Milosz Laksa

When Progress Becomes Obsession

This story is about one of my closest friends, someone I’ve known for many years. He’s always admired my dedication to training, my consistency in the gym, and the discipline I’ve built over time., but for a long while, he never quite managed to channel that same energy into his own routine. That all changed when I told him I was prepping for a competition. As a show of support, and maybe a personal challenge, he decided it was time to shed some fat off alongside me.

At first, it felt like the easiest coaching experience I’d ever had. No resistance. No pushback. No stumbles. He followed the plan exactly. Progress was smooth, consistent, even textbook. The scale moved week after week without fail. And while that kind of start is every coach’s dream, something didn’t sit quite right.

After a few check-ins, I began to notice subtle shifts in mindset. He had gone from weighing himself two or three times a week (as I advised), to stepping on the scale every single day. Then it became multiple times a day. After meals. After bathroom breaks. After anything. His commitment had turned into compulsion. He wasn’t just tracking progress—he was chasing it obsessively. This meant when the scale didn’t drop, even by a single gram, it hit him hard. He’d skip meals. Get frustrated. Try to “correct” the number instead of trusting the process. That rang all my alarms, as I had seen this before. Precisely in myself.

Before I ever found fitness, I was an overweight teenager. My way out was obsession. I became addicted to watching the number on the scale fall. It gave me a sense of control, purpose. But it was also dangerous. And had I not had the support I needed at the time, things could’ve gone much worse. So when I saw the same pattern emerging in him, I knew I had to act fast, not just as a coach but as a friend.

I adjusted his plan to ease the pressure, put systems in place that focused on performance and feeling rather than weight alone, and made sure my support was consistent, not just during check-ins, but every day. We worked through it together.

Within weeks, his mindset started to shift. The scale stopped being his obsession. His discipline remained, but it became healthy, grounded, and sustainable. He was back in control. This time, in the right way.

This experience taught me something I’ll never forget: Just because progress looks perfect on the surface doesn’t mean everything is fine underneath. As a coach, I learned to look closer. To read between the lines. To keep my relationships warm and human, even while remaining professional. And most importantly, to always stay alert, not just for setbacks, but for subtle warning signs that can hide behind success.

He taught me coaching isn’t just about making plans and celebrating progress. It’s about protecting your people, especially when they don’t even know they need protecting.

Weight lost: 12kg/ 26.5lbs

Time frame: 11 weeks/ 77 days