Helping people get the results they want

It was just a few days before Christmas 2015.

Tyler Pourteau got a phone call no parent wants. Noah, Tyler’s two-and-ahalf-year-old son, was staying with his mother.

“She found him face down in the pool.”

Noah lived only a few days more. “They pronounced him brain dead,” Pourteau remembered. “He had lost too much oxygen.”

But out of that tragedy, Pourteau found new life – in his life.

“It got me thinking – life is too short,” Pourteau said. “I knew I needed to do something. The way I was going in life – just working customer service, going to work Monday through Friday, I wasn’t happy. It took me a while, but then I asked, “How can I absolutely help people? What do I love to do?” The answer was learning more about diet and exercise, things of which the Shreveport native – who now lives in Haughton – had some first-hand knowledge.

“Out of high school, I was, like, 130 pounds,” the north DeSoto and LSUS graduate said. “I was real skinny. Now, I’m up to 180 pounds. (The muscle buildup) has been gradual over the years.”

So Pourteau earned his certification as a personal trainer. Then, Pourteau started Intense Fitness, LLC. Pourteau says he has approximately 70 clients, some from as far away as California, Florida and Mexico. No, they don’t travel to Haughton three times a week to work out – nor do any of Pourteau’s clients.

Everything is done online. “A lot of people don’t like to be trained in person,” Pourteau said. “It’s just their preference. Most of my clients don’t like that atmosphere. I give them training programs and video demonstrations on how to do workouts.”

If the client wants to go to a gym on their own, they can do so. But they don’t have to.

“If they have certain equipment, I will create a program based off what they have at their home.”

Despite not training his clients in person, Pourteau stays in regular contact with them.

“I message them,” Pourteau said. “A big part of it is holding them accountable. I message them throughout the week. I have them interact in a Facebook community I created. I give them meal plans. I make sure they track their foods.”

Most of Pourteau’s programs are designed for weight loss over 12 weeks.

“I tell everybody that they will lose at least one to two pounds a week. So, potentially, someone can lose up to 12-24 pounds within that 12-week period. And typically, that’s what happens.”

But there’s more to losing weight than exercise. That’s why a big part of what Pourteau does is creating meal plans for his clients and tracking their progress.

“People think they have to spend every day at the gym,” Pourteau said. “Actually, it’s what they consume and how much food they consume that’s preventing them from getting the results they want. A lot of people don’t realize that. You don’t have to work out seven days a week. You just have to start eating better – eating cleaner.”

In other words, it’s essential to match calories with exercise.

“Everybody has a certain amount of calories they need to consume for them to lose weight – to get to their goal,” Pourteau explained. “So, if you’re only working out two times a week, your calories need to be adjusted. If you’re not working out any, then you need to be eating very little. So, whenever you exercise, it actually allows you to eat a little more. Everybody thinks, well, I’m working out five days a week, but when you check their diet, they’re not tracking. They don’t know how much they’re consuming. Everybody thinks a small bag of chips is nothing because they don’t feel full. Well, a small bag of chips is loaded with calories you don’t need – that aren’t going to help you get the results you want.”

But Pourteau, with two boys and a third on the way, is helping people get the results they want. He’s motivated to get parents healthy so that they can have many years with their children – something Pourteau did not have with Noah.

“I do what I do because I want people to be able to enjoy life with their kids and not say, ‘I can’t do things with my kids because I’m unhealthy.’ Whenever they say their kids are incorporating those habits into their lives, I feel so blessed. If I can change one person, that one person can change the whole course of their family.”

“I want the parents to be able to set good examples for their kids, and be around their kids more, and play with them, and be in their lives as much as possible, and not blame their health as they reason why they couldn’t do that.”

To learn more about Intense Fitness, LLC, you may visit www.intensefitnessllc.com.