Will Tennyson's fat-loss tips all point one way: adherence. Here's how to turn "moderation beats crash dieting" into a client system.
The tips that changed his body aren't secret macros - they're habits he could keep. That's also the hardest part of your job: not knowing what a client should eat, but getting them to do it for months. This breakdown covers Tennyson's sustainable-fat-loss message in our own words, adds our honest take for managing a fat-loss roster, and shows how to turn adherence into something you can actually template and track.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Tennyson's fat-loss tips work because they're built to be repeated: a moderate deficit, enough protein, foods you actually enjoy, and consistency over intensity - the opposite of the crash diets he's spent years testing to prove don't last. The one thing a coach should do about it: stop selling clients on how fast the plan works and start engineering the plan around what they'll adhere to, then measure adherence every week instead of only the scale.
Will Tennyson - My TOP FAT LOSS TIPS That Changed My Life | From FAT To SHREDDED
Source: Will Tennyson on YouTube - "My TOP FAT LOSS TIPS That Changed My Life | From FAT To SHREDDED". Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to Will Tennyson, and nothing here implies his endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Will Tennyson, and why coaches watch
Will Tennyson is a Canadian fitness creator known for documenting his own transformation from overweight to lean, and for a relatable, self-experiment style - eating like a bodybuilder for a day, testing extreme diets and calorie challenges, then reporting honestly on how miserable and unsustainable the extremes are. That format is the point: he keeps landing on the same conclusion, that moderation, adequate protein and habits you can keep beat crash approaches every time. For coaches he matters because your clients watch him. He's one of the creators they'll quote back to you, and his message - that fat loss should still let you enjoy food and real life - is exactly the expectation you're managing on every fat-loss client. This page isn't "copy Will's diet," it's "what does his adherence-first message mean for how I run a whole roster."
What Tennyson actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas in the video, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact examples and personal story.
- 1
Adherence beats intensity. The tips that changed his body weren't extreme - they were things he could keep doing. A moderate approach you sustain for months outperforms an aggressive one you quit in three weeks.
- 2
Calorie awareness, not calorie obsession. Fat loss still comes down to eating less than you burn, but the winning version is being aware of intake and building a deficit you can live with - not white-knuckling a number that makes you miserable.
- 3
Protein does a lot of the heavy lifting. Keeping protein adequate helps with fullness and holding onto muscle while dieting, which is why it's one of the first habits to anchor rather than an afterthought.
- 4
You're allowed to enjoy food. A plan that erases every food you love isn't discipline, it's a countdown to a binge. Keeping foods you enjoy in the plan is what makes the plan survive real life.
- 5
Extremes are the cautionary tale, not the method. His whole catalogue of testing crash diets and calorie stunts exists to show why they don't last - moderation and consistency are what he keeps coming back to.
Coachway's take
We're fully on board with the core message, and it's the reframe most fat-loss coaching needs: the plan isn't the product, adherence is. Almost every client already knows they should eat less and move more. What they pay a coach for is a version of that they can actually follow through a busy week, a bad day and a birthday dinner. Tennyson arrives at this from personal experience; coaches should arrive at it as an operating principle.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: Tennyson is programming for an audience of one - himself - and can afford to experiment. You're managing twenty different lives, so "just be moderate" has to become a system. That means a defined deficit that's aggressive enough to see progress but gentle enough to keep, a protein floor you anchor first, and two or three non-negotiable habits per client rather than a 20-point overhaul. Fewer, kept habits beat a perfect plan nobody follows.
The other coaching-specific point: relatability cuts both ways. Clients love the "you can still enjoy food" message, but some hear it as "so I don't really need to track anything." Your job is to hold both - flexibility and accountability - which is why the weekly check-in matters more than the meal plan. If you're only watching the scale, you'll miss the client who's technically losing weight but quietly building a restrict-and-binge pattern that will detonate in a month.
So our version of his advice is: set a livable deficit, anchor protein, pick a few non-negotiable habits, and put a hard "do not crash-diet" guardrail on how fast you'll push. Then - and this is the part that scales - build that as a reusable starter system and review adherence every week, instead of reinventing a fat-loss plan from scratch for every new client.
Make adherence the thing you actually track
An adherence-first philosophy only works if you can see adherence. That's what Coachway's progress and check-ins are for: clients log habits, weight trend, photos and how the week actually went, so your weekly review is about behaviour - "did the non-negotiables happen?" - not just the scale. Instead of prescribing a rigid menu, you set flexible targets with the meal planner - a calorie range and a protein floor the client fills with foods they enjoy - which is the mechanical version of Tennyson's "still eat the food you like." When a client's adherence slips, you see it in the check-in and adjust the habit, not the whole diet.
If you want the strategy layer first, our breakdown of Sohee Lee on sustainable fat loss and client adherence goes deep on the adherence psychology, and Paul Revelia on realistic fat-loss timelines covers how to set the pace so the guardrail against crash dieting actually holds.
Sustainable Fat Loss Starter (client checklist)
A fill-in checklist you can copy for any new fat-loss client to set the plan up around adherence from day one. The targets below are our coaching defaults, not figures from the video - swap them for what fits the individual. The point is the structure: anchor protein, pick a livable deficit, protect a few non-negotiable habits, review weekly, and hold the anti-crash guardrail.
Sustainable Fat Loss Starter
1. Anchor protein
- · Daily protein target: ~1.6-2.2 g/kg bodyweight (about 0.7-1 g/lb) - our default range, adjust per client.
- · How they'll hit it: a protein source at each main meal + one backup (shake / yoghurt / jerky).
2. Calorie awareness method
- · Deficit size: moderate (livable), not aggressive - aim for a rate the client can keep for months.
- · Tracking style: pick one - full logging, portion/hand method, or repeatable meals. Match it to what the client will actually do.
3. Non-negotiable habits (pick 2-3)
- · Hit the protein target ___ days/week
- · Steps / daily movement floor: ______
- · Training sessions/week: ______
- · Sleep or one client-specific keystone habit: ______
4. Weekly adherence review
- · Which non-negotiables were actually hit? (behaviour first, scale second)
- · What got in the way, and what's the one fix for next week?
- · Adjust the habit before adjusting the diet.
5. Do-not-crash-diet guardrail
- · Calorie floor we won't go below: ______
- · Max rate of loss before we ease off: ______
- · Keep foods the client enjoys in the plan - flexibility is the strategy, not the failure.
SUSTAINABLE FAT LOSS STARTER - client checklist (via Coachway) Defaults are coaching defaults, not figures from the video. Adjust per client. 1. ANCHOR PROTEIN - Daily protein target: ~1.6-2.2 g/kg bodyweight (about 0.7-1 g/lb) - How they'll hit it: a protein source at each main meal + one backup (shake / yoghurt / jerky) 2. CALORIE AWARENESS METHOD - Deficit size: moderate and livable, not aggressive - a rate they can keep for months - Tracking style (pick one): full logging / portion-hand method / repeatable meals 3. NON-NEGOTIABLE HABITS (pick 2-3) - Hit protein target ___ days/week - Steps / daily movement floor: ______ - Training sessions/week: ______ - Sleep or one client-specific keystone habit: ______ 4. WEEKLY ADHERENCE REVIEW - Which non-negotiables were actually hit? (behaviour first, scale second) - What got in the way, and the one fix for next week? - Adjust the habit before adjusting the diet 5. DO-NOT-CRASH-DIET GUARDRAIL - Calorie floor we won't go below: ______ - Max rate of loss before we ease off: ______ - Keep foods the client enjoys in the plan - flexibility is the strategy, not the failure
Sustainable fat loss for clients - FAQ
What are the most sustainable fat loss tips for clients?
The tips that actually hold up over months are unglamorous: eat in a moderate calorie deficit rather than an extreme one, get enough protein, keep foods you enjoy in the plan, and stay consistent week after week. That is the through-line of Will Tennyson's fat-loss content - he built his own transformation on habits he could keep, not on crash diets he couldn't. For a coach, the practical version is to set a deficit a client can live with, protect a few non-negotiable habits, and review adherence every week instead of chasing a faster scale drop.
How much protein should a client eat for fat loss?
A common coaching default is roughly 1.6-2.2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day (about 0.7-1 g per lb), which supports muscle retention and satiety in a deficit. Those are our coaching defaults, not figures from the video - Tennyson's point is simpler: keep protein adequate so you stay full and hold onto muscle while losing fat. As a coach you can anchor a client's whole plan around hitting a protein target first, then fit the rest of their calories around foods they actually like.
Why do crash diets fail clients?
Crash diets fail because they optimise for a fast scale number instead of behaviour a person can repeat. An aggressive cut usually cranks up hunger, kills training energy, and strips out the foods and social eating that make a plan livable - so adherence collapses and the weight comes back. Tennyson's whole body of work leans on testing extremes precisely to show that moderation and habits outlast them. For coaches, that is the case for building a 'do not crash-diet' guardrail into every fat-loss client: a floor on calories and a ceiling on how fast you'll push, so the plan survives contact with real life.
Should coaches use rigid meal plans or flexible targets?
For most general-population clients, flexible targets - a calorie range and a protein floor the client fills with foods they choose - beat a rigid, prescriptive meal plan on adherence. A fixed menu works until the client travels, eats out, or simply gets bored, and then it breaks. The adherence-first, still-enjoy-food angle that creators like Tennyson popularised maps directly onto flexible coaching: you give clients a framework and guardrails, not a rulebook, and you coach the habits that make the framework stick.
More nutrition-coaching breakdowns
- · Sohee Lee on sustainable fat loss and client adherence - the adherence psychology behind the same message.
- · Layne Norton on diet adherence - why the best diet is the one a client will follow.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep dialing in fat-loss coaching
all guidesSohee Lee: Sustainable Fat Loss and Client Adherence (Coach Breakdown)
Sohee Lee's video on setting up fat-loss dieting numbers, broken down for coaches: why adherence beats the perfect plan, and the habit-tracking and weekly check-in systems that make it stick.
Read the guideHabit Coaching for Clients: A Coach's Playbook (2026)
Habit coaching for clients is a repeatable system, not a pep talk: choose one keystone habit anchored to something already in the client's day, have them log it daily while you review weekly, and set a minimum-viable floor so a streak survives a bad day. The operational playbook that pairs with the frameworks deep-dive.
Read the guideFlexible Dieting (IIFYM): What It Is
Flexible dieting (IIFYM) means hitting daily macro targets from any food. What it is, how it works, pros and cons vs rigid meal plans, and how coaches use it to build client adherence.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Weekly Training Volume Calculator · Calorie Deficit Calculator · Macro Calculator
Coach adherence, not just meal plans
Sustainable fat loss only works if you can see whether clients are actually following the plan. Coachway lets you set flexible calorie and protein targets, have clients log habits and check-ins each week, and adjust the habit before you touch the diet - so the plan survives real life. Start your 14-day free trial and set up your first fat-loss client the adherence-first way.
