How One Beijinger Transformed His Lifestyle

This post is sponsored by Tribe Nutrition.

Jim Fields’ story is one that will be familiar to many Beijingers. He arrived in Beijing for the first time in 2009 as a fit, fresh-faced 20-year-old and spent the next seven years making Beijing his home, learning Chinese, working in video production, and making the most of the social scene. However, Fields’ busy life, one of “drinks out, client dinners, food delivery, and a sedentary lifestyle” as he puts it, took its toll on his body and by early 2016 he was surprised to find that his weight had crept up to 109kg. 2016 was also the year that Fields launched his own video production company, Relay (relay.video). Having taken control of his career, Fields decided it was time to take back control of his body.

Fields had eaten at Tribe in the past and enjoyed the food, so he signed on for a 12-week meal plan with Tribe Nutrition (tnen.tribenutrition.com), starting May 23, 2016. Since his goal was losing weight, Tribe recommended he choose the Fresh Lite meal plan, which limited his calories to 1,700-2,000 per day across three meals and two snacks.

Watch Fields give the lowdown on the meal plan below:

Since cutting calories is only part of the equation, Tribe also put Jim in touch with personal trainer Ankit Nayal at B Active, who devised a four-times-per-week workout schedule, focusing on weight training, with alternating workouts targeting different muscle groups.

By August 27, Jim had lost 12kg, going from 109kg to 97kg. Now, it was crunch time: Could he build what he had learned about nutrition and fitness into a long-term lifestyle?

Inspired by the results he was seeing, Fields decided to extend his partnership with Tribe, continuing his meal plan and exercise regimen until the end of 2016. Having achieved his initial weight loss goals, Jim started to move from the Fresh Lite plan to a paleo-inspired plan (Tribe offers a total of seven different meal plans that can be tailored for all sorts of special diets) to help him build muscle and strength. His final weight after six months was 93kg, since he has now started to pack on some serious muscle.  

We think the time-lapse below speaks for itself!

Even with TRIBE Nutrition’s meal plan taking the stress out of making healthy food choices every day, Fields admits that making the decision to get fit wasn’t always easy. Nevertheless, he took inspiration from his fitness idol, actor Chris Pratt, who lost upwards of 60lb (27kg) prior to starring in Guardians of the Galaxy. Pratt has said that he started out by doing something active for just 60 minutes every day, advice that Fields would pass on to others: “Whether it’s working out at the gym, riding a Mo Bike to and from work or following a fitness app at home, the exercise component makes a big difference.”  

Fields’ other main piece of advice for busy professionals is to bite the bullet and tell people in your network that you’re trying to lose weight. “As an entrepreneur, this seemed counter intuitive for me, since you usually avoid admitting your own failures. It was hard for me to say ‘I’m not happy about this and I want to change it’.” However, by putting his goals out there he found that his friends and colleagues held him accountable and didn’t let him fall off the wagon (not to mention that he had promised to share his shirtless selfies on the Trbe Nutrition WeChat!). Even restaurants supported his journey, allowing him to bring along his Tribe meal box once he explained what he was doing – although he admits that giving up on that beer with dinner was still a big challenge!

Fields’ story is proof that no matter how busy you are or how unfit you feel, there is no excuse not to commit to transforming your health and fitness. If you’re as determined as Fields, Tribe Nutrition is offering a 5 percent discount on meal plans (consists of three meals and three snacks for an entire day) of two weeks or longer. Simply enter promo code TNBEIJINGER5 when checking out using the Tribe Nutrition website (tribenutrition.com.cn).

Photos and videos courtesy of Tribe Nutrition and Jim Fields