Jon at RISE, Unit 7, Waterside Mill, Waterside, Macclesfield (2026)

02/06/2026

RISE daily Session feedback - 2nd June

02/06/2026

How busy too busy?

Something that people tell me regularly, that I will help them question, is that they are "too busy".

I completely get that

Not denying that they are busy.

But I might help them question if they actually are 'too busy'.

A powerful question I sometimes ask is "How busy too busy?"

Which normally draws a blank look.

"What do you mean?" people might say.

"You said you were too busy. How busy are you and how much time would you need for this?"

"I'm just too busy. I've got a lot on" they might reply.

It's a bit vague isn't it?

Wouldn't go down well with a boss as a justification would it?.

They'd want something more precise around how we're currently assigning our time and how much time is actually required for this thing.

And we can do that with our health and fitness.

How much time is genuinely needed for the thing that we're looking to do?

For the minimum effective dose.

Let's not get hung up on how much time it takes to exercise like an athlete or eat like a nutritionist.

Let's look at how much time needs to be assigned to exercise in a way that will improve our health and fitness over time........

And to eat in a way that will help us lose or maintain body fat and assist with the above.

In the vast majority of cases, the latter can be done with zero additional time.

There is no version of reality where it takes more to time to just carry on eating exactly the same as we are but reduce portion size in order to create a calorie deficit.

Is that a perfect approach?

No.

Is it a better approach that will lead us in the direction that we want to go in than what we're currently doing?

Yes.

There will be tactical swaps we can make with our eating that will improve the results we get that take no additional time.

Just eating some different things that are equally available and have the same amount of sourcing and / or prep time?

If we're not willing to do that then that's not a 'busyness thing', that's just a choice.

Any exercise will produce better results than none.

Sure, all else been equal, even more exercise will be more beneficial.

But the amount of time needed to make better forward progress than zero is probably less than we're telling ourselves.

A couple of hours out of the 168 a week for exercise and some tactical adjustments to food that require no time is enough to make reasonable progress.

It won't get it in the Olympics, sure.

But it's better than going backwards isn't it?

And then, once we've got a clear definition of how much time we need to assign, we can look at how we're currently assigning it.

I've never had anyone check their screen time on their phone and not been able to immediately identify where that couple of hours could come from (myself included).

And that's before they check out their Netflix (other streaming services are available) usage and various other non-essential uses of time.

Again, we can just choose not to do that.

Who would I be to tell someone how they should assign their time?

But choosing to assign our time to something else isn't a 'busyness thing', it's just a choice.

Ultimately, until we can accurately answer "How busy too busy?", we're just going to stay stuck.

Much love,

Jon 'doing nothing, working the whole day through' Hall

P.S. For time efficient and enjoyable exercise (with like minded people in an intimidation free atmosphere) and help and support with relatively easy and maintainable food changes, comment below or send me a DM to find out more.

Yesterday's blog: "It's just the water I'm struggling with" - www.facebook.com/222067851180423_1671335441666618

01/06/2026

RISE daily Session feedback - 1st June

01/06/2026

"It's just the water I'm struggling with"

Pretty much anytime something comes up in conversation............

Where I'm able to add some value to what's happening with that person...........

I'll make a note.

Because, if that's something one person is struggling with or unsure about.............

Then there'll be others in the same situation not asking us.

Maybe like you?

I was chatting to a couple of people this morning who hadn't lost as much weight as they might have liked and expressed the same reason for that.

"It's just the water I'm struggling with" they said.

Now, water is, of course, important.

Essential really.

And I'm a big proponent of getting plenty of it.

But............

From a weight loss perspective..............

If all else is equal..............

It doesn't make a difference!

Ie: If two people are in a 500 calorie a day deficit and one has loads of water and the other none, they will lose weight at the same rate.

If one has a greater deficit and less water, they will lose weight faster than the other.

Water is an important part of the overall equation, before I'm misquoted.

And it's very rare that all else is equal in real world conditions.

The body needs water.

You generally feel better when you have enough, which makes the decisions you make around other things a little easier, usually.

And swapping a bit of alcohol, sugary soft drinks and / or sugary caffeinated drinks is a big win from a purely calorific perspective.

But a lack of water cannot be the only thing if someone's not losing weight

Obvious when you think about it, of course.

Sometimes we focus on water because it's easier than questioning the things that contribute most calories.

Water matters. But if the scales aren't moving, it's probably not the main thing.

Much love,

Jon 'Stones' Hall

P S. Whatever you're struggling with, I guarantee you'll struggle with it less and get better results if you join us on our risk-free 4-week trial - comment below or send me a DM to find out more.

Yesterday's blog: There are only four options - www.facebook.com/222067851180423_1670453541754808

31/05/2026

There are only four options

If we're wanting to achieve a goal in life..........

There are, ultimately, only four things that can be happening.

Four 'measures' of progress.

And of the processes that we're doing to work towards that goal.

1. Perfection

2. Knowingly suboptimal forward progress

3. Maintenance

4. Regression

Those four options are listed there in order of our preference for them.

And reverse order of, based across the population as a whole, the likelihood of them happening.

If we consider ourselves to be "all or nothing"........

Then we're setting ourselves up for nothing.

All / perfection can usually only happen for very short periods of time.

From my experience, becoming ok with option 2........

With occasional periods of option 3.........

Is the approach that actually gets people the best results.

Much love,

Jon 'Play' Hall

P.S. If you've been averaging Option 4 over the last few years, I guarantee (with an actual money back guarantee) that would change on our 4 Week Transformation Programme. It's a new month tomorrow, let's not waste another one. Comment below or send me a DM to arrange a look at a Session and what we do if you've had enough of Option 4!

Yesterday's blog: It's the exact opposite to quicksand - www.facebook.com/222067851180423_1640548418078654

30/05/2026

RISE daily Session feedback - 30th May

29/05/2026

RISE daily Session feedback - 29th May

29/05/2026

It's not that I don't believe you, you're just answering the wrong question

I consider one of my principal roles as a good coach to be asking people better questions.

After all, just asking the same questions they've answered before will lead to the same answers and, therefore, the same results.

It's not that they were answering the questions wrong, there just might be other questions that will serve them better.

I would feel that I'm doing people a disservice if I just smiled and nodded and accepted their first responses.

They come to see me to help them make changes in their life.

I have no interest in people just paying money and not gaining progress and results off the back of it.

Sometimes people will respond to one of my follow up questions with "Do you not believe me?"

They might have said they "don't have time to exercise at the moment" and I've asked a question in response.

Or they've given a reason that they don't feel they can eat better right now and I've then asked them something else.

In the vast majority of cases, it's not that I don't believe their answer...........

It's that they've not answered the question that I've asked.

They've answered what they think I'm asking.

Or maybe the kind of questions they're used to.

But, if we take a rewind, they've not perhaps actually answered the question that I just asked.

They might explain to me why they don't feel they can fit three 45-minute workouts in at RISE that week.

But I hadn't asked that.

I'd asked what exercise they could fit in.

They might feel that they can't eat entirely fresh home-cooked meals that week and have no snacks and alcohol.

But I hadn't asked that.

I'd asked what easy adjustments we could make to reduce their overall calorie intake, ideally to deficit or maintenance.

They might feel that they struggle to stay asleep the entirety of the night.

But I hadn't asked that.

I'd asked what changes they could make to their bedtime routine that, on average, are likely to help with sleep quantity and quality.

It's human nature to identify some theoretically perfect version of an approach.

And, when we can't do that, to feel that it's something to "leave" until we can.

Even though that approach has, on average, led us further away from our desired results over time.

Re-asking the same questions about how we can do something that we struggle to do probably isn't going to get us there.

Questions around what changes we can make under current circumstances......

That will create an average that takes us in the right direction......

Are far more productive questions to ask

It's not that I don't believe people's answers to their questions......

They're just often asking the wrong questions of themselves.

Or answering different questions to the ones I've just asked them.

Much love,

Jon 'Life After Love' Hall

P.S. When you're ready for better questions and actual forward progress, rather than waiting till the stars align (they won't) then you'll find that at RISE- come down and have a look round and see what you think. Comment below or send me a DM to find out more and I'll get that arranged :)

Yesterday's blog: It is "that simple" and nothing is "that easy" - www.facebook.com/222067851180423_1667325528734276

28/05/2026

RISE daily Session feedback - 28th May

28/05/2026

It is "that simple" and nothing is "that easy"

If you've read many of these blogs you'll hopefully have noticed that I try and keep the central message very simple.

Get in a calorie deficit for weight loss.

Turn up for some Sessions at RISE.

And only when we're doing those is it worth us looking at much more.

Sometimes people respond to this message with "It's not that simple".

And, whilst I fully understand that there are other considerations we can make, what's the benefit of making it any less simple than that if we're not even doing those things?

It really can be that simple.

Extra complexity isn't needed until we've taken care of the simple.

People then sometimes pivot to what they kind of meant in the first place.

"It's not that easy".

And it's not.

Nothing is.

Nothing is as easy as saying the words that describe it.

Watching our favourite TV program isn't as easy as saying "Watch your favourite TV program".

Inhaling a bottle of wine isn't as easy as saying those words.

Neither is a tub of Pringles or a Dairy Milk on the couch.

And I get that eating in a calorie deficit and turning up to Sessions aren't as easy as those things.

But they're probably not as hard as we tell ourselves sometimes.

Nothing is "that easy".

But that doesn't mean we can't do it.

Much love,

Jon 'Like a Sunday morning' Hall

P.S. If you’re curious about RISE, you’re welcome to come down for a quick look round, watch part of a Session and see if it feels like your sort of thing. Comment below or send me a DM to find out more.

Yesterday's blog: Change the train? - www.facebook.com/222067851180423_1666330495500446

Jon at RISE

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