it costs, so pick the least you can get away with and move up if you need to.
Not a rigid one. Rigid is exactly what failed me for years. You get calorie and macro targets, meal planning guides, food swap lists and honest accountability, built around food you actually like. If you can’t picture yourself still doing it in two years, it isn’t worth starting.
Yes. Everything is month to month. Message me and I’ll move you up, down or pause you. No contracts and no cancellation calls.
Once you’re signed up you get the intake form right away, and your first program within 48 hours of sending it back.
Pick a plan, fill out the intake, and stop managing your own training. I’ll handle the programming, the adjusting and the answers. You show up.
Build My Plan